Procrastination
A Bad Habit for Writers
I love making daily to-do lists. I have created them since I was in middle school. My first list went something like this: 1) Get up, 2) Eat Lucky Charms and steal as many marshmallows as I can before my sister grabs the box), 3) Iron my clothes before my sister, 4) Run to the bus stop to catch the earlier city bus, so my sister doesn’t sit with me and embarrass me with her wrinkled clothes, 5) Go to stupid school, 6) Stay out of sight on the bus home avoiding guess who?
Back then much of what was on my list was 100% accomplished and motivated by being a shitty older sister. Today, my lists are less vindictive.
Every night, I transfer any unfinished tasks from the current list to tomorrow’s. On a good day, there may be only one or two items. On an average day, I complete about 50%, and on a bad day, I find myself copying the exact same list to the next day. I do all this in a lined journal with a spiral binding and a hard cover. The cover features some ornate design, although it goes unnoticed since the journal is always folded open to the current day.
Things I can put off, like getting new glasses, visiting the DMV, filing taxes, getting a new headshot, and scheduling an appointment with the orthopedic doctor about my messed-up knee, usually get rewritten at least a dozen times. Unless, I finally break my old glasses, it’s the first week of April, no one recognizes me from the headshot taken 13 years ago, and I start struggling to make it up my stairs without groaning. Other items on my list, like faculty meetings, interview appointments, posting my weekly Substack, and walking the dog, never get pushed to the next day. Why? Well, it’s obvious: mandatory commitments, deadlines, and responsibilities. Everything on the second list carries a level of accountability. The first list contains things without a hard deadline, except taxes, but there’s always an extension.
Procrastination is the act of delaying something that could be done another day. However, it can have consequences if we procrastinate for too long. We typically procrastinate when we are not looking forward to the task, believe it is too difficult, or, more importantly, when it offers no immediate reward.
What does this suggest about writers who aren’t writing and are delaying the completion or even the start of a memoir or novel? These projects require time, and there may be no immediate prize. If you are struggling with procrastination as a writer, you need to instill some form of accountability, deadlines, and rewards into your project. Otherwise, you will continue to postpone it, and before you realize it, you’ll be witnessing your colleagues' books being published left and right while you haven’t even written the first chapter.
I have been working on a memoir for a few years, but I can’t get past the halfway point. Other shorter projects pull my attention because they offer more immediate rewards. There is also no one waiting on this memoir. I have no deadline, and I can’t see a prize other than finally finishing it.
How do we fix this problem?
1) Look for a memoir course, retreat, or coach
2) Sign up for one of the above that has a deadline you can reasonably meet
3) Break down how many words you need to write a day in order to meet that deadline
4) Find a writer friend or group that you have to report to weekly on how my words you completed
5) Give yourself a reward
My Memoir Plan:
1) Writing Retreat May 28th in France
2) Travel begins mid-May, so my deadline to finish a full manuscript by May 3rd.
3) Currently, I have 10,000 words. I did have 40,000 at one point, but I’m going in a new direction, so I’m almost back to the drawing board. This means I have 10 weeks to write another 70,000 words. The word count of a memoir is between 60,000 and 100,000, so I’m shooting for 80,000. I only want to write 5 days a week, so that’s a total of 50 days. Divide that into 70,000, and you have 1,400 words a day.
4) I will report my weekly word count to another writer friend who is also writing a memoir. I’m also sharing this on my Substack weekly newsletter, hoping to pressure myself to succeed. I don’t achieve this; I want you all to tell me to go to hell, or as it sounds nicer in Italian: A fanabla!
5) Use my spa day gift certificate and ask my sister to join. I grew out of being a jerkface and now I want to do all fun things with her. Now, I’m the one with the wrinkles.
Literary Citizenship Share
Substack Writers at Work with Sarah Fay is out there kicking butt with her Substack tips. I love her videos because she helps writers boost their Substacks and build a great community at the same time. Another wonderful Substack expert is PubStack Success , who gets into the nitty gritty on creating and marketing your Substack.
Weekly Dog Photo
Brody procrastinating ripping his toy corn-on-the cob apart. He’s definitely thinking about it though.
Next Week’s Show
Writing Groups—A Must Have for Writers!
Special: No Paywall through February! Free Submission List and Monthly Zoom available to free subscribers too!Submission List: Magazines that Pay!
Points in Case- 10K+Followers
Deadline: Always Open
Theme: Humor
Fee: No
Pay: $35
Genre: Nonfiction Essay
Word Count: 600-1000
Medium: Online
Guidelines/Submission: Submittable
Raising Mothers- 8K+Followers
Deadline: Always Open
Theme: Mothers or identify as mothers, or motherless
Fee: No
Pay: $5-$50
Genre: Creative Nonfiction plus others
Word Count: up to 3000
Medium: Online
Guidelines/Submission:
Weekly Humorist- 9K+Followers
Deadline: Always Open
Theme: Humor
Fee: No
Pay: $20
Genre: Nonfiction Essay
Word Count: 1500
Medium: Print and Online
Guidelines/Submission: Online Website
Talk Vomit- 700+Followers
Deadline: March 6th
Theme: The Call is Coming from Inside the House
Fee: No
Pay: $10-$35
Genre: Nonfiction essay
Word Count: up to 4000
Medium: Online
Guidelines/Submission: Google Form on Website
Insider Details
I know these magazines don’t pay a whole lot, but it’s nice that they cover a cup of coffee and maybe a muffin. The Talk Vomit theme although it seems specific is up to the writers interpretation. Check out their guidelines for more details. I also have mostly humor magazines this week because I have a humor piece that was just rejected by Belladonna who wrote me a nice personal complimentary email saying they liked my piece a lot, but it was a but too sincere for their audience. Their turn around was only a few weeks which I LOVED!
Monthly One Hour Zoom Session (Link sent prior)
Feb. 23rd 11am-12pm PST
Checking in on Writing Goals