In this week’s episode, we take a look at tips & tricks for avoiding procrastination while writing.
This week’s coupon is for the ebook of DRAGONTIARNA OMNIBUS ONE, which you can get for 50% off at my Payhip store with this coupon code:
WINTERDRAGON
The coupon code is valid through March 2nd, 2024. So if you’re looking for a very long fantasy book to read, we’ve got you covered!
TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates
Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 187 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is February the 8th, 2024 and today we are looking at tips and tricks to stop procrastinating so you can get your writing done. We’ll also have Coupon of the Week, updates on my current writing projects, and a few questions and comments from readers. First off, let’s have Coupon of the Week. This week’s coupon is for the ebook of Dragontiarna Omnibus One, which you can get for 50% off at my Payhip store with this coupon code: WINTERDRAGON. That is WINTERDRAGON and that will also be in the show notes for this episode, along with the links. The coupon code is valid through March the 2nd, 2024. So if you’re looking for a very long fantasy book to read, we have got you covered.
Now for updates on my current writing projects. The rough draft of Sevenfold Sword Online: Leveling is done and I have made good progress on the editing. I am very confident (well, mostly confident) that I will be able to get the book out before the end of February. So watch my websites and listen to this podcast for future updates. I’ve also written a short story called Damage Per Second that is an accompaniment to the book and newsletter subscribers will get a free ebook copy of the short story when Sevenfold Sword Online: Leveling comes out later this month.
I am also on Chapter 2 of Ghost in the Veils, which I think puts me at 5,500 words or thereabouts and that will be my main project as soon as Sevenfold Sword Online: Leveling is done. I am also 25,000 words into Wizard Thief, which will be the sequel to Half-Elven Thief and that hopefully will come out before too much longer after Ghost in the Veils is done. In audiobook news, recording for Shield of Storms is underway. We’ve listened to some chapters of it and it’s looking good, and hopefully that will be out in March sometime.
Now a couple of comments and questions from readers. Our first comment is from Cyril, who asks: Have just read all the books in the Silent Order series. Could not put them down. The storylines followed from on from book to book and did not jump about all over the place, backwards and forwards like some of the writers do these days. Any more thoughts on sci-fi books in the future? Will try some of your other works but my main interest is sci-fi. Keep writing.
Thanks, Cyril. I’m glad you like the books. In answer to your question, I am not presently planning any new science fiction books, but neither am I saying no to the possibility after I wrap up some of my current ongoing series. Maybe the next series will be a science fiction one. We will see when I get there.
Our next question is from Alice who asks: Hi. I love your books but have dyslexia and so listen via audio. So I was wondering what of your books are in audio and what of them you have planned to have done an audio. I just hate starting the series to find out half of it is not in audio. Thanks, Alice. In answer to your question, the completed series that I have an audio would be Frostborn, Sevenfold Sword, Dragontiarna, Dragonskull, Malison, The Ghosts, and Ghost Exile. All those series are complete. Some other ones are ongoing, but they are not complete yet and won’t be complete yet for a while. So if you want to listen to completed audiobook series, the ones I just listed off are the best place to start.
00:03:32 Main Topic: Avoiding Procrastination
Now let’s go on to our main topic this week, which is something I’ve noticed many writers struggle with, not with just writing, but in many areas of life: procrastination. Why do people procrastinate when they should be writing? And what can we do about it? What can we do to address that? It’s a very common, writerly trope that at last I will have two free hours available to write, so it’s time to start vacuuming the carpet or to clean the kitchen or to do laundry or do anything except get the words down on paper or the word processor. So let’s take a look at why writers procrastinate and what we can do to address those problems.
So first off, we need to understand the root causes of procrastinating. Procrastination is generally a short term reward that doesn’t feel like a reward. It should feel like you’re giving yourself a break, but you’re not actually removing the cause of the stress, so you’re not actually solving the problem. What will actually make you feel better is the achievement of doing something, even if it’s an incremental gain or a small improvement. So what causes people to seek out this short term break in the form of procrastination?
