Do you ever find yourself putting off a task, a story, or a chore for the simple reason that you could do it tomorrow? It’s not critical, after all. No one is standing over you with a whip to get it done immediately.

Admit it. Every person procrastinates once in a while. There are those, however, for whom the act of procrastination has become a way of life. Some poor souls have taken months away from the keyboard and the mandates of writing. It may be that fear has crept into the nursery and stands between the writer and her/his creative baby, Muse. No one is immune to this insidious waster of time. Some have even made it into an art form.

What can a person do to pull him/herself out of this condition? The most sure fire way is to ferret out the reason behind the behavior.

Why Do Writers Procrastinate?

Many people fall into this pattern of “Oh, I can hold off on that until later.” mentality because they simply don’t want to tackle the job. It looks too difficult, too time consuming, too something. For others the problem stems from time constraints in their lives which leave few uncluttered moments to deal with those things which aren’t considered critical to that day’s immediate reality. Still others are terrified of failure--or worse yet, are terrified of success.

There are many who won’t tackle that small writing job because it’s something they haven’t done before, or they believe they don’t have enough experience in that area of publishing to succeed, or the expectations are different from projects already completed. Submitting work to markets looms as a huge hurdle for many writers and has its own file full of excuses.

For those who fear success, the emphasis comes down on the side of wondering what will happen in the event of success with the project. It’s a case of a potential successful future outcome looking more scary than failing.

Diagnosis In Hand --Conquering Fear

Now that the reasons for this behavior are known, it’s time to consider how to move toward eliminating the problem. This may require some serious personal internal dialogue. “How do you know…” questions need answers. Once these questions and their corresponding fallacies are answered, the writer can find much more incentive to begin putting words to paper. Remember--fear holds sway when it’s given control over how a person lives or works. The key to conquering fear is realizing that only the one experiencing it gives it power and strength.

Rerouting Writing Effort

Several baby-step techniques exist to help the writer change this habit of time-wasting activity in order to get back at the keyboard.

1. If the excuse is that there isn’t time to write, decide on at least one personal hour per day for writing. Everyone in the household needs to understand that during that hour only emergencies involving impending death will get the writer‘s attention.

[Caveat--Give yourself permission to have private time. This critical step is achieved by understanding that you weren’t put on this earth as a slave to other people’s wants, desires, expectations, etc. 24/7.]

2. Begin gently with free writing. Get back into the proper mindset of putting words onto paper. Write about the previous day, for instance. Make a list of all of those things achieved the day before, including every small detail of those activities which ate up time and accomplished nothing. Those are the most important items to tally.

[You will discover several instances of chores done that weren’t necessary. This will help you recognize other times during your day when writing may be possible or that will allow you to reorder your day to give you an additional half hour or so for writing time.]

3. Roaming around town in your car on errands isn’t an adequate excuse any longer. Man invented a small device known as a micro-recorder which uses tiny cassette tapes. This device is available at any discount store and is inexpensive.

Think of it as a large cell phone and carry it when driving around. Most of these devices are voice-activated, which means that every time it’s used, talking to oneself becomes writing time. Plot out stories, rework obstinate passages of stories/articles. Mentally reorganize your writing area--whatever helps you to write more often and have successful sessions.

[Yes, other drivers will wonder who you’re talking to. Think BlueTooth. They will.]

4. While lazing in that relaxing bath, allow the mind to wander wherever it will. Make mental notes of those wanderings for use later. And when you’ve toweled off and dressed for bed/whatever, jot down your musings for workup during that sacred writing hour. Many a story had its inception while under a layer of bubbles. [Remember that tape recorder. Here’s another good time to use it.]

5. Eavesdrop--discretely, of course--on every conversation possible. Not because you’re really interesting in what the people are talking about, but to capture snippets of dialogue that might help your characters live more deeply, more personally, in a story that’s stewed long enough. It’s also possible to stumble onto a new story that just has to be written.

[Imagine yourself as a spy. Consider this field research. Writers everywhere do it without guilt. In fact, most won’t even remember who said what, where it happened, or why they listened to it in the first place.]

End Product

These five minor techniques can help you reorder your thought processes regarding writing and your relationship with it. Sloppy thinking isn’t conducive to any kind of successful writing. Removing the tiny fears allows a person the freedom of uncluttered thinking. And organized thoughts are mandatory.

The very act of writing requires order; an order of characters, order of events, order of pages, etc. Order does take time and concerted effort. Whether you take an hour or an afternoon each day to sink your thoughts into words on paper, procrastination can be conquered and eliminated.

Either way, you can do this. Believe in yourself and start with those baby steps.