procrastination -

21Nov 2012 by diannagunn

What to do When You Can’t Stand Your Novel Anymore

Nanowrimo, Novels, Workshops, Writing, Writing, Writing: The Process

Whether it be due to your characters rebelling, your story shifting, your muse abandoning you or a dull ache in your wrists, at some point this month you will hate your novel. In fact, you've probably already had a moment like that. At some points during the drafting process--both inside and outside of Nanowrimo--you will be unable to look at your novel anymore. The key is to remember that these moments pass, prepare yourself to play catch up and then go off in search of something better to do than look at your novel, because staring at your novel at these times will probably give you the intense urge to delete the whole thing. Today I'm going to suggest an activity to distract you entirely from the awful draft you've…

06Aug 2012 by Dianna L. Gunn

Productive Procrastination

Writing

The title may seem like an oxymoron, but it's not. Everyone procrastinates, and I happen to be an expert at it. Most days, I spend a couple hours procrastinating. So how do I get anything done? I make procrastination work for me: I do simple, less important tasks while avoiding big tasks. For example, I spent an hour today looking at potential freelance markets instead of writing this blog post. Instead of avoiding work altogether, I'm avoiding the task I least want to do. Sometimes my least exciting prospect is editing a manuscript--whether that be my novel, a short story or a freelance article--and other days it's a blog post. Every once in a while, writing anything is daunting. On those days I'll read short stories and take notes or…