Why your novel, beautiful as it is, will never get published …
• Procrastination is the thief of time

• The best drives out the good

• You are a writer – so write, damn you!

These three sentences rotate on the corkboard above my computer. They are written on three post-it pads, which are pinned to the board, and every day I take the top one, move it to the bottom and pin them back up with the second one now uppermost. Every few weeks the pinholes get so big that the post-its won’t stay pinned up, so I write them out again and pin the fresh ones to the board.

It’s not elegant, but it’s simple and it’s effective. I struggle with perfectionism and procrastination as much as the next writer. I can always hit a deadline for paying work, because I have a Protestant Work Ethic that is bigger than I am, but when it’s my own work … I fail, over and over and over again.

So I have my three messages to myself, and while they don’t always work, they remind me that the only reason they don’t work is me. Me. Me. Me.

I know I’m not perfect in any other way, so why do I think my writing should be perfect? Do I throw dinner in the bin if it looks less good than Nigella’s offerings (no, because I’m a greedy pig, but that’s a different issue for another day) – of course I don’t.

Do I refuse to leave the house if I don’t look as good as …. (okay, this is a tough one, women of my age don’t have so many role models – let’s say my exact contemporary, Demi Moore, shall we?) uh, no, because if I did, I’d be a real hermit, rather than just a recluse.

What exactly is the myth that makes me not write because it’s not perfect enough?

It’s the myth of posterity and it’s bollocks. Sappho didn’t write for the future, she wrote to get hot girls into her bed. Charles Dickens wrote against the clock to keep his family in underwear, porridge and bowling hoops, not to get on the ‘Classic Novels’ shortlist. Tolstoy, all gods bless him, wrote what he thought was incisive up-to-date social commentary, mixed (to be fair) with some philosophising about the world, and would have probably laughed bitterly to find himself as an A-Level set text.

Good enough writing allows for better writing tomorrow. Perfect writing allows for nothing but failure in the future. Posterity is not aware of us, so we should try to remain unaware of it. Borges said ‘A writer should have another lifetime to see if he’s appreciated’ – nice thought but I doubt even Dante managed it, so forget the future, and get on with it. What you don’t finish is not beautiful. What you don’t finish is not beautiful, what you don’t finish is not beautiful. Has that message sunk in yet? If not, here’s three more, from my heart to yours:

• Procrastination is the thief of time

• The best drives out the good

• You are a writer – so write, damn you!

The picture has nothing to do with the post, but it’s lovely and I took it on Sunday, so there!

9 Comments

  1. Mark Hubbard
    14th July 2009

    Love this post Kay.

    Reply
  2. Antonia
    14th July 2009

    Great post. I am a great procrastinator, just trying to kick the habit. I’ve put a link to the post up on my Blog if that’s okay.

    Reply
  3. Ella Rose
    14th July 2009

    Excellent post! Just what I need to hear.

    Reply
  4. kim mcgowan
    15th July 2009

    Thank you, that was just what I needed!
    kim

    Reply
  5. Karen
    15th July 2009

    Brilliant, inspiring post. I WILL get on with it :o)

    Reply
  6. Amanda
    15th July 2009

    What a great post! 🙂

    Reply
  7. Lou
    15th July 2009

    I have put up the following quote by Julia Cameron: THE MINUTE YOU BECOME WILLING TO WRITE BADLY, YOU’LL BE ABLE TO WRITE!

    And in the initial stages quantity is more important than quality … if you write a lot of shit the chance is also bigger than you write a lot of gold!

    p.s. I’ve started a blog. In English.

    Reply
  8. Gonna be a writer
    16th July 2009

    Oh I’m so glad its not just me.

    Reply
  9. Rachel Fox
    21st July 2009

    I think about this subject (the posterity thing) more than I would like to. It would be nice to never, ever think about it but it’s hard to ignore it when we’re always talking about successful writers (and unsuccessful ones) and discovering writers ignored in their lifetime (and wondering if we’ll be one of those…).

    x

    Reply

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