Posted by octopusprime on January 8, 2004, at 22:18:38
In reply to writing, depression, procrastination, posted by fogmama on January 7, 2004, at 13:05:03
fogmama -
i work as a technical writer and being frozen on non-functional delays is a HUGE problem. i can (and do) spend days and days surfing the internet.
why do i freeze up?
* don't know what direction the document is taking
* trapped in some awkward phrasing that i just can't get to sound right
* afraid to ask for feedback, fear of looking dumb
* tired, hungry, cranky, didn't sleep well, upset, brain full of fog (file under miscellaneous physical and spiritual ailments unrelated to the task at hand)
* feeling that existential pointlessness about it all - i have no readers, the two people that read it don't care, so why should i botheretc etc
so of course since i do depend on writing for a regular paycheque, i have to be more disciplined about it.
coping strategies:
* multiple projects at once - if one blocks, try another
* multitasking - this is easier in a cube environment - surf the net in one window. have document open in the other. when somebody walks by, switch from net to document. write something. eventually the micro time slices and fake writing will turn into real writing. (it may take some time - weeks - to gain that momentum)
* deadlines. i work better with a deadline. this is easy at work. however, if you are writing for yourself, could you consider entering contests, etc? i know there are novel-in-a-month contests and other x-treme writing techniques. but deadline pressure will help in volume of writing (if not quality).the coping strategies don't always work, but my bosses don't complain about my productivity. (therefore i can say that they're effective enough for me.)
hope you people don't mind the contribution of the technical writer (who never gets her name published, and doesn't have to worry so much about being creative)
poster:octopusprime
thread:297670
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/write/20040102/msgs/298389.html