May 20, 2011

After a couple months this spring of unexpected work and lack of sleep, I’ve found myself battling severe procrastination the past few weeks. I’m getting rested up, but I’m so out of the writing habit that getting started has become a big issue.

Luckily I can usually find a resource on my own shelves!

(FYI: After you finish this post, you may want to read my article on writer’s block called “A Block by Any Other Name…”  at the Absolute Write website .)

A Different Take on Procrastination

One such resource is a book Kurt Vonnegut called “as well researched and helpful a book on writing as I’ve ever read.” It’s Write: 10 Days to Overcome Writer’s Block. Period. by Karen E. Peterson, Ph.D. [See Amazon's great used prices for this book!]

From the author’s website: “Writers want to write, but often find themselves whirling through cyberspace, glued to HBO with a box of doughnuts, careening off to the nearest Starbuck’s, and/or carving out last week’s fossilized spaghetti from the kitchen table.”

Sound familiar? This is what Dr. Karen E. Peterson— who has overcome writer’s block herself—calls ‘the write-or-flight response.’

Write? Or Flight?

In this revolutionary book, a psychologist and novelist presents an effective way to outwit writer’s block. Based on “new brain research and sound psychological principles,” this innovative program shows writers how to conquer writer’s block using:

• Exercises to conquer the “write-or-flight” response
• Techniques to create that elusive “writing mood”
• Parallel monologue and interior dialogue to jumpstart the writing process
• Checklists to see which side of the brain is blocking you

I fully recommend that little book because it worked for me. (I realize that it doesn’t mean it will work for you, but I think it’s worth a try if procrastination is an issue for you.) It explained the actual physical reasons why certain types of blocks occur–and what to do about them.

(Now, off to read “A Block by Any Other Name…” )

Before you go though, do YOU have a favorite block buster you could share?

4 Comments »

1. 

   I find one of my best “unblockers” is a colouring book or some blank paper and coloured markers. When I colour or doodle or draw a picture, my mind is so busy with what the next line or colour will do, that it shuts off the “voices” that are rattling around in my brain and discouraging me from writing. Once I have spend 15 minutes with the crayons, my brain is calm, refreshed and ready to face the next blank page on my computer. Dover publishes some lovely colouring books with interesting themes and pictures challenging enough for grown-ups. Works for me!

   Comment by Heather Wright — May 20, 2011 @ 9:07 am

2. 

   Heather, that is just plain brilliant! I would never have thought of that–and yet, when I color with my grandkids, I find it very calming! I’m going to look up those Dover coloring books!

   Comment by Kristi Holl — May 20, 2011 @ 10:38 am

3. 

   Thanks for all the great reading recommendations, Kristi. They’re great!

   Comment by Beth MacKinney — May 20, 2011 @ 2:28 pm

4. 

   You’re welcome, Beth. I’m always in favor of checking out how others have solved problems I also have. Takes too long to re-invent the wheel.

   Comment by Kristi Holl — May 24, 2011 @ 1:52 pm

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