Another problem that aspiring author’s face is Procrastination, which in simple words means, “Putting things off for later or avoiding it for the last minute.” In fact everyone procrastinates, we have so much in our hands at times that we tend to do it for later at times. But is it good for you? It is said that there is a positive side of procrastination that is when achieving big things while avoiding small errands. ‘Small’ is defined in this case something that will not affect you in any way to postpone that job or errand for later. Procrastination have bad consequences, it can affect your professional and personal lives. For example putting off replying mails to clients, would definitely get you to lose the client. And once that happens, the stress and strain of losing business or a deal will get to you, affecting your health and in turn strain your relationships with loved ones. New and aspiring Authors have this problem affecting them in a major way; they tend to postpone their writing always. Their minds get diverted, for example decide to make a snack while writing. A few Reasons why writers Procrastinate The reasons are more or less same for writing a novel or a short story. But we are focusing on short stories, as we want everyone out there to forward us their stories. 1. Fear of failure that is afraid of the outcome of what you write 2. Not prepared, that is to not know where to start 3. Too many distractions and other jobs to do 4. Fatigue and laziness Advice from GHAi 1. Stare down at your fear If you want to be a writer or share your story, don’t think what people might say?or that they might not like your writing. We ask how did you come to this conclusion. Are you Psychic? You are just guessing. You will be surprised what different things the readers like to read. If you really want to share your story, just start writing. Be prepared for positive and negative reviews. Just put your thoughts down J. K Rowling has beautifully put that “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.” 2. Organize before starting, and then just start writing. Having an idea of what you want to write about, will be your foundation of your story or the novel. Have a mind map of what you want to write about, example fiction stories need characters, nonfiction an outline that is where you want to start and end. Once you have this just start writing, they call it ‘Free writing’. Just start writing without worrying about grammar, punctuations or spellings. You can work on it later. 3. Avoid distractions A lot of writers make excuses that they do not have time to write and are always distracted, well there are options. For working men and women, if you have the Saturday or Sunday where you have more time, or for housewives during the week when children are at school, make sure you write during that time. Sit in a quite space; switch off your phone if you have to. Check mails in intervals. A lot of writers having the next day off, write in the night when there is no one to disturb them. 4. Stop when you are tired After a good amount of time, Stop! Even if it is not finished You do not need to work continuously, work in sessions of half hour to 90 minutes. According to a study by Dr. Boice, Professor of Psychology at Stony Brook, New York, Moderate workers working in thirty to ninety minute sessions frequently got their work done between other activities. As a result of this work style, moderate workers accomplish more work over time because they do not face burnout. “William Gibson, American-Canadian novelist incorporates short naps into his routine to help reset the mind. He sleeps so that he can get back to the time when his mind is fresh and most detached from conscious reality.” We have only shared with you a few problems and cures, but what you need to do is find out your reason for Procrastination, and let us know. We can definitely help you with it. We can all get over it. We hope that this has helped you to overcome your Procrastination in some way and you will start writing and share your story with us!!
Posted on: Sat, 05 Oct 2013 12:56:11 +0000