Finishing. I’m supposed to start us off on the topic of finishing? Is this a joke? I’m the poster child for procrastinating and NOT finishing things.
Even when I think I’m done, I’m not. A couple of years ago I “finished” a draft (not the first by a long shot) of a novel I’d been working on for years. Weeks later, when I went back to it to edit and polish it before submitting, I ended up changing so much that it became a different story. It never did get submitted. I’m still working on it! In the shorthand I use to refer to it, it’s called E&M, the initials of the hero and heroine. (Or maybe it’s really an anagram for an Everlasting & Mutating mess!)
More recently, I thought the first drafts of my two non-fiction projects were done. Not so! My cookbook is missing several must-have recipes and a LOT of narrative and anecdotes. The manual for the software application my husband wrote needs almost as much work, too. At least according to my husband.
My propensity to start and never finish projects is ever-present in all areas of my life. There’s the baby quilt for my firstborn (he’s 22), a whole slew of waiting-to-be-framed inspirational tidbits tacked on my walls or languishing in a drawer, mending or alterations waiting in a basket (for 3 years!), piles of books to read and who knows what else.
This in the person scheduled to talk today? About finishing projects?
Yes! It is. The perfect person.
I do have a slew of unfinished projects littering my life. I’m good with that. That means I haven’t quit. I’m still working on them. I print out those inspirational quotes and tack them to the wall without frames. I store craft projects with accompanying instructions and notes so I can easily begin again. I write almost every day. Perseverance is the ONLY way to make it to The End. One word, one sentence, one page at a time. From first draft to second to tenth. Even if all I’m doing is procrastinating the decision to quit, it is still perseverance. And perseverance is the one character quality every successful writer must have.
While I may wait until my firstborn is married and expecting a child to go back to working on it, that Mother Goose quilt with its 8 hand appliqued and embroidered squares will get finished. As will all the other projects, including the Everlasting & Mutating mess. But first, this cookbook and the manual.
Time to get to work!
Related Articles
6 users responded in this post
I too have craft projects stashed all over the house. And the revision of my MS has hit a sticky patch and I’m at the stage of wondering if it’ll ever get done.
Recently, though, I found a critique partner who’s a great fit, and the pressure to send her new material is probably the only thing that’ll make me buckle down to working on that MS. So I suppose the solution is – find a motivator!
I love the line: “Even if all I’m doing is procrastinating the decision to quit, it is still perseverance.” Sometimes that’s all you need to get yourself through a dry spell.
Yes, Jane, I’ve found “real” deadlines and someone else counting on me keep me productive. Case in point: I HAVE posted a blog every Monday for almost two years. Maybe I need to tell my critique partners to get “mean” and not let me get away with saying I didn’t do anything or that it’s not finished.:)
Shonna, that’s the benefit of being a procrastinator. LOL I WILL make it through to the other side of this . . . not really dry spell as much as an overwhelmed and directionless spell . . . even if it’s by procrastinating and multiple starts and stops.
Great encouragement, Steph, for everyone who is trying to keep going and not quit. Perseverance is the key! Yay!
Hi Stephanie good post. I too struggle with the procrastination malaise …the beautiful patchwork quilt I once started some time ago now sits proudly as a cushion cover on my writer’s chair!
Leave A Reply