Some writing sessions are productive.\u00c2\u00a0 Words flow from my fingertips onto the computer screen as quickly as I can think of them, and there’s nothing I’d rather be doing.\u00c2\u00a0 Other times … not so much.\u00c2\u00a0 Here are some of my favorite ways to procrastinate (number 3 was most apt, today).<\/p>\n
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10.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 Re-reading favorite parts of books I liked.<\/p>\n 9.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 Catching up on e-mail.<\/p>\n 8.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 Trying to get the armrests and seat height on my office chair just right.<\/p>\n 7.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 Filing my nails.<\/p>\n 6.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 Inventing complex back stories for secondary and tertiary characters who will probably be cut out of the final draft anyway.<\/p>\n 5.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 Facebook.<\/p>\n 4.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 Reading humorous articles my husband\u00c2\u00a0e-mailed links to, then following links on those pages to articles that are less and less funny, until 45 minutes have gone by and I’m watching a YouTube video that isn’t funny at all, wondering how I got to this point.<\/p>\n 3.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 Research, research, and more research!\u00c2\u00a0 (“How can I possibly start writing a near-future science fiction story without learning everything Wikipedia can tell me about climate change, population trends, and peak oil?”)<\/p>\n 2.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 Reading cookbooks.\u00c2\u00a0 (I’m not sure how many writers share this one, but for me it fills the role that for others is often filled by television:\u00c2\u00a0 entertainment that doesn’t require too much attention or engagement.)<\/p>\n 1.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 Extra-long showers (“I’m clean now, but once I get out of the shower I’ll actually have to go work on that story.”)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some writing sessions are productive.\u00c2\u00a0 Words flow from my fingertips onto the computer screen as quickly as I can think of them, and there’s nothing I’d rather be doing.\u00c2\u00a0 Other times … not so much.\u00c2\u00a0 Here are some of my … Continue reading