Is procrastination normal?

[thealtruismsociety]

I wrote 50k in Nov and have written 4k since lol.

[marguerite]

I'll answer this someday when I run out of excuses for not responding.

M

[Steve E]

Q: Is procrastination normal?

 

A: Yes, statistically. Like masturbation, everybody does it but few care to talk about it (and you probably don't want to shake hands with those who do). It isn't always laziness that makes you do it (procrastinate, not masturbate). Some things are time sensitive. (E.g., I only write well at night when it's quiet.) Some things are so painful that you need to put it off if you can. Of course, if you're putting it off just to flake out in front of the TV then god bless you but may I suggest you give it a shot anyway and see what happens. I would suppose (given my decades of service as a clinical psychologist and several doctorates in the subject — NOT) that the only time procrastination becomes abnormal (i.e., represents a psychological abnormality) is when you can't control it and important things are consistently put off to your continuous detriment. That is to say, procrastination is a real problem only when real problems result from it.

 

I hope my bit of folk wisdom has eased your mind.

-Thoth.

 

BTW: I too am editing my NaNo story. I've only written about 6K since November but, at least in my case, the editing isn't so much about adding as it is about changing and deleting. (I sometimes overstate my point. See Answer above for an example. I could have reduced the main paragraph to its last sentence.)

[Steakpirate]

With me procrastination is more about being afraid that what I write won't be good enough, or that I don't have enough time to get started, or that there's simply something else I'd rather be doing. Usually it's an illogical fear.

 

The best way to kill Writer's Block is to just start writing, as stupid as that may sound. To not worry about quality or time constraints because you can always edit later.

[thealtruismsociety]

Well I did 14k in the month of December so not horrible, shooting for that much in Jan then that much in Feb book should be done. 64k words so far.

 

Then the rewrites and edits start lol.