Top 5 Ways I Avoid Writing

This last week I was doing a writing contest, and it got to the point where I had to make myself literally sit down to finish the piece. By finish the story, I mean out of my head and on the screen. I was nervous about doing my first contest and sending my work out there. What I promised myself this year is to be dauntless and keep moving in spite of fear. 

So if you talk to me and I am doing these 5 things, it is likely I am avoiding a larger project. I have a book I have been working on as well, and my characters are getting impatient.

1. Deep cleaning everything. 

Now you might think, how could this be procrastinating? Maybe you really do need to clean. There are days when cleaning is necessary, but this type of cleaning is taking one room at a time and deep cleaning. I will spend hours in one place that is not dirty, to begin with. No, this is a sure sign that I need to talk to someone about something. I am mulling things over in my mind too much, and the only way I can get started wrapping my head around writing is cleaning. 

2. Watching a show, I have already seen it.

I’m not particularly eager to waste my time watching shows I have already seen unless it is Friends. So, if I am watching something I have already seen, then you know I might not want to focus on the writing assignment on hand. 

3. All of a sudden, I need to go to the store.

Now we are not talking about milk and eggs run people. We are talking about any stationery or book store I can find. It is not about the essentials, but we are talking about needing a new pen because it is going to write so much better than the 100 other pens I have at home in the drawer. 

4. Lost on the scroll of social media.

I like social media like everyone else, but if I am on Facebook for an entire night, there is something really wrong. So if you see me on Facebook all night, then know another work of art is on hold. It is only Facebook. I get lost on though it is like my comfort blanket because I have had it for so long. However, it is not helping me get my writing done. Okay, I might have a little bit of a Twitter problem as well. 

5. I must replan everything in my life right now.

This was maybe less obvious to catch. I am a huge planner freak, and I love trying out new planners all the time. However, if I am trying a new planner, it is probably because I am trying to figure out how to get more time in the day to write a project I am avoiding. Oh, the irony of just using the time I am to plan to just write instead of thinking I can squeeze more hours out of my day. 

When I am avoiding writing, I usually need hugs, help, and encouragement from people surrounding me. This is not about avoidance of everyday writing but often a more significant project I am trying to finish. I am a talker, and I need to talk about my problem or grief out of my head so I can get back to my project. Know you are not alone when you are putting off the big creative projects. Don’t forget when you are being productive there might someone else avoiding because they need to work through something. Send your quiet friends and encouraging words because they might really need it. 

Writing What I Felt

I needed to write, but I was experiencing blah. Was that an emotion? It was my form of exhaustion in every way, shape, and form. I am not proud of it, but I have found a lot of my days lately have overflowed with stress. I sat in the morning pondering if I was going to write anything because I have been in a funk. I didn’t feel like writing at all, and I was not sure about the extensive project I promised myself I would finish.

So, what did I do when I didn’t feel like writing? What every good writer does surf the net. I realized email was an excellent place to start my procrastination. I was sent an email for Camp NaNoWriMo, and it was very inspiring for my moment in time. Write what you feel email  by Kat Yeh said: “Some people say write what you know—I say write what you feel.” 

 Through my academic circles, I had studied plenty about writing what I knew, however writing what I felt has been felt out.  I had not heard someone approach writing what you feel this way before. When I have been looking up ideas about character emotions, I have come across a lot of writers and artist taking a sharp memory and writing from the feelings you had at that moment — this type of writing I can do with ease. There are days, weeks, and sometimes months when I have struggled with writing. When the thought of a book came up, it felt more like a chore than something I wanted to do. The writing honeymoon was over, and it only took three years. 

I am not ready to divorce writing or my muse. However, I needed to know how to work on my relationship when I didn’t feel like being in it.  I heard from people give up writing and do something else with your life. What people have not witnessed was how great writing had been the one thing that had carried me through the darkness, and joy I felt in creation. I was at least staring at my screen, I got my butt in the chair, and I continued to watch the blinking curser. How in the world could I write what I feel when I didn’t even feel like writing?

In these moments of blah was when mind dumping and free writing were my lifesavers (suddenly have a candy craving). The email I had read said to take a few minutes to just writing whatever it was you were feeling. Sometimes I need to vent, and there was no one else to listen. So, I vent to the computer screen. With the beautiful world of dictation, I can yell at my device, and it will record every word I say. However, just like humans, it has continuously got some of it wrong. 

I decided to do a little therapeutic writing, getting all of these emotions and thoughts onto a page for about 5 minutes. This was when a light bulb turned on for me. I have heard many times from many people, even in my academic writing circles to write what you know but what I knew at that moment was what I felt. 

Then from the instruction of the email, I began to write a character in a funk about life and feeling in some way, it will never get better than this. This woman couldn’t see the future for all the things going on in her life right then. They couldn’t see the joy of the light or the relief of the rain. They stared off into the darkness, and it consumed this character like a moth to a flame. And just like that, the main character for my next book was born. 

The moral of this story is to just write.