tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post3124440305685098003..comments2024-02-17T09:53:06.168+00:00Comments on Notes from the Slushpile: Is there Power in Procrastination?Candy Gourlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07802791643303335762noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post-53028462167981278992020-02-20T18:26:31.566+00:002020-02-20T18:26:31.566+00:00Wow, thanks for the insight, Cliff! I might even q...Wow, thanks for the insight, Cliff! I might even quote that in another article – though 14 months sounds fast by my standards.<br /><br />As a master procrastinator, though I should point out to readers that distraction is not the same as procrastination. So I wouldn't count all that pointless social media scrolling as useful time. Clean the oven at least for goodness' sake!Candy Gourlayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07802791643303335762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post-69979439713434775232020-02-20T17:12:52.815+00:002020-02-20T17:12:52.815+00:00It's fascinating. Nearly all my favourite writ...It's fascinating. Nearly all my favourite writers procrastinated endlessly. Because in its truest form, unless you are being lazy (and we all know when we are, huh?) it just means IT TAKES TIME TO GET REALLY GOOD CRAFT RIGHT. My own favourite children's fantasy writer is ALAN GARNER, who wrote his three seminal and utterly brilliant novels The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, The Moon of Gomrath and Elidor in the 1960's. When a great writer like this talks about taking time to write you listen. He began the groundwork on his last novel (Thursbitch, adults) in 2004, and it took 14 months to reach 14,758 words. According to his computer at the time, the latest 3,000-odd words came in the past month, a real sprint. He put it this way. 'I have to take as long to write a book as the book takes to write me [my underlining]. I have always been aware that I am balancing composition against decomposition. And now, it's like an egg-and-spoon race. I can see the finishing line. But when is the egg-and-spoon race lost? When you do the last three steps too quickly."<br /><br />Very sane words, it seems to me. <br /><br />"I am only a writer," he once said. "A maker of dreams. You can dismiss me, and no harm is done."<br />Cliff McNishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12507726156646696803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post-77981857677469562092020-02-19T18:44:37.802+00:002020-02-19T18:44:37.802+00:00Permission to Procrastinate...Perfect Permission to Procrastinate...Perfect Camilla Chesterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03064875172957076977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post-46334187266582333092020-02-19T12:26:51.616+00:002020-02-19T12:26:51.616+00:00Uh oh! Get that monkey off your decision maker!Uh oh! Get that monkey off your decision maker!Candy Gourlayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07802791643303335762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post-40669291283053310272020-02-19T08:21:26.842+00:002020-02-19T08:21:26.842+00:00Thanks Candy - this is just what my instant gratif...Thanks Candy - this is just what my instant gratification monkey needed - it’s now sitting on the head of my rational decision maker, and both are absorbed by this positively productive procrastination.Bridget Marzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08113818186666446243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post-70694468011220283732020-02-18T14:24:46.368+00:002020-02-18T14:24:46.368+00:00Thanks, Addy! Use your procrastination time wisely...Thanks, Addy! Use your procrastination time wisely!Candy Gourlayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07802791643303335762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post-2754220084558046422020-02-18T13:35:58.777+00:002020-02-18T13:35:58.777+00:00Yep. I've realised that walking/cycling is als...Yep. I've realised that walking/cycling is also a form of procrastination. It's not housekeeping but maybe bodykeeping since I do it when I want to avoid writing for any of the above blog reasons. Excellent post, Candy.Addy Farmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00450583537731030466noreply@blogger.com