Monday, June 14, 2010

Anything Other than Write!

Am I the only writer who would rather do anything other than write? I mean anything--laundry, clean bathroom, sweep patio. I know I have a certain number of pages to write every day and I enjoy the satisfaction of seeing the word count creeping up on my new book, and of the story actually turning into something I like. So why can't I just sit there and get on with it?

It was bad enough when all I had to lure me away from my writing was the pile of laundry and the geraniums that needed dead heading. Then Satan invented the internet and email and fascinating websites. But now there's Facebook and I have to check on what my friends have been doing for the past hour, and there's Twitter, and yes, this blog waiting for new and witty comments. Too many excuses not to write.  And guess what, I've just downloaded a Scrabble app for my iPod Touch. Next I may even succumb to Farmville!

And do you know what is causing this undisciplined behavior? I am ahead of my deadline. I'm giving myself plenty of time to do this book so that I am not under pressure for the last month. So what have I realized? I work best under pressure. I need that clock ticking, that deadline hanging over me to make me write. I need that pump of adrenaline to make the ideas come spurting out. (sorry, that's a disgustingly visual metaphor)

So I may go and enjoy the delightful summer weather that's finally arrived in California, and then write like crazy next week.
What about it, fellow writers--can you work in disciplined fashion all year, or do you need intense bursts of creativity and looming deadlines to work well?

9 comments:

  1. It makes me so happy to read this. My last tweet was basically about this - write a sentence, check Facebook, write another, visit Twitter, write a paragraph, clean the bathroom. I definitely need the pressure of deadlines!

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  2. I have a hard time concentrating on anything without a deadline, so I get where you are coming from.

    Now stop reading comments on your latest blog entry and go write those 5 pages!

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  3. I totally agree. I've been out of school for four days and I've written three hundred words at the most.

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  4. I always wrote my best papers in college the night before they were due. Once I tried to write it ahead of time. It was utter crap. So I tossed it out and waited until the night before it was due..lol. So, yeah, I totally understand!

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  5. I can write year round, but what I've found myself doing for the last two months is writing on two different books. I tell myself that since I haven't sold the first in a series, it really isn't necessary to finish the second one so I started another book that has been whispering in my ear for a while. So I write a little on one then a little on the other. At least I'm writing, right?

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  6. I don't know how you can write two different books at once, Kay. When I'm writing I am so in the world I'm creating that it's a wrench to come back to earth for meals etc.
    I think you should go with the one that's whispering in your ear!

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  7. Rhys, I tell myself I'd be happier with a daily page count, but I tend to dive in and immerse myself in the story and then I'm really happy with it until I finish that day's work and have to figure out the next day how to stop procrastinating and get to work again.

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  8. I've made it to page 100 on schedule. Whoo hoo!

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  9. Writing and cooking are the only two things I do better WITHOUT a deadline looming over me. But I can't just write anywhere. I'm like one of those superstitious actors who have to chant, or spin around three times, or wear their 'lucky' socks before going onstage. I have to have an empty day in front of me, an isolated table in a restaurant/deli/coffeehouse, and a frozen mocha within drinking distance.

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