Creating my Way to Laziness

One of the problems with being a creative person is that you can come up with millions of reasons why you haven't done what you are supposed to have done.

If you have the creative/lazy combination, like I do, it is difficult to settle down and just get stuff done. Writing a list and prioritising things can help, but my lists sometimes end up being poems I don't care enough about, and then I get guilty, then I start doing something else, something else and something else. In the end nothing really happens, and another day fritters away. Sometimes that poem can turn into something useful though, so it's not a complete loss.

If you really care about getting a thing done, you have to be prepared to ignore the things that interfere with that one thing. Ignoring things can have side-effects, so make sure the one thing is important enough to you to make it worthwhile.

If the one thing you want to get done is say, finishing a craft project, and the thrill of finishing it will be something wonderful, go for it. But if getting it done will just be ho-hum, another rubbish thing crossed off the list, well, why were you doing it in the first place? People these days are always busy. Rushing off somewhere, doing a million things, but so little of the rush and bother is worth the effort involved. Think about what you are doing with your life. Are you benefitting from what you do? Rethinking how you are living can lead to progress.

If you are a wife and mother, as I am, feeding the family is important, and that must happen. Writing my novels is not as important as nurturing my family is, so writing doesn't happen. But what does happen is millions of little bits of nothing. As I am writing this post, I'm thinking that I could easily be spending this time working on the second draft of "Eth dil (working title)", hmm.

I think I've written nearly enough of this post, to summarise: If you are going to be creative in avoiding work, you are destroying yourself. Know what means the most to you and your life, and do that first.

How to become a writer

What are your writing goals? Make a list of them.
People write for different reasons. If you want to become a writer, focus on your own writing goals, not your teacher’s goals, or your parent/spouse’s goals. If you want to be a writer, you are the one who has to do it, so the goals that will work and the ones that you want to achieve.

It is like giving up smoking, most people don’t manage to quit smoking until they decide for themselves that they want to quit. They decide to give it up, giving themselves good reasons to do it, and it helps them focus on their goal when the going gets tough.

There are many reasons people may want to become a writer. Some enjoyed writing at school, then gave it away when life took over their spare time. Some people have a message they would like to share with others. Your reasons for wanting to write will help you decide on the writing goals that matter.

Your own goals are personal to you, and are the goals that will matter the most to you. This means that your own goals, not anyone else’s reasons, are the ones that matter.

How can you organise your life to take your writing life forward?
Are there things standing in your way, that impede your progress? What can you do to clear the way?

Make a list of the things that get in your way when you want to write, then list ideas that will help you deal with those impediments.

Time is often stated as a reason people cannot write as much as they want to. So write time in your list and then think of ways to get more time. Do you commute to work? You can write as you ride the bus or train.

Do you have appointments that take up your time? You can try having a notebook with you all the time, and write in the snippets of waiting time you have.

Television is a great time stealer. Do you really need to spend so much time string at the screen. That notebook can come in handy here too. Sit in front of the screen, sure, but have pen and paper there too. You might find a story idea in a mouthwash advertisement. Write it down, it could be the beginning of a novel or short story.



Onward!
Now that you have your goals on writing in front of you, and your ways of organising your life mapped out, it is time to get writing. It can be difficult at first, and many people have found help in finding a writing group.

If you think this may help you, seek out a supportive group reasonably close to you, or at least easy to get to. The people there will understand what you are trying to do, because they are dealing with the same things.

Finding other writers and realising they are people like you, makes it easier to believe you too can become a writer.

Do you Really Need to Clean the Bathroom?

Writers and procrastination go together - it's called "letting your subconscious mind work without you watching, while you do boring, dreary crap housework stuff".

I just made that up and pasted it to Facebook, so I claim the copyright on it. If someone steals my words and I see them on the internet, it’s still good though, ‘cos it’s always good to connect with other people. That is the reason why I write. It’s probably why most people write. If it was purely for the money, well, anyone who thinks you can easily make lots of money by writing I hate to say, you are wrong.

Only a few people make lots of money with their writing. Most of the people who make money from writing are already famous for other reasons. Publishers prefer to publish books written by already famous people because it saves them money on promoting the book. The fame does the work for them.

