Step 1: Forget that you agreed to submit one in the first place.
Step 2: Remember as you fall into bed that the nagging feeling you have forgotten something was in fact accurate.
Step 3: Grab a pad of paper and begin making marks on the page and hope that something of relevance to writing will appear.
Step 4: Recall all the other times in your life you have forgotten a looming deadline.
Step 5: Realize that procrastination is the bane of your existence.
Step 6: Write down all those gems of wisdom you have read somewhere about how to make yourself write.
- i) Select 15 minutes of time first thing in the morning and write.
- ii) Make that 30 minutes once you have had your first cup of coffee.
- iii) Actually, probably better to wait until after breakfast.
- iv) Do this every day.
- v) NO MATTER WHAT!
- vi) Do not criticize what you produce.
- vii) Get interrupted by a phone call.
- viii) Vow to get up earlier tomorrow and write.
- ix) Try staying up late and write.
- x) Take a vacation and write.
- xi) Go on a retreat and write.
- xii) Stop talking your stories away and write.
- xiii) Discover 30 minutes is too short.
- xiv) Increase to an hour.
- xv) Not good enough? Increase to 2 to 3 hours a day.
- xvi) Oops your life is too complicated to allot that much time a day.
- xvii) Justify stopping your practice.
- xviii) Vow to restart as soon as Christmas is over.
- xix) Develop a new schedule to begin on January 1st.
- xx) Finally beg forgiveness from the writing gods for ever thinking you could be a writer.
How many of us are indeed caught in a similar pattern to the one outlined above? How many of us are close to giving up on our dreams of being a writer?
I believe that every author repeats some form of this never-ending story when they write. Perhaps the best thing we can do for ourselves this Christmas is to identify and embrace our patterns of procrastination. Then keep working at modifying our behaviours so we do produce some words of wisdom at least for ourselves.
HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON
