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Procrastination 101

by Bruce A. Epstein
Jan. 2, 2002

Even professional writers can't simply write on command. To avoid writer's block, choose your writing assignments carefully, and write when you are motivated to do so. Writer's block is often some other malady in disguise. For example, if you are distracted by health problems, family disputes, hunger, etc., you don't have writer's block.

True writer's block has several causes. For example, you can't write about a subject you don't know well. You'll need to do research or pick a different topic. So writer's block can be caused by being either incompetent or too lazy to become competent. If you have writer's block due to a lack of motivation, write about something else.

Writer's block can also stem from a combination of perfectionism and fear, which are two faces of the same beastie. All good writing requires revising/editing. If you are afraid that you won't stay motivated to revise something, you might feel compelled to make it perfect the first time. Likewise, if you fear being exposed as incompetent, you'll want to perfect your writing before ever publishing it. As Frank Willison once said, "Timeliness is part of quality." IOW, it won't do you any good to perfect something that is obsolete by the time you publish it. Do not allow yourself to perfect every sentence. Force yourself to (at least) complete a paragraph before revising.

So while good writing requires practice, research, intelligence, and bravado, it also requires a bit of recklessness and trust. You must be reckless enough to publish something that is less than perfect and trusting enough that readers will find the good and not just the flaws. (Blogs are great practice for this, BTW.) In a professional writing situation, an editor will help you to refine a rough draft. If you don't have an editor, find a friend or family member to help you hone your writing. Let your material age overnight, which will give you the perspective to be your own editor.

It's been said that a writer writes every day. Hogwash! (Not Hogwarts, for you Harry Potter fans.) Write only when you are motivated and inspired. Write only what you want to write. If your school classes or job require you to write something you hate, change majors or change jobs. I never have writer's block because I don't attempt to write until I feel like it. Which brings us to procrastination.

Procrastination is a big beastie for me, but I've developed techniques to work with and within my limitations. If I'm too depressed or anxious to face a particular project, I try to do what I can in other areas. So even though I might not finish a particular project, I can immerse myself in another one until the time comes when I can face the first one. If I can't motivate to write a chapter for a book, I might write a story, or read a book, or organize my office. It is important for me to take advantage of what I am motivated to do instead of obsess on what I can't face at the moment.

However, eventually, even a project you can't face must be tackled. I plod through mechanically until I can face the more creative requirements. For example, suppose you need to organize all the paperwork in your home or office. Make sure that you have a filing cabinet and plenty of folders. Then take each piece of paper in turn and file it. If you don't have (or can't find) an appropriate folder, create one. Do not allow yourself to pick among papers to file. File the first one you pick up, and keep going until the pile of papers is gone. Do not leave papers out that need to be dealt with. File papers in appropriate folders and then place those folders in, say, the front of the filing cabinet to ensure that you deal with them next. If necessary, make a separate list of things you need to deal with.

When writing, you can take a similar approach. If you can't write full sentences, "file" your ideas into different buckets by creating an outline. Once you have the skeleton in place, fleshing it out with full sentences is much easier. By adopting primarily mechanical approaches that alleviate the decision-making minutae temporarily, you can unclog the mental log jam preventing you from starting (or finishing) your project. Once all your papers or thoughts are stored in an organized manner, the task of dealing with what's left won't seem so daunting (and you'll have made good use of what would have otherwise been downtime).

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Bruce A. Epstein is the author of Director in a Nutshell and Lingo in a Nutshell, the coauthor of Dreamweaver in a Nutshell and the editor of ActionScript: The Definitive Guide.