Guest Blog by Duncan McGeary - Procrastination Is Part of the Process - January 14, 2015

Please welcome Duncan McGeary to The Qwillery. Tuskers, Duncan's most recent novel, was published on January 12th by Ragnarok Publications.

Procrastination Is Part of the Process.

It's not that I encourage procrastination, and it's not that I think it's a good idea. But I'm human, and I procrastinate. Thing is, I allow for it. I recognize that it is going to happen and try to fit it into the process. Sometimes 'procrastination' can take the form of recharging, or taking a break. But most times, it's just plain, good old-fashioned procrastination.

But if you set aside the whole day to write your words, and you worry at it, and chew on it, and circle it and then worry it some more, and think on it, and nap on it, and walk around and take a shower, and ... all the procrastination things you can do, but you keep at it and worry about it some more, a few words eke out and then a few more and you find you've got your 2000 words or whatever your goal was, and you just spent the day getting there and procrastination was a big, big part of the day.

But you also have your 2000 words.

Deadlines and schedules are a problem if you procrastinate, because you can procrastinate all the way through the schedule and right up to the deadline.

But if the process is open ended...well, you can procrastinate and procrastinate and write blogs about procrastination, but those words are still there at the end of the process because they have to be, because that is what you're waiting for and procrastination can delay it but not stop it.

The most important thing about writing for me is to set aside the time, and then do it. Eventually.

That seems like such a simple statement, yet I think it goes to core of what it is to be a writer. At least for me. The intention to write means that you fore-go other activities to do it. You set aside the time. Then you do it.

Sounds simple, but how many people actually follow through? How many people give themselves the time?

I'm not sure I'd even advise other people to do it. For what? There is little chance of fame or money. If you're trying to survive, to get by, to have a life...perhaps writing isn't for you.

Seriously, it seems like a strange thing to do. Maybe you have to have some personality disorder. Or a high tolerance for procrastination.

Tuskers
Wild Pig Apocalypse Trilogy 1
Ragnarok Publications, January 12, 2015
Trade Paperback and eBook, 238 pages

Barry had created a little piece of paradise in his southern Arizona backyard—until the javelinas came.

His battle to rid his property of the wild pigs soon escalated into war. Too late, he realized these weren't ordinary animals. They were something new, something meaner and smarter. These pigs weren't just at war with him; they were at war with the human race.

And the humans were losing.

Amazon : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : iTunes : Ragnarok Publications

About Duncan

Duncan McGeary has owned Pegasus Books in downtown Bend, Oregon for the last 30 years. He met his wife, Linda, in a local writer's group, and they've been side-by-side writers ever since. He's the author of several fantasies, Star Axe, Snowcastles, and Icetowers, published by Tower Books, as well as two historical horror novels, Led to the Slaughter: The Donner Party Werewolves and The Dead Spend No Gold: Bigfoot and the California Gold Rush, as well as the Vampire Evolution Trilogy: Death of an Immortal; Rule of Vampire; and Blood of Gold, all published by Books of the Dead Press.

Website ~  Twitter @PegasusBooks