Fiction, from the First Draft Forward: "I need time" really means "I need to MAKE time"

This week we’re going to talk about a crime we all commit, not just as writers, but also as human beings: procrastination. When I say we all have done the delay dance, I mean all. I see you hiding behind your pile of excuses. Yes, you too.

Don’t worry, you’re not alone. I’m so guilty of postponing things that if you could go to prison for an offense against the process of advancement, I’d be the one with the longest sentence. I’m not as bad as I used to be, but it still happens in every aspect of my life, including writing. I should say especially writing. Now that I’ve actually wrapped up my first draft, the task of writing gets set on the backburner more often than it did before I typed that last page.

It’s so easy for the fact that I finished one manuscript to take root in the back of my head and make it ‘okay’ for me to be too busy to get around to other work. I said I finished it—I didn’t say I completed it. Two different things. It is my belief that after completing a first draft it should be left alone for a period of time; I should work on something else, then come back with a fresh eye. Granted, I only gained this belief after reading On Writing, by Stephen King a few days ago (highly recommended) but it’s something I am going to try. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Back to the point at hand. Before I finished my first draft, I would sit down and type out upwards of 20 pages in one go. I blew through chapters, telling myself I had to get it done. Now? I’m starting to slack. I’m not proud of it, but there you have it. The drive to ‘get it done’ has tapered off into a nudge to follow through, and it started to really bother me before I even realized what I was doing. Correction: am doing. Right up until the moment I started writing this article, it was an ongoing issue.

The bad part? This is not intentional procrastination-- the kind that comes to mind with that little voice saying “I’ll do it later”-- no-no. This procrastination happens when things get ‘in the way’. I need to do the dishes, I need to do the laundry, I need to think about what I’m going to make for dinner. While life is life and needs to be lived, as a serious writer, I have to put my foot down and say that my work on projects is just as important as these other things that need to get done. For me, it’s more important than those things.

I’m not telling anyone who has children to look after, and a household to run, that your families are not as important as your writing. Not at all. What I am saying is if there is time to watch that episode of Real Housewives, then there is time to write. We have to want it guys, want it bad enough to turn that excuse of “I want to write but I need time” to “I want to write so I need to make time”. No one is going to do it for us.

My family supports what I’m trying to do with my writing, yet it’s still pretty low on the totem pole of things they think I need to do around the house. That’s just the nature of the beast; until you start seeing profit for your work, to everyone else, it’s just a hobby. Do you see your writing as merely a way to pass the time? I certainly hope not. Jigsaw puzzles are hobbies. Scrap booking is a hobby. Sudoku is a hobby. Writing is not a hobby. It’s what I want to do with my life. If you feel the same way about your writing then you have to make it known. The laundry isn’t going anywhere. It’s not going to expire or go bad and will still be there ready to be folded and put away in 15 minutes or two hours.

Along with making time to write, a serious author needs to make time to read. Stephen King said it best, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or tools) to write. Simple as that.” And he’s right. Reading is learning by example. It’s one thing to read how it’s done—in a how-to or self-help book—and another thing entirely to see how it’s done. That’s why instruction manuals often come with pictures. The only thing I’ve found I’m able to do by instruction alone is cook. Even then I’m sometimes left wondering what I messed up to turn my spinach tortellini orange.

We have to read. We have to write. If we don’t want our works in progress to wind up on a shelf in our bedroom closet until our great-grandchildren pull them down to reminisce, then we have to take charge. If writing is a part of your life, make it (and reading) a tangible section of what encompasses your day-to-day existence. Don’t need the time, make the time. Fight for it if you must, make it into a habit. Work it into your routine, and toss out something that isn’t as important. I seriously kicked and screamed when I had to put down World of Warcraft (yes I play video games, don’t judge me!) to get my writing/reading done. Then I put down television. Then I put down outings to the coffee shop with the girls, unless I had a book in hand. Don’t become a recluse, no one is demanding you forgo all human contact, but you get the idea. Our writing starts out important to us and only us, so in the beginning it is up to us to convey that importance to everyone else.

“A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a single word on paper.” E.B. White

Happy writing.

L.L. McKinney is a freelance writer, a published poet and a playwright. As an active member of First Tuesdays and YA Lit Chat, she is currently seeking representation for her young adult paranormal urban fantasy, Swayed.