Famous people are probably the people who don’t have the procrastination issue that ordinary writers like me have. They have trainers and life coaches and managers keeping them focussed. They aren’t allowed to procrastinate because other people’s livelihoods depend on them doing stuff. They probably have half an hour wool-gathering time in their diary, and that’s when they do the chill out muddle-head think time that other, ordinary people do, when they are scrubbing the bathroom taps with a nail-brush.

We get side-tracked from the writing we’re meant to be doing, and just meander around a bit. That’s when the subconscious mind gets busy, but it isn’t the sort of thing that shows to onlookers. It doesn’t shoe to the person doing it either, not straightaway, but that’s where those amazing zany ideas come from that totally blow you away when you read what you’re written when the words just flow. That is when the daydreaming and the unnecessary housework thoughts bear fruit.

But, there is also the other side of the procrastination. Cleaning the bathroom and assorted make work jobs happen often for 'blocked' writers! A lot of the time, the silly curtain washing stuff and so on, is just because of fear. It can be a scary thing to write a novel, not knowing if anyone will ever want to read it. Not knowing if it will even be good enough for you to ever read again. Doing housework that doesn’t really need to be done is a way of hiding from your writing, even though the writing is what you should be doing.

You might tell yourself you have plenty of time to do it later, but as Charles Richard, a Canadian politician famously said, ‘Don't be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week's value out of a year while another man gets a full year's value out of a week.

So, no matter what you do, you have your allotted number of days, and it is up to each person to make their best use of those days. If you can’t write unless the bathroom is spotless, well, so be it. But if you are just using the bathroom cleaning as an excuse for your fear, or perhaps laziness, get over it and get writing, that’s what I say!

Use the days you have, and use them to do what you really want to do. The thing that means the most to you should get the most effective time spent on it.

The Law of Attraction

I'm not talking her about how to get a new love, but something every bit as fundamental. The Law of Attraction is all about the idea that you get what you want, by not wanting it, but assuming you will get it.

That's a simplified version, but it covers the essentiallness of the idea. Look here for a more in depth explanation, and you will be amazed, as I was, at the sense of the whole thing.

I suspect that is how my dogs work. If they hear the crackling of plastic wrapping, they assume there is food there for them and they come rushing over to get it. It doesn't always work, but it works often enough for them to know the law works perfectly sometimes.

If they didn't rush over to get the food, they certainly wouldn't get whatever it is, and they might miss out on some ham, or cheese, or whatever it was in the wrapping. They have seen this proven often, and know it is true.

If you drag yourself around, lamenting your lack of money, money will certainly not come to you. If you walk around, expecting to get money, you could well get some. You might find money that's been dropped, or you may see an ad looking for what you want to sell.

The Law of Attraction means if you believe it, it can happen. I will never become a famous writer by complaining about my lack of success. If I get down and write more, my chances of making it as a writer are much greater.

Hold onto what you want, believe you will get it. That's the Law!

Singing in the Rain

Well, I'm not singing, but it sure is raining here. Not that long ago we had dust storms, now the season has well and truly broken. Everything has turned green, except for the deciduous trees, which are lovely Autumn colours.

I am not going out in the rain - I don't want to get a chill and end up susceptible to the bugs that are out there! Maybe I should be singing in the loungeroom though. A friend has reminded me via a study by "Chorus America" that Choral Singing is good for you!!! Everyone join a choir!

Many thanks to Angus for that. The study, here, has found various health benefits as well as benefits to the greater community.

My friend is showing this information around because he is a choral director and wants people to join up. When I remember how much fun I had in the school choir at Primary School, I am tempted to join Angus and the others. Even though I am certainly not a good singer, I know I would enjoy singing with the others.

The only reason I would begin going to church, I think, might be for the singing. I know that having a baby to sing to was one of the most fun parts for me in being a mother. Of course, now that my son is fifteen, he tells me to shut up if I begin singing a nursery favourite. I can sing my head off if he's not here though!

I found myself singing under my breath this morning, a snazzy little tune about a chuffaluffa steam train chugging along a track. I was a bit wobbly with the words, but I had a good time anyway. I heartily recommend a good sing-a-long with friends to cheer you all up.