When Procrastination Pays Off
I was at my hangout working on the book. There’s no WIFI at the diner. So, I don’t dally on facebook. The drawback is I can’t save to my dropbox. I’ve stopped relying on a flashdrive. I had just finished making huge changes to the fifth rough draft. Driving home, I tell myself I need save to dropbox and my external hard drive. Don’t procrastinate!
At home, laptop plugged in, I go get a drink. Nagging thoughts of my adapter’s suspicious behavior bug me. ADD kicks in. I return. Laptop’s dead. The adapter went legs up. It hadn’t been charging the battery at the diner. All changes locked up on a powerless laptop.
So, gas is $35,000 a gallon and Best Buy is 20 miles away. Furthermore, I’m in a financial crunch (Did I say gas is $35K a gallon?). Best Buy has an adapter at $59. Amazon has it for $25.01. Need I explain? It’s headed to me overnight for $29 total.
That was yesterday. There I was with time and a fist-clinching drive to do more. I’m close to the end of writing the book. I’ve been putting off brainstorming about the next book. But, I was so angry with the situation I gave up and worked email, facebook, and twitter. Meanwhile the goal to have three books finished this year is slipping away.
I launched myself out of bed this morning, grabbed blank paper and pencil. Daddy O’s diner here I come. Sipping coffee in back, breakfast ordered, I started scribbling a rough outline of the beginning of the next book. I summarized the prologue. I kept going until all the crucial events for story structure were present. The epic story was succinctly put before my eyes, front and back of formally blank piece of paper. I tucked it in my folder and left for my walk, where listen to soundtracks and brainstorm over the children of my mind.
While walking I check my email after I’ve started the tunes. Amazon notified me that UPS had some shipping issues. My adapter won’t be in today. Grrr! But wait! I’ve just outlined my next book. Rejoice! My luck has been great. I roll the dice again. With Hans Zimmer playing, I constructed the next book in my head while I walked. All the plot points in place!
Now, I have a solid outline for the next book on paper and a soon-to-be-written-down outline in my head of the one after that.
Procrastination can pay off.
Indeed it can.
I’ve come to understand writing is a constant job, almost a lifestyle. It’s all about what you can do to make the most out of your time, ditching your tunnel vision in favor of making some important progress in any areas available at the time. I think the biggest mistake you can make in this craft is being inflexible.
Thanks for the comment, Joe. I take an all of the above approach. Do what works. Like you said, “make the most out of your time”.
Yay for negative turned positive (and you got content for a post – bonus)! I just discovered Dropbox myself and I’m beginning to get excited about its benefits. BTW, what Hans Zimmer music is your favorite?
Thanks for the comment. Yes, dropbox is a wonderful tool for me. I write from a laptop mostly, but if I want to write from my desktop is easy to keep everyting in sync. I can even write from my phone…although I would not advise it.
Zimmer favs are Gladiator (The Might of Rome) and Pirates of the Carribean: At World’s End (One Day) soundtracks.