productive procrastination

In a need to rationalise/justify, it occurs to me that procrastination can be productive.  Yes, seriously.  There could be an excellent reason why you aren't getting back into writing your novel or short story.  Perhaps the enthusiasm simply isn't there - other stuff going on in your life which is draining energy.  Or perhaps you aren't happy with some aspect of your writing but are struggling to work out what this is. Maybe you've decided what needs to be changed but aren't quite ready to tackle this.  Perhaps you would benefit from some incubation time.  Could it be - strange as this may seem - some form of delayed gratification?

It can be helpful to understand your reason for putting off.

I'm currently - I hope - emerging from a second period of feeling stuck.  But I think I've managed to use my time well, even if at the end of the day, a nagging voice tells me I could have done at least one hour's writing per day as well as the other stuff.






My last major decision about my current novel was that it might benefit from being written in 1st person, rather than 3rd.  This thought coincided with reading Clare Francis' A Dark Devotion, written in the 1st person.  So what did I do?  Spend weeks analysing the book, noting how she handles the 1st person.  This finished, I'd predicted I'd be back working on my novel.  But no.  This last week or so I've been contacting people for reviews of my editing guide.  This done, there should be no excuse for further procrastination.  The time hasn't been wasted, but I'm rapidly running out of reasons for delaying.  I think that perhaps I've worked out the real reason for procrastinating this time: I know what I need to do but worry I won't be able to do it.


So now I'm writing this blog?  Hmm....

Jane