One of them is our good old friend perfectionism, also known as the Nirvana Fallacy, where if something cannot be made perfect, there’s no point in attempting it, which overlooks the fact (since it’s a logical fallacy) that forty percent of a good thing is better than 0 percent of a good thing. Another way people tend to lean on the Nirvana Fallacy that way is if I can’t write X number of words per day, there’s no point in even doing it, whether that number is, you know 1,000 or 5,000 or whatever. But that overlooks the fact that you know 500 words or 3,000 words or even just 1,000 words or 100 words is still better than 0.
Another root cause of procrastination is fear of failure, where people think they won’t be able to finish a book or write a good book, so they should wait until they could or they can’t market a book or make a billion dollars from one, so they shouldn’t bother writing one (which again, is the Nirvana Fallacy right there) or the belief that everything you write is trash, so you just re-edit what you’ve written over and over again rather than writing new words. This is just something that has to be overcome emotionally. Every writer at any point of any project they’ve ever written will at some times feel that what they’re writing is complete nonsense and they should stop. You just have to learn to ignore this feeling and keep moving.
Another root cause of procrastination is the siren call of side quests or busywork, where you can get caught up in planning or outlining or creating series bibles or doing research for your book, or buying software or supplies without a clear plan to actually use them, or reading about writing, watching Tik Toks about writing. All these things give you the illusion of writing, but they don’t actually get you anywhere. Some of those activities may be necessary and you may have to do them, but they are not helping you get words down on the page.
For example, in a couple of weeks I’m going to have to take an entire day to get my tax paperwork organized and sent into the accountants for tax season. That’s going to be a very busy day. That’s going to be some work, but it doesn’t count as writing and it is very easy to fall through the trap of seeing all these various side projects or support projects for writing as writing, but they’re not actually getting any writing done. For this kind of thing to avoid it, it’s best to set a clear time limit for these types of activities and do not count them as part of your writing time or writing progress.
Now let’s look at a couple of different strategies to address these root causes and to defeat them or at least circumvent them. One common tactic is to break down a large and complicated task into smaller pieces. Start with a very small word count that can be done quickly and feels easy like 50 or 100 words, not something larger. There’s this book called Atomic Habits by a guy named James Clear that explains the process of breaking down goals into very small pieces and I’ve seen that strategy work very well for some people. So if you want further details on it, that book would probably be a good place to start.
Another useful technique is to change your expectations, or just do it. For example, no editing as you write, no going back and trying to fix what you just wrote. Just get it all down on the page as fast as you can and when the rough draft is done, that’s when you go back and edit. Some find the exercises of morning pages from the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron helpful, where you do three pages of stream of consciousness writing every day with no editing, no filtering, no self-criticism. Just get it on the page and then move on. It’s also a very good idea to avoid writing adjacent activities during writing time, such as outlining or research or answering emails or social media. All those other various things that can be necessary but sometimes turn into a time sink.
Another useful technique is to build a focused environment for your writing. Now, what does that mean? You may want to pick a spot with no physical distractions, such as a spot with no TV, definitely no video games, maybe a place where a lot of people don’t walk by (like the spare bedroom in your house), or if you’re writing at a university or in public, maybe like a library carrel or a quiet floor of the library away from the main floor. You also want a spot possibly that’s away from clutter where you’re not seeing other chores you have to do, like bills to pay or laundry to do or that kind of thing.
For some people, being around ambient noise or being around other people does actually help them work. This is really not the case for me. I have written large quantities of all my books in coffee shops or doctor’s waiting rooms or other waiting rooms, as I wait to pick people up or to meet people. But it’s not something I seek out and I only do it when circumstances compel me to do it. I would rather be writing quietly at my desk with no one around. However, not everyone works that way, and some people actually do derive energy from being around other people who are working. So you could go to a busier area of the library, like a chair or table on the main floor or a coffee shop and write there along with many other people who derive enjoyment from doing that.
