Writing, or ... THAT STUFF I HATE! Pt. 1

Procrastination, Perfectionism, and Pretentiousness – As once said by C. Montgomery Burns, these are the Three Demons you must slay if you wish to be good at business. Okay, so he was talking fictitiously about BUSSINESS, not Writing, and his Demons are not the ones in the clip … but it was a good excuse to bring in Burns. Anyway, the idea however of slaying metaphorical demons to succeed is not “new” ( thanks, Evangrius! ) so I have qualified some slayable-monsters that I think might get in the way of what is a genuine success at the art of writing … writing ANYTHING, really.

From papers due for school, the main US Financial Aid provider website FAFSA.org due for funding, appeals letters for … appeals … , etc… the University of Texas at Tyler will always have students who need to write, regardless of is said person is/isn’t an English major.

The biggest “Demon” is my good friend, Procrastination. He and I unfortunately hang out a lot, a lot more than when I was younger. I’ve tried to kick him off my mind’s metaphorical apartment, but like Kramer from Seinfeld he just keeps SHOWING UP, unannounced.

In my experience, the best way to get over procrastination is motivation. The tricky part about giving out this piece of advice is that motivation is uniquely personal – what motivates ME won’t motivate YOU.  I find the key however is understanding that the more energy you put into NOT doing something, the easier it then becomes. The solution in the end is definitive action – Get up! Write! Go on, get out there … in a manner of speaking- er … writing!

Another issue I run into ( and am guilty of ) is paling around with Perfectionism. In reality this is an Angel or a Demon ( scenario depending ) as perfectionism can be a blessing when he allows you to become laser focused on getting something juuuuust right. Or, the jerk can make it to where you get nothing accomplished, like not-even-get-out-of-bed nothing. My solution? Work a draft that is not meant to be perfect, just to get something DONE. The more you accomplish that is getting done, the more you can physically feel accomplished, this thus the more you’ll be working. Perfectionism can be good, like I said, however ... Perfectionism can be taking the best parts of multiple drafts and combining them. But, the writing of drafts means you are overcoming procrastination.

Finally, Pretentiousness. This is a word I’ve seen get thrown about a lot when people WANT to say “I don’t think this sounds like something YOU’D write/say” but it come off in the style of “I don’t think that is something I’D say.” The lack of pretentiousness is truth and truth in writing can be hard to figure out: WHY are you writing this final paper? Is it something you believe in? If not, do you believe you are worth the A in the class and that’s your inspiration behind your words? Whatever way you need to do it, hone in on your ideal “truth” behind whatever you are writing. These can include ….

·         Writing to complete a goal

·         Writing for love

·         Writing for entertainment

·         Writing for money

Whatever reason you need to write, go at it consistently, with pride ( but without becoming stubborn ), and with honesty.

And, with words of closing, another sage moment of Burns.