Why I No Longer Feel Guilty About Procrastinating When Writing Content Marketing
I saw lots of slides at Content Marketing World. Some taught me something new, others inspired me, and a few made me laugh. But there was only one slide that made me stop feeling guilty. And, let me tell you, that is a very difficult task to accomplish.
The magic slide was the one to the left that Ann Handley put on the screen during her session “How to Level Up Your Writing and Make it Ludicrously Spectacular.” Hopefully you can overlook my terrible photo with the head in the corner and its crookedness. Her verbal description during the session of what she called “prep” made me even happier than this pie chart. She said that a lot of her prep time looks like not writing, when in fact she is writing in her head. She mentioned that writing for her often looks like walking her dog, among other things.
My pie chart would look very similar to Ann’s, but I would add in time for feeling guilty and beating myself up for not writing. And on some stories, the time spent researching other careers stretches much longer than a mere 60 minutes. It takes a long time to talk myself off the ledge once I manage to convince myself that I am a fraud and all my previous success has been luck.
What Ann Handley’s Slide Looks Like in My Life
So, for me, writing often looks like playing on Facebook or aimlessly browsing through City Data Forum posts about other people’s opinions and problems. Often, writing looks like driving for me. Sometimes, like for Ann, it looks like walking the dog. If I get really stuck, then writing involves listening to music that I think evokes the tone that I am after – I wrote one of my favorite pieces while listening to Van Halen’s “Right Now” over and over. But the majority of the time that I am writing does not involve sitting at my computer typing out words into a document.
I’ve come to realize that the more I care about the story, the more time I spend not writing. And interestingly enough, the stories where I really embrace the “not writing” part of my process are almost always the stories that I am most proud of in the end.
For me, I have to be ready to write a story. I have to feel the story. And most importantly, I have to figure out the purpose of the story so that I feel like I am helping someone and “doing good” with my writing. There is always a purpose that comes back to making someone’s life easier, even with boring topics like data analytics or finance. Once I know why I am writing, then I start forming my thoughts, my ideas and, most importantly, my feelings in my head. And if I try to physically write before that process is finished, then everything I type is crap-and not the type of crap that can be edited into something good, but unusable crap. Or worse, I will sit anxiously at my computer for hours, unable to write. For me, this all means that there is no shortcut to working through the story in my head.
On my best not-writing days, I can write an entire first draft in my head without putting a single word on paper. But mostly, I write the lede and organize the story in my mind. And for me, the best way to let this happen is to do something else that only involves half of my attention. Watching TV doesn’t work because it takes all of my attention, as does listening to podcasts. It doesn’t matter what I am doing, just that my thoughts have the space that they need. Then the pressure is off and the rest of my brainpower can sort through the story. It’s hard to explain, but it just works.
And this is the thing – if I do the not-writing stage correctly, then the actual writing part takes very little time, which makes my per-hour rate seem pretty high. I am superfast at transcribing my thoughts onto paper – like, I can write 1,000 words in under an hour. But that time is misleading because I have actually spent hours and hours in the not-writing stage. When clients try to pay me per hour, I always tell them that I really prefer per project because I spend a lot of time writing in my head and I just can’t figure out how to charge for writing an entire article while driving to pick my kids up from school.
Embracing the not-writing stage
While on the plane home from Cleveland, I made a resolution to stop beating myself up for my not-writing stage, but to actually understand that my writing is nowhere near as effective when I skip this step. However, it’s important to realize the distinction between real procrastination and writing in your head. To outsiders, they look the same, but I know that there is a big difference. I am hoping now that I am aware of all this that if I police myself, then I can hopefully not allow myself to call true procrastinating “not writing.”
So now that I am back home with piles of real work on my desk, I am going to try to allow myself the space, without guilt, to go through the writing process (and not writing) that makes my family comment on my lack of productivity. It’s not about doing what you are supposed to do. Or what you think other writers do. It’s about understanding what process allows you to be your most creative self to write content that really speaks to your audience. And then giving yourself the space and the permission to do what it takes to write your best work.
Amen, Jennifer! Couldn’t agree more! I do some of my best writing while folding laundry on my lunch break. 😉
YES! I think housework is perfect not writing activity!
Best post ever, Jennifer! For me writing looks like a long, hot shower and Twitter. Love, love the reminders that our minds need to ruminate, and it doesn’t necessarily involve butt in chair.
I’m so glad you like the post. It’s good to know I’m not crazy as well.
It’s called the subconscious. It works when you do “mindless” things like showering, driving, or falling asleep. If you engage it, it will do a lot of your work for you … ignore it and it will anyway, but all that work will float away unused.
Yes, that’s the right word! Thank you!
Jennifer, I loved this! Your post sharing Ann Hadley’s slide certainly reflects my experience.
I wanted to stand up and cheer when she posted the slide, But I thought it might be bad manners. I was very proud of myself for keeping my rear in the chair.
I love this post and have shared that picture on Twitter. I’m just sad I didn’t attend Handley’s session at #cmworld. The pie chart is so me (minus the looking into other careers part. There’s nothing else I would want to be doing but writing). I do a lot of pre-writing while walking my dogs, kicking my own butt at the gym or while washing dishes or showering.
Be sure to check out the slides from her presentation that are online for attendees. There is a ton of helpful information even if you just look at the slides.
I love hear about what everyone else’s not writing looks like!
Love the blog, very helpful. Writing can sometimes be torturous, always looking for ways to make it easier.
Thanks for reading and commenting.I