On procrastination (part two, since I discovered I indeed had used this title before. Why am I not surprised?)

It must be wrimo-time! How do I know this? Well, aside from the fact that I helped organize one, I found myself cleaning the bathroom this morning. On a Tuesday! A Tuesday when I was not expecting company, when the bathroom wasn’t actually all that dirty and most importantly, on a Tuesday when I had other things planned. Oh yes, we are procrastinating, aren’t we?

I am actually procrastinating by writing this as well, but it feels like a better way of procrastinating than the rest because a) my blog could use some TLC, poor thing; b) it is writing even if it isn’t writing what I was supposed to be writing; and c)the alternative was to do the dishes as well and I can’t all housewifey just because I am avoiding my BuNoWriMoWiP (that is one hing of a complicated way of saying “the crap I am writing in June”).

Fortunately, I haven’t been avoiding the BuNoWriMoWiP all day. I have managed to read through some relevant portions of the story thus far (because, as regular readers will know[anyone else can get the explanation here], I am cheating a little by continuing on what I wrote for last year’s NaNoWriMo. I have also rediscovered my original chapter structure plan (which has been changed, but it’s still a useful tool to consult for whenever I get stuck, because I will), and I have written some 700 brand new words (well, the actual words aren’t new, per se, but you know - they haven’t been utilized in this manuscript, at least not in this particular order before).

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to continue writing or actively avoiding the BuNoWiP all day, because I have to go to work. I am actually not feeling so well (my voice is coming and going, which is not exactly an advantage when working with customers), but there appears to be no available replacements, so I’ll have to make the best of it (I happen to rock at body language, so maybe having a voice is overrated).
I will try to get a little more writing done before I go to bed tonight, though, as the target word count per day to reach the goal of 50 000 words in a month is 1667 words. I may or may not make that, but at least I want to try.

Finally, as with my NaNo experience (I found this post from back then which largely still applies this time) I have to deal with the fact that my writing feels forced, and frankly, crappy. Normally that would be a bad sign, but for wrimos I have started to suspect that it is actually a good sign. Wrimos are all about writing a rough draft, quantity over quality, as a way of forcing yourself to get through the obstacle your inner critic often poses. I think a lot of writers give up because they never quite manage to jump that particular bar (which many set too high as it is), and a wrimo might be exactly what you need to get there. Thus, I am proud of my 700 words of crap today, because they will eventually become the foundation for a manuscript I can edit to one day look like a novel.

(And a final plug – we are still accepting participants. Now the Facebook group [link in top right corner of this blog] is open, so anyone can join.)

Happy writing!