Writing blocks & Procrastination

Make procrastination a duty

What if I told you that writing blocks is nothing but a figment of your imagination? A fixed idea that you’re stuck in the writing procedure despite that all the inspiration is lying latently, slumbering behind the drapes of your cerebrum?

One of the no-no words nowadays is called procrastination. The word is derived from Latin and “procrastinare” translates to the prefix pro-, ‘forward’, and the suffix -crastinus, ’till next day’ from cras, ‘tomorrow’. Or more accurately it means: “Meh. I will do it tomorrow… Not.”

Procrastination is perceived as a sin, an evil transgression to brutally assassinate any creative writing procedure. Since we perceive it as such a “no-go”, it feels somewhat more pleasing to actually do it. Just as when your parents would tell you not to eat all the candy and you’d do it anyway; especially because they told you not to.

But is procrastination sincerely so … “sinful”? According to my personal experiences, it isn’t actually consistently bad. In fact, procrastination can latently inspire you. Making your brain switch off from a rigid direction and make it float naturally can actually enkindle the trains of thoughts required for writing.

Writing, in my humble opinion, or especially creative writing, is an art in league with painting, drawing, and photography. If you enforce the process, the result won’t contain the emotions. And without emotions, art is worth nothing.

You can’t control the river; let it flow naturally.

Less is more

I would rather write three lines of quality matter than three pages of mediocre indifference which I’d be blasé about.

“Kill your darlings,” as Kurt Vonnegut would say. It sounds brutal but is nevertheless true.

Some authors claim that you must write on a daily basis to keep up with the procedure, however, this isn’t my impression. To me, it is far more inspirational to communicate with a various group of people (especially written) and developing my language through the correspondences with them; that’s how the language becomes alive.

Googling “how can I write more” won’t make you write more

There are multiple tutorials (torturials, rather) regarding how to write. They frankly never made me write more.

The main reason for this is because writing techniques are individual. What works for you won’t work for others. Just like abstract painting. It cannot be elaborated.

I once read in this writing “torturial” that I must “set deadlines for myself.” I was like, “you gotta be kidding me. Deadlines? There’s the word dead in it! I’m the worst procrastinator in the world and deadlines are the key component for provoking procrastination. I was that kid who ate all the forbidden candy and even hid it underneath my bed in a small blue suitcase. You must be crazy.”

That’s why it’s somewhat self-contradictory to read these ramblings of mine (!)

“OK, so what’s the pay per word?!”

Monetizing writing or perceiving writing as a plausible source of income kills the quality. Your work becomes plastic because it’s enforced and has a specific aim: Money. The aim should rather be releasing thoughts, emotions, and inspiring other individuals.

In my humble opinion!

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What inspires your personal writing procedure?