Comments on: Discussion: Do You Procrastinate Because You Don’t Like Your Writing?

By: livingparadox

livingparadox — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:51:25 +0000

It is absolutely true that I am partly procrastinating because i am afraid that i am going to find that my writing is not that good. That’s why i believe i can never get anything done and why i feel that everything i manage to finish writing is incomplete.
Re-reading is painful for a procrastinator because nothing can match his great desire of writing something good but an “instantaneous” and perfect piece of writing.

By: Susie McCray

Susie McCray — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:21:58 +0000

I don’t mind the re-reading. It’s just that when I get ready to edit, I wonder if I’m really making the writing better or if I’m just nitpicking because the lack my lack self-confidence. I like it much better when other people read my writing and offer feedback whether positive or negative.

By: Icy Sedgwick

Icy Sedgwick — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:44:40 +0000

I often find myself procrastinating, but not because of revisions. I don’t mind re-reading the existing work and adding to it (I revise as I go), but I don’t like having to add to the work with new words in case I spoil what I’ve already written. Silly, I know.

By: Brittany

Brittany — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:21:18 +0000

I don’t like re-reading my first drafts at all. There is never any brilliance in them and they are usually all completely terrible.

I don’t think that’s why I procrastinate, though. I know that I have to get my writing done.

By: jennifer blanchard

jennifer blanchard — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:16:29 +0000

@S. Megan Payne Totally agree. If your first draft isn’t bleeding when you’re done with it, you weren’t being critical enough. That’s why it’s important to have someone else read your writing for you, too…because they WILL be crticial enough (constructively critical, that is. Just plain critical is not helpful.)

By: S. Megan Payne

S. Megan Payne — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:02:29 +0000

Funny, but re-reading is okay. I’m okay afterwards because I know I can change it. And I…um…:blushes slightly:…really love to edit. Especially if my pages are bleeding in red and blue ink and are hardly legible by the time I’m done. I guess it’s just that first round of “This isn’t what I imagined.”

By: jennifer blanchard

jennifer blanchard — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:39:05 +0000

@S. Megan Payne I personally LOVE re-reading what I write because it makes all my fears dissipate. When I re-read after I’m finished writing I tend to discover that my first draft has a lot more brilliance than I give myself credit for. Especially when it comes to my fiction. Sure, there are errors and things that need to be fixed, but overall, there’s a lot of ideas and scenes that are magically and make me feel like all that writing was worth it.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

By: S. Megan Payne

S. Megan Payne — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:16:26 +0000

Writing is reading to me. I hate reading them the first time, while I’m writing them (if it’s not flowing well), because it’s so much less than the wonderfulness I hear/see/feel in my head. If it comes to my head in words, then it’s okay, but anything else and I hate the transfer.