What Are You Afraid of?

Hello Sandra Orchard here.

These days I’m spending time with my young grandson as he recovers from leg surgery. The first couple of weeks, he stoically endured the painful steps he had to take to begin the process of putting weight back on his leg, but by week three, he’d start to panic at the mere mention that we’d be doing it soon.

The fear of the pending pain became more debilitating than the pain itself.

As I started praying against that, I realized such fear hinders us from doing a lot of things.

Have you ever thought about how many times fear is at the root of procrastination?

Think about it. We know we have to get something done and it should only take a finite amount of time to do and once it’s done we’ll likely be hugely relieved it can be scratched off the to-do list. So why put off doing it?

Why play that game of FreeCell instead? Or check those emails? Or Facebook?

Yes, I’ve come to the conclusion fear is what keeps me from sitting down at the computer and writing the next chapter, especially when I know something in the story isn’t working, and, as much as I’ve been praying for guidance and inspiration, I’m not feeling it.

So I decided to think about what exactly I might be afraid of and came up with a few ideas:

-       I’ll waste hours writing scenes I ultimately won’t be able to

-       I’ll spend hours at the keyboard and make too little progress to show for it

-       What I write will be boring, uninspiring and useless

All three have happened time and again, so the fear is totally justified. But . . .

I also realized that unless I’m going to procrastinate by doing something else practical that needs doing, the reality is writing something gets me a whole lot closer to figuring out how to make the story shine than a game of Free Cell.

So I’ve made myself a two-part reminder note for whenever I’m dogging it:

You won’t finish the story unless you write it.

And…

Every little effort makes the story stronger.

It’s true, too. Just as my grandson’s micro-inch steps make his leg stronger, so do my feeble writing attempts. When I write scenes that don’t work, they help steer me toward what will, and they usually help me to understand my characters better or to see what I haven’t figured out about them yet.

That said, I’ve also learned that it’s a good idea to quit for the day while the ideas are still flowing. I jot a few notes to remind me how to carry on the next time I sit down and then I’m far more eager to get back to it the next day, than if I’d written until my ideas ran dry.

Gotta run now. I have a story to write!

Your Turn: Have you experienced victory over a fear? Did your fear turn out to be worse than what you’d been fearing?

 Sandra Orchard—winner of the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award, the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence, among others—leaps off the garden trails of her herbal-medicine-researcher-turned-amateur-sleuth (Port Aster Secrets) series, to the museum corridors of her plucky FBI art crime agent Serena Jones, in A Fool and His Monet, Another Day Another Dali and Over Maya Dead Body. When not plotting crimes, Sandra plays make-believe with her young grandchildren or hikes with her hubby and husky near their home in Ontario, Canada. Connect at: http://www.Facebook.com/SandraOrchard

Be the first to know when Sandra Orchard’s next book is available! Follow her at http://bookbub.com/authors/sandra-orchard  to receive new release and discount alerts and/or subscribe to her newsletter at http://bit.ly/OrchardNews

Distress Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How Do You Spell Procrastination?

Sandra Orchard here. I’ve never thought of myself as a procrastinator until I became a contracted writer with deadlines and got stuck in the middle of a story that...

I had to finish. 

If you’re in the same boat, here are proven ways to do it right.

P  –  Plan your day in minute detail to give you lots of items to cross off your to-do list.

R  –  Reread what you wrote the day before.

O  –  Optimize your work area for maximum productivity. Translation: tidy your desk.

C  –  Critique a friend’s latest scene, because after all, it might help you see how you got off track in your own story.

R  -  Revise everything you’ve written so far. 

A  -  Ask 2 or 3 or 5 or 10 friends what they think should happen next. 

S  -   Storyboard. It’s amazing the holes you discover in your story when you lay it all out on a big, bare wall. And even if you don’t, you can pass copious amounts of time, cutting out pretty colors of paper or jotting notes on multi-colored post-it notes.

T  -  Take a walk. If nothing else, you’ll get some much-needed exercise and rest your eyes from staring at a blank screen. 

I  -  Internet – a guaranteed time-sucker that will make you feel productive at the same time. After all, you’ll be doing “research”, “marketing”, “networking”, and I’m sure you can think of a bunch more writing-related reasons to hang out there. 

