Monday, September 4, 2017

Will I Ever Learn?


From Kate’s Writing Crate…

         
          August was a tough month for writing. I had visitors. I went on a trip. I had my usual professional writing deadlines. However, I still managed to fill my notebook for the month.

What I didn’t have time for was counting all the words. Takes a lot of time when you wait until the end of the month instead of counting them each day. Also, it’s tiring when I put off writing three pages a day which means I then have to write eight or ten or more pages a day during the last week of the month.

Procrastination is not a good habit.

I manage to fight it well when I have to meet a paying or public consumption deadline, but filling a notebook a month is neither—just a goal I set for myself.

Some days filling the notebook is effortless. I have an idea. I jot it down and expand upon it.

Other days I don’t have any ideas so I write observations about the weather, upcoming deadlines, even To-Do Lists, but, if I keep writing, eventually something pops.

One day I got an idea. I expanded on it for a couple more days and thought I was done. But three days later as I was just scribbling, I got a huge idea to add to the one from almost a week ago. The subconscious is a beautiful thing!

If I didn’t fill a notebook a month, would I have had the first idea? Maybe. But I am positive that I would not have had the really big idea if I hadn’t pondered for days about the first one.

Filling a notebook a month takes time, but the payoff in the end is huge:

Keeps my writing muscles (brain and body) nimble;

I can face a blank page without fear;

I write faster, too;

All ideas are written down for future reference;

Even bigger/better ideas show up in this welcoming space; and

Meeting deadlines is a fabulous feeling.

Also, I love seeing full notebooks pile up on shelves in my office. They are physical proof I’m a writer since so many of my assignments fly out of my office via the internet.


I will continue meeting this goal every month. Maybe someday I will learn never to procrastinate!



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