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| Procrastination is About Fear đź’—
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August 14, 2020
Oakland, CA
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| | Picture This:
There you are. You want to write, but something stops you. You turn away, do the dishes, clean the counters, pay the bills, anything but write.
Yet, your story calls to you in the night, or upon waking. And you despair with ever finishing the story or polishing it to a fine sheen for your readers.
What stops you?
What has you turning away from the thing you desire most in this world—to send hearts soaring or beating hard, eyeballs glued to the page, readers hanging on your every word, their daily lives forgotten?
I say it’s fear—the kind of fear that has me scurrying away from the page in wordless panic, not even realizing what I’m doing chores until I’m up to my elbows in suds, and the writing or more often editing hasn’t been done by the doer—the writer—me.
It’s easy to procrastinate and beat yourself up about it.
But if you know the cause then maybe you could have more compassion, more grace, for yourself.
I realized this recently when I was torturing myself for not working on my final revisions.
A friend mentioned having grace. In that instant I realized why I’d been avoiding the work.
I was afraid of what others might think of Book 2 in the series when Book 1 had been well received.
I was afraid I just couldn’t measure up to this ideal I had in my head for delivering good writing.
I doubted my skills as a writer.
I doubted the choices I’d already made in the story.
I quaked before the prospect of having to make more hard decisions that would fix the story into its final form.
Was I doing justice to the story I wanted to tell?
And the most pernicious of fears and doubts and negative self-talk: who the hell did I think I was to be able to tell this story?
And the dark whisperings that I’d never be good enough, never have the right credentials, never measure up to “those” people’s ideas of what a good story was…
Oh boy. So harsh.
Ouch and double ouch.
All these layers under procrastination, all these “good” reasons to stay away from the novel, from the work of my heart and soul, to stay arm’s length away from the deep and hard work of being an artist and leaving my all heart and passion and truths on the page.
So, once I realized I was afraid and acknowledged all those shouts and whisperings, acknowledged the primal need to flee from the work, I held myself with compassion, with grace, and I gave it up to the Universe—the thing that is greater than all of us, the thing that sparks life and creative ideas and love and mystery and the glorious Unknown.
I bowed to the Universe and all the unknowns, for I am little in the face of all that.
After honoring my fears, I was able to get to work and face my story. And then make one story decision at a time.
That’s all. That’s how I get working again.
To get more specific, for the writing and editing, I make the action doable, small enough that it’s easy to say, “I can do that.”
Sometimes that means I set my timer for 10 minutes, or 20 minutes, or I decide to work on just one paragraph or one page. Or when I writing new material, I give myself the easy goal of writing 100 words or 500 words. Whatever feels easy.
Because at the end of the day, what matters is that I showed up fully for the story—mind, body, heart, and soul—and that I made progress, however small.
What is procrastination for you? How do you handle it? How do you get writing again? Hit reply. I’d love to hear. Or you can comment here.
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| Favorite Inspiring Things of the Week
Some of what I've loved... am loving... and recommend for your consideration:
- I'm still reading the Ava Lee series by Ian Hamilton -- I'm on Book 9 now, The Couturier of Milano, and have just encountered the big problem at the heart of the story. I relish the anticipation of how Ava will get out of this problem—bigger than she’s ever faced before.
- I finished reading Rites of Passage -- I really enjoyed this book that I had to read in 10th grade English.
- Listening to FranceInter via the app. I love hearing what’s happening in France in real time. If you can listen/watch media outside your country I highly recommend it, for the new/different perspective on the world it offers.
- Absolutely in love with Rufus Wainwright’s song, "Haine." I even found the lyrics to learn them. Such an intense topic to sing about in such a stirring way. “Haine” means “hate” in French.
- I bought a copy of The Goddess Twins by Yodassa Williams and look forward to reading this YA fantasy.
- A shoutout to BroadUniverse that invited me to teach two online classes to them recently (along with other members): “Branding for Novelists” and “Plan Your Novel Like A Pro.” If you’d like me to teach an online class to your writer’s group, just hit reply and let me know your needs and we can get something on the Fall calendar, as I’m booking online appearances now.
- Love these thoughts that Parker Posey shared as a guest in our acting class, “Character Lab” I took last month from Josh Pais. So wise. So humbling. Powerful. “To be intimidated is good. That means you’re vulnerable.”
What are you reading, listening to, watching, that is inspiring you? I’d love to know! Hit reply and share. Or post a comment here. |
| Good News!
Shouts outs to current and former students and clients…
Congrats to Mellissa Green, for publishing her article, “Accessible Twitter Desktop for Blind Users” in Ability Anyware Fall Quarterly https://sway.office.com/vFcu5UkHXjgiVeii
Congrats to Jeri Lawson for uploading her book, A Business of Healing, for publishing very soon on Amazon. I helped her edit and produce the book.
Congrats to Dave James Ashton and his co-author, his daughter, Rosalyn May Ashton for publishing the children’s book, I'm Angry! Angry Like An Alligator!
Do you have good news to share? It could be a milestone or news about an award or new publication. Hit reply and let me know and I'll include you in our Friday Good News column in this newsletter.
♥
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| Have a happy and creative week!
All my best,
Beth |
| | PS. Looking ahead for the fall and NaNoWriMo, I'm working behind the scenes on revamping my Plan Your Novel material and will let you know more soon. |
| | Recent Post on the Writer's Fun Zone Blog
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| | | | | You have been reading the Creativity Sparks Newsletter!
Now in its 14th year, this newsletter is a service of my coaching and consulting business, helping genre fiction writers write, market, and publish their books through live and home study courses, a 12-month group program, and private consultations.
You may share this content intact and with no changes with this attribution:
c. 2006-2020 Beth Barany, Creativity Coach for Writers, www.BethBarany.com
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| ABOUT BETH BARANY
Beth Barany is creativity coach for writers, a teacher, workshop facilitator, and speaker, who helps fiction writers experience clarity, so that they can write and polish their novels, and proudly publish them to the delight of their readers.
Owner of the Barany School of Fiction, an online training hub, Beth takes great interest in how humans learn, create, and grow, and includes all her students’ life experiences, including the ancestors, into the moment.
Want a course to help you prepare to write your novel? Discover the comprehensive Plan Your Novel course here, co-taught with award-winning, bestselling thriller author, Ezra Barany.
She's also an award-winning novelist and writes magical tales of romance, adventure, and mystery to empower women and girls to be the heroes in their own lives.
Uncover her Henrietta series here (YA Fantasy) and her Touchstone series here (Fantasy/Paranormal Romance). And her new Sci-fi Mystery here.
beth@bethbarany.com
Barany School of Fiction
Writer's Fun Zone blog
Photo Credit: by c. 2018 Ezra Barany
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