I've just finished with my spring semester grading and -- I'm having trouble motivating on my editing.
I start a chapter of one of the books, and so many things seem much more interesting -- Facebook. Instagram. My blog -- oh, wait. I'm in my blog, aren't I?
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Oh, sorry. I just checked Facebook again. Nothing happened. Isn't that always the case?
Why do people procrastinate? Sometimes they're afraid they're not up to the challenge. Sometimes they have very low attention spans. Sometimes they're bored -- ding ding ding!
Editing isn't sexy like writing is. In writing, I meet (and fall in love with) my characters, they talk to me, their actions and beliefs and feelings flesh out the direction of my outlined plot, I get to know them. I create a world that's more diverse (but perhaps no more tolerant) as the one I grew up in, one where a dying elderly woman can fall in love with a faun.
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I've checked Instagram twice and Facebook once. Just saying.
How to do a boring task like editing and do it well? Break it up into little pieces. Start it and promise yourself you'll quit if you haven't warmed up to it in ten minutes. PUT AWAY THE iPHONE.
Or maybe I just need a break. Where's my iPhone?
Hmmm....I have no words of wisdom, but I want to encourage. I like to write and I like to edit my technical writing. I fear it is not the same! My issue? I edit so hard and so long, I have trouble letting go and feeling finished...and my perfectionist tendencies create fear of what others will think. Sigh...
ReplyDeleteThank you for the encouragement! Technical writing has many similarities with fiction -- we both have to use precise language to communicate. In your case, you use language that instructs the reader and explains the concepts. In my case, I use language to stimulate the reader into experiencing the story. In both of our cases, again, we need precision of language.
DeleteTo address your mention of perfectionism, I'll share advice my mother gave me as a child: "It takes two people to paint a picture -- one to paint it, the other to slap the painter when they're done." You either have to learn to slap yourself (figuratively) or have a friend who can tell you when you're done.