Excused Not to Write?

Chances are if you are reading my blog, you are a writer in some capacity. You may be a freelance writer trying to make a living, or perhaps writing is one of your favorite hobbies and you are literally aching to give it a real whirl and see what you are really made of. Regardless, of why you write, it is important to stay on track.

For me it's far too easy to let life get in the way of my writing. Please allow me to translate this last sentence in more understandable terms: I make excuses. OK, so maybe it's more like procrastination. When I sit down at my computer to write, I subconsciously find reasons not to write. First I check my email, then read articles from the various newsletters I receive, I read my favorite blogs, and one thing leads to another. By the time I'm "ready" to write, my time is up. I have to go tend to another responsibility.

So what do you do to get past this? Well, if you succumb to this same type of behavior, you may first begin by comforting yourself with this thought: Some of the most successful writers are also great procrastinators. So don't be too hard on yourself, but beware that it doesn't become destructive to your writing goals. I've tried a few ideas that might also be helpful to you.

Number one, give yourself an allotted amount of playtime to check your email, read your favorite blogs, or surf the internet. Set a timer and when it goes off, then so does the internet (unless you are using it for research or it directly pertains to your writing). This really works, I've tried it.

Set deadlines for yourself. This is very advisable when you are getting paid to write. You don't want to disappoint a client and lose a good reputation or potential work in the future. But even if you don't have to turn something in by a certain date, making yourself believe you do, helps get the job done.

Finally, try to do your writing at the same time every day. My time is in the afternoon when my children are asleep and my husband is at work. I don't have a ton of time to write at this stage in my life, so I think about what it is I want or need to accomplish and focus my mind on that goal.

God has given us a great gift and talent. As I get back into the swing of writing again, I must also remind myself that a busy life is not an excuse not to write, and procrastination is not productive. Determination and focus, will however help me meet my writing goals, and the same goes for you!

Until next time take care and stay focused!

Four Reasons not to Procrastinate in Writing

Procrastinate vb to put off usually habitually doing something that should be done syn. Dawdle, delay
- as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary

For some reason, this week I have been an expert at this most unfortunate condition called procrastination. At this very moment, as I sit here and write a post for my blog, I should be completing a writing assignment that is due today. I am dawdling and delaying until the very last moment. And it’s no good!

Fortunately, most of the time I am not one to procrastinate and that’s a good thing because when you wait until the last minute it usually shows in your writing. Here are four reasons not to do as I am doing right now.

(1) Rushed writing is not good writing. When you are in a hurry it makes it much more difficult to catch the little errors (spelling and punctuation) that can ruin your credibility as a writer.

(2) As a writer it is always good to let your writing “rest” for at least a day or two to enable you to read your paper with fresh eyes. Your mind is not set on reading it just the way you wrote it, allowing critical changes to be made that could make your article much better. When you put it off until the last moment, it’s much harder to do this.

(3) You risk disappointing your client. If you are waiting until the very last moment and your article is not the quality expected of you, your client is not going to be 100% satisfied with your work. You could even lose him as a client.

(4) You risk disappointing yourself. You feel anxious and apprehensive with deadlines looming over your head and you feel badly knowing that had you not put it off you could have done a much better job.

Wow! Four convincing reasons for me to end this post right now and go finish my article. What am I still doing here?

Take care and may you have a wonderful weekend!