Karen GoatKeeper's Blog - Posts Tagged "procrastination"
Preorder Listings
One of my writing goals for this year is to get serious about marketing my books. I love writing books. It's exciting to offer them on Amazon, Smashwords and elsewhere. It is so disappointing to have no one look at them.
Capri Capers is supposed to be out in March. According to all I've read, publicity begins even before now. I should be setting up preorders, telling people about it.
I decided I would find out about preorders and set at least one up this week.
I finished the rewrite adjusting the novel to the map. There were numerous direction and description changes but I'm not lost in the state forest anymore.
The novel is on track. Set up that preorder.
Except Capri Capers has another problem. I've messed up the timeline again. And there is this farmhand Jack Handy. What does a farmhand do? I can't afford one so I'm at a loss here.
Panic sets in. Cancel the preordeer set up.
My timeline is again in order. I've come up with a list of chores for Jack Handy. Yes, it means yet another rewrite.
The preorder is on the list again.
Maybe I can procrastinate some more agonizing over the cover. No, I know what the cover will be. It isn't drawn yet but I know what it is.
All right. I am just looking for an excuse to not do the pre-release marketing. It is so much easier to slide back off the radar, to not try to get noticed. Someone may not like my book. Even with improved marketing no one may notice my book.
That would mean putting in all that time and effort for nothing. Why bother? I can use that time to write.
But Capri Capers might get noticed if I put out that time and effort. If I don't try, I'll always wonder.
Now, where do I find out how to do a preorder?
Capri Capers is supposed to be out in March. According to all I've read, publicity begins even before now. I should be setting up preorders, telling people about it.
I decided I would find out about preorders and set at least one up this week.
I finished the rewrite adjusting the novel to the map. There were numerous direction and description changes but I'm not lost in the state forest anymore.
The novel is on track. Set up that preorder.
Except Capri Capers has another problem. I've messed up the timeline again. And there is this farmhand Jack Handy. What does a farmhand do? I can't afford one so I'm at a loss here.
Panic sets in. Cancel the preordeer set up.
My timeline is again in order. I've come up with a list of chores for Jack Handy. Yes, it means yet another rewrite.
The preorder is on the list again.
Maybe I can procrastinate some more agonizing over the cover. No, I know what the cover will be. It isn't drawn yet but I know what it is.
All right. I am just looking for an excuse to not do the pre-release marketing. It is so much easier to slide back off the radar, to not try to get noticed. Someone may not like my book. Even with improved marketing no one may notice my book.
That would mean putting in all that time and effort for nothing. Why bother? I can use that time to write.
But Capri Capers might get noticed if I put out that time and effort. If I don't try, I'll always wonder.
Now, where do I find out how to do a preorder?
Sorting Pictures
It's November. I'm supposed to be writing a novel draft.
Instead I am sorting out plant pictures. There are thousands of them neatly filed under plant names.
The pictures for each plant must be looked over. Pictures are chosen to show the plant, the front and side of the flower, the top and bottom of the leaf, the stem and the fruit or seed capsule. Each chosen picture is cropped and resized and filed away in yet another file to wait for being included in pages about that plant.
Killing frost has put an end to adding to the picture stockpile. Perhaps I may work my way through it over the winter.
In the meantime the pictures make an excellent excuse to not work on my novel draft. Both do need to get done. The draft has a deadline.
Priorities can be difficult at times.
Instead I am sorting out plant pictures. There are thousands of them neatly filed under plant names.
The pictures for each plant must be looked over. Pictures are chosen to show the plant, the front and side of the flower, the top and bottom of the leaf, the stem and the fruit or seed capsule. Each chosen picture is cropped and resized and filed away in yet another file to wait for being included in pages about that plant.
Killing frost has put an end to adding to the picture stockpile. Perhaps I may work my way through it over the winter.
In the meantime the pictures make an excellent excuse to not work on my novel draft. Both do need to get done. The draft has a deadline.
Priorities can be difficult at times.
Completing Word Counts
The end of November got closer. I was thousands of words away from my NaNo goal. Should I give up?
Giving up is appealing. The novel doesn't have to get written. The world will continue to exist if it does not get written.
Will I continue as a writer if I give up? I don't know. I do know I am good at starting projects of all kinds and terrible at seeing them through to completion. Would quitting become a habit?
I chose to not find out. I wasn't going to quit.
The problem was keeping myself motivated to sit and type 5,000 to 7,000 words a day.
Telling myself to sit still and type was not going to work. I needed incentives.
Each thousand words completed rated a break doing something fun for a short time.
Next was making sure I had scenes planned out in my head I had to get typed before they evaporated into thin air.
My goats loved this one. As my buck Augustus ensured I would be doing mostly feeding and not milking this winter, I spend time standing around watching and listening to oats disappear. This is found time for novel plotting. As I got glassy-eyed plotting, goats snuck in for a second bowl of oats.
Between the two I did reach the word goal. Now I need to finish the novel. It will wrap up in another few thousand words.
Then I get to start over again doing the rewrite.
Giving up is appealing. The novel doesn't have to get written. The world will continue to exist if it does not get written.
Will I continue as a writer if I give up? I don't know. I do know I am good at starting projects of all kinds and terrible at seeing them through to completion. Would quitting become a habit?
I chose to not find out. I wasn't going to quit.
The problem was keeping myself motivated to sit and type 5,000 to 7,000 words a day.
Telling myself to sit still and type was not going to work. I needed incentives.
Each thousand words completed rated a break doing something fun for a short time.
Next was making sure I had scenes planned out in my head I had to get typed before they evaporated into thin air.
My goats loved this one. As my buck Augustus ensured I would be doing mostly feeding and not milking this winter, I spend time standing around watching and listening to oats disappear. This is found time for novel plotting. As I got glassy-eyed plotting, goats snuck in for a second bowl of oats.
Between the two I did reach the word goal. Now I need to finish the novel. It will wrap up in another few thousand words.
Then I get to start over again doing the rewrite.