One key part of building a focused environment is managing tech distractions. While writing, you may want to turn off the Wi-Fi because that reduces the temptation to just, you know, casually check something on Wikipedia and then get caught in a Wikipedia spiral for the next half hour. You may want to create a phone setting that allows calls or messages only from certain contacts to come through. Sometimes when people write they want to turn their phone off, but they don’t because they’re worried an emergency call from, you know, a friend or family member might come in. So there are options where you can configure your phone to only let messages from your contacts through while blocking you from getting on, you know, Twitter or Facebook or Instagram or TikTok or any of the other social media time sinks. There are a variety of different phone and browser modes that can be set to limit certain apps or sites or notifications and so forth, because phone addiction is definitely something people struggle with when procrastinating and writers are no different.
Another method of battling procrastination is with routine and planned times for writing. It can be helpful to pick a specific time every day and stick to it. If you’re going to do this, it’s best if you pick a realistic time. Just don’t decide right, I’m going to get up at 4:30 in the morning every day and write, because you’re probably not going to if you’re not already getting up at 4:30 in the morning anyway. If you try that, you’ll probably get up at 4:30 once or twice, get too tired to continue, and that will be that. It’s probably better to pick a different time in the day. Mornings and lunch breaks tend to work well for a lot of people, since people generally have less willpower as the day goes on and many people have very tiring jobs where they just want to get home, eat some dinner, and then watch some Netflix and go to bed. For myself, I used to write quite a bit on lunch breaks back in the day and that can be a very useful tool for getting some writing done.
Time blocking or the Pomodoro Method can be very helpful. I use Pomodoro a lot when writing my books lately, pretty much since oh, like 2019 or so. The Pomodoro Method is where you set a timer and then you spend 25 minutes working on your task to the exclusion of everything else. You take a 5 minute break, then you do another 25 minutes of working on your task to the exclusion of all else with, you know, Wi-Fi off and everything, and then you take a 10 minute break and repeat until you are done or you run out of time and have to do something else. I have found Pomodoro to be very helpful, to the point where on my desk I have a dedicated tomato shaped timer because Pomodoro is Italian for tomato. If your brain works like mine, Pomodoro might be very helpful.
Another useful way to avoid procrastination is accountability. You can find an accountability partner in a writers group or find a friend to text your daily word count to. Generally family members, spouses, and romantic partners tend not to work out terribly well as accountability partners for a variety of reasons, so you may be better off using a friend or someone from a dedicated writers group. Writing groups can be helpful. It depends very strongly on the nature of the group. Some of them are very helpful. Some of them have the typical toxic dynamics you often find in a dysfunctional small group, so if you feel a writing group is not right for you, there is no reason to stick around. But there’s a variety of different ways you can find writing groups. Many of them meet online or on Facebook.
And the final way to avoid procrastination is, if possible, make the task pleasant. Find an environment you enjoy writing in: comfortable, good lighting, comfortable chair, or a chair to enforce a good posture (if you prefer). Some people even set up a separate writing desktop in Windows 11 with its own special background and settings to make them more focused for writing and to remove the habit of, you know, just checking Facebook or Wikipedia or the news for a few minutes. It’s often a good idea to pair writing with a task you enjoy, such as drinking coffee. If you have a walking desk or treadmill, you can very often walk slowly and write at the same time. Many people enjoy that and also it’s good for physical health as well. If you do enjoy walking and you’re willing to dictate, Kevin J. Anderson has an excellent book called On Being a Dictator where he describes his method of using dictation to get his writing done, where he’ll take long walks near his house, dictate into a digital recorder, and later pay a transcriptionist is to transcribe it into a Word document so he can edit it.
Finally, perhaps one of the most effective techniques for avoiding procrastination is bribery. We all know bribery makes the world go round, whether we admit it or not. Build in a reward, like for 10,000 words, you get a break. Or if you have a streak for X number of days, you can get a treat like new pens or a new notebook or a game or something like that. So it’s often a good idea to build in rewards for tasks you might otherwise put off. So those are all our tips and tricks for avoiding procrastination, and I hope you will find them helpful.
So that’s it for this week. Thank you for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful and a quick thanks to my transcriptionist, who helped me gather all the data for this episode. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes on https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.
