My Writing Process

People are always saying things like: "everyone is different", "people are like snowflakes; we're all unique", and "there isn't such thing as a 'cookie cutter' human". But when it comes to writing, there really can be such thing as a general category of writer.

Who am I? (not 24601, in case you were wondering)

I definitely fit in the category of Procrastinators. Am I proud of it? No. Have I come to recognize that's the type of person I am right now? .....Unfortunately, yes. If I had a choice between doing something now to get it out of the way, and doing it later, I will always pick later. I set a time to do something and hope that it gets done in the time frame I've allotted, but then I decide that one of the million other things going on around me would be so much more fun than what I actually need to do. Because of this, I end up waiting until it's absolutely crucial to finish writing something before it needs to be turned in. If this doesn't completely define "procrastination", I don't know what does.

 

LaurMG "Frustrated Man at a Desk" 5/24/2011 via Wikipedia. Attribution Share-Alike Licensing.

What does it really mean to be a Procrastinator?

In the general sense, it usually means to put something off until the last minute, right? Well the same thing applies to my approach to writing. It's not that I don't recognize the importance of the task. I simply don't have very good time management skills. I also stress out when revising something multiple times. I get overwhelmed when I think something needs to be rewritten. So I don't. I write a draft and make a few general corrections involving grammar and spelling errors, but no major rewriting. If something needs to be improved drastically, the whole portion is usually scrapped. Again, this all needs to occur in a very small timeframe, seeing as I've put off the whole thing until the last possible second.

Pros and cons to being a Procrastinator:

I'd rather start with the positive side of the situation, so I'll first say that being a procrastinator doesn't allow me much time to stew on what I've written and tell myself all the things I've done absolutely terribly. I'm the type of person that likes to beat myself up about everything, therefore I put things off and tell myself, "well, there's no changing things now, it's too late. What's done is done. I just need to move on." For me personally, this is a huge plus. On the negative end, it leaves a lot of room for improvement that I'm not giving myself. By putting things off until the last minute, I'm robbing myself of possible improvements that could be made if I gave myself more time. It's not exactly a desirable trait to have, but it's one that I have. I'm not saying I'm a bad student or anything. I've actually gotten great grades in the past. But there is definitely room for me to improve.

But what is there to do?

I've probably already made it clear that I don't like the fact that I'm a procrastinator. I would really like to work on that aspect of who I am, actually. My form of writing itself is actually quite like a "Heavy Reviser" only in the sense that they think while they're writing. I don't revise as much as they do, but I don't really plan what I'm going to say until I actually say it. I hope I can lean more toward the time consciousness of a different writing type. If I can get better at time management, I think I can become one of the other writers. My writing will be better if I give myself actual time to think about what I'm turning in. I just have a lot of work to do on myself, and I honestly think that's just part of being a human during this crazy thing we call "life".