N  -  Nap. When you push too hard to be creative, the right side of your brain, muse or whatever you want to call it, shuts down. Coax it to come out to play by shutting down the analytical/critical side of your brain. 

A  -  Annoy telemarketers. C’mon, they always seem to call right when you’re in the middle of madly typing out a great idea, right? So it’s only fair that when you have no ideas you keep them talking and talking and talking until an idea shows up. 

T  -  Take a shower. Ideas always come in the shower.

I  -  Invest in a new How To Write Blah, Blah, Blah book. It doesn’t matter that you’ve already written and published half a dozen books. You’re bound to learn something. And if you’re learning something, you won’t be feeling guilty about not writing…right?

O  -  Outline. And for the seat-of-the-pantsers here who get hives just reading the word, use chalk and outline the dead fly bodies on your window sill. If you’re a suspense writer, it’s bound to kick start an idea. 

If there are no dead fly bodies on your window sill, then you’ve obviously been procrastinating your writing by cleaning the house. But cleaning the house can hardly be classified as doing something writing-related and therefore justified as a valid mode of procrastination. But hey, if you’d like to come over to my house and procrastinate a little more, I have dust bunnies the size of Harvey.  

N  -  Nourish the mind, body and soul. Dark chocolate and praise music work well.

I hope I’ve helped make your procrastinating time more enjoyable. If you’d like to procrastinate some more, check out Blind Trust, the newest book in my Port Aster Secrets series, which also happens to be on sale for a real steal at all E-retailers for one more week! 

Here’s what Booklist had to say about Blind Trust in their May issue:

Blind Trust finds Kate Adams still reeling from her friend’s murder as she attempts to get her life back in order. However, what begins as a seemingly small-time counterfeit operation soon spirals into something much bigger, with Kate at the center. Detective Tom Parker has his eye on Kate, and not because she’s a suspect. His feelings for her continue to grow, as does his desire to protect her, but Kate’s determination to get to the truth on her own means that Tom is often getting her out of trouble, rather than keeping her from it. When the action shifts from mere counterfeiting to poisoning, theft, and decades-old secrets, Kate insists on researching her way to the facts. Orchard infuses romance with suspense and keeps the excitement coming page after page. Readers will love the ever-deepening mystery as Kate extends her investigation and finds herself and her long-dead father tangled up in an international corporate conspiracy.

Sandra Orchard is a multi-award-winning Canadian author of inspirational romanticsuspense/mysteries with Love Inspired Suspense and Revell. An active member in ACFW, The Word Guild, and RWA, she enjoys helping writers hone their skills. To find out more about her novels, and to read interesting bonus features, please visit www.sandraorchard.com or connect at www.Facebook.com/SandraOrchard 

Your Turn: What's your favorite way to procrastinate?

 

Deadline Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

DEVOTION: Why Did I Procrastinate? by Ray Hawkins

I know I should have done it there and then. But I put it off. Distracted and forgetful I was to pay the price in sweat and a trickle of blood. The little weed became a mass of thorns and leaves. The blackberry roots also went deep.

Later, as I recovered from the exertion my procrastination created I became the preacher again. In my mind I turned the physical into the spiritual. The weed I did battle with was once a seed. It found an appropriate place to lodge and then grow. How similar to the various seeds the world and the Devil fling at a person wanting to find a crack, an open unattended area of life.

Is your Christian life like mine? I want it to be fruitful and pleasant in the sight of the Lord. That requires constant attention. When I get slack or too busy to tend my spiritual life I soon discover the world or the Devil has scattered weeds of lust, envy, bitterness, shame fear to mention but a few. Failure to deal with them when they are recognised has detrimental effects in my life of faith and worship.

The fruit and fragrance is choked and my joy in the Lord is smothered. Fortunately He doesn’t allow that to continue. He sets about to discipline, awaken and to arouse my spirit to repent. Then I have to deal with each weed according to the Lord’s manual – the bible. This can take time, more effort than if done in the beginning and a bit embarrassing when others know what’s happening.

Anyway, the effort is worth it. To honour the Lord by a weed free fruitful life is my expression of gratitude for His grace to me. May it be that I’ll be more attentive to the first signs of sprouting weeds, today!

Over to you: What weeds do you need to deal with in your life right now?

Ray Hawkins is retired after 30 years as a minister. 

He is author of five books of Biblical meditations which you can see on his blog site.

Do visit his stunning new blog and say hello!