The queen of procrastination BY SHIRLEY MARTIN
I
consider myself royalty; I am the Queen of Procrastination!
I know I should be writing, but suddenly there are muffins to bake, the neighbour’s dog to walk, old clothes to sort, toilets to clean…. That’s how bad it can get—when one avoids writing by cleaning toilets! It is not always thus. At times, I am abuzz with ideas, and it is easy to make the leap and get them down on paper. I achieve a flow state while writing, and this propels me to the finish line. It’s exhilarating! This flow has led me to publish five children’s books as well as eleven articles and a smattering of poems. However, more often, I am the Queen of Procrastination. Why do we procrastinate? I can only speak for myself. Sometimes, I procrastinate because I don’t know how to begin. Or I procrastinate because I am tired. More often, I procrastinate because I am afraid. I am afraid of failing, afraid that I am an impostor purporting to be a writer and that if I put my writing out there, the truth will be out. I have succumbed to procrastination again and again. However, recently I examined my writing life, and have now—at age seventy—made a fresh beginning. This entailed coming up with a plan.
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wordworks | 2022 Volume I
I used to write on the couch, in the living room, or at the dining room table. When exhausted, I wrote while lying in bed. I’d get easily sidelined, gazing out the window at the harbour, chatting with my husband when he walked by, or picking up a novel from my bedside table. I am what you might call distractable. I have friends who prefer writing in the cacophony of a coffee shop brimming with chatter and music and the clatter of cutlery. I realize that many great works have been penned in coffee shops, on public transit, on park benches, or in laundromats. I am in awe of those writers. Their method does not work for me. I need solitude and silence. Since I do best without distractions of any kind, I feel fortunate to have set up a quiet writing space. I established my writing space in the far reaches of our basement. My desk faces a windowless wall. My computer is set up, ready and waiting. Relevant books (i.e., The Concise Oxford English Dictionary and Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style) line a nearby bookcase. Pens and lined paper sit next to the computer, along with fluorescent highlighters. And since my writing space is at the end of the downstairs “rumpus room,” I purchased a divider—because when writing, one does not want to be enticed into “rumpusing” instead!
