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Stop Procrastinating, Start Writing: 3 Situations That Trigger Writing Procrastination (& What You Can Do)
Stop Procrastinating, Start Writing: 3 Situations That Trigger Writing Procrastination (& What You Can Do)
Procrastination is the bane of many writers … or would-be writers.
It can affect you at any stage of your writing life. And it’s one of the top problems I hear about (along with “time management” more generally) from Aliventures newsletter readers, Writers’ Cafe members, and coaching clients.
Writing procrastination looks like:
- Wanting to write … but never getting more than a few pages into your first draft.
- Spending ages staring at a blank page before giving up for the day.
- Writing a few sentences then stopping to scroll on social media.
- Leaving writing till the last minute before you have to write something to hit a deadline.
- Feeling frustrated that you’re “wasting” writing time and making slow progress.
It’s easy to feel like procrastination is your fault. Maybe you worry that you’re lazy, or that you’re just not cut out to be a writer. After all, if you really wanted to write, you wouldn’t procrastinate … right?
I’m not sure about that. I love writing – and I write freelance articles for a living! – but working on my fiction can still be a lot of effort. Sometimes, just sitting down to write in the first place can feel difficult.
If you feel the same, you’re absolutely not alone. Even full-time professional writers can struggle with procrastination – as anyone still waiting for the next Game of Thrones book can tell you!
Let’s take a quick look at the “why” of writing procrastination before we dig into some common causes of it.
Writing Voice: Finding Yours and Loosening Up When Your Writing Seems Stilted or Dry
Writing Voice: Finding Yours and Loosening Up When Your Writing Seems Stilted or Dry
In this year’s Aliventures survey, one person wrote:
“When I decide to write for public consumption, my writing becomes stilted and didactic. I write much more loosely and enjoy it much more when it’s just for myself. This became such a big hurdle for me last year that I ended up deciding I wasn’t going to be able to make writing a career.”
Finding your voice as a writer can be a challenge – especially if (like this writer) you’re thinking of having a career in writing.
Some writers, both of fiction and non-fiction, have a much stronger voice than others. They write in a unique, distinctive style, and that’s one of the things readers love about them. Think P.G. Wodehouse, for instance, whose stories wouldn’t be nearly so memorable without Bertie Wooster’s narrative style.
But other writers struggle to find their writing voice. That could be because, like the person in the survey, they find themselves writing easily and naturally when they don’t have any audience in mind … but they freeze up when writing for public consumption.
Other writers (and I’d include myself here) have the ability to easily adapt their voice. That can be a real advantage as a freelancer or ghostwriter – but it can also leave you wondering if you really have a unique voice at all, or if you’re instead a kind of chameleon writer, constantly adapting to suit your surroundings.
(more…)About
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Can You Call Yourself a “Writer” if You’re Not Currently Writing?
The Three Stages of Editing (and Nine Handy Do-it-Yourself Tips)
What to Do When Your Writing Goals Seem a Long Way Off
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Archives
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