I was procrastinating earlier today adamant that I couldn’t begin studying until…my books had been alphabetised, floors were washed, hair had been straightened (3 times), music neatly arranged into playlists and Inbox cleaned out. ONLY THEN, when I was in the perfect environment would inspiration come.
During cleaning out my inbox I came across a link that Adrian sent out to LABsome earlier this year. I found a lot of value in it. I spend too much time planning (its my procrastination) and making sure the environment is perfect before I start writing. Once I do start I am easily distracted if I remember something (usually tiny and unimportant) that needs to be done. Somehow that glass that I didn’t wash at lunch becomes super important and I simply can’t do any further study until it is clean. End result I get very little (if anything) done.
I thought this excerpt from Roger Ebert’s below was spot on. It is in relation to his early days as a sports writer…
“I would begin a story time and time again on an old Smith-Corona manual typewriter, ripping each Not Quite Great Lead from the machine and hurling it at the wastebasket. (Bill) Lyon watched this performance for a couple of weeks and gave me two of the most valuable pieces of writing advice I have ever received:
1. Once you begin, keep on until the end. How do you know how the story should begin until you find out where it’s going?
2. The muse visits during creation, not before. Don’t wait for inspiration, just plunge in
These rules have saved me half a career’s worth of time, and gained me a reputation as the fastest writer in town. I’m not faster. I just spend less time not writing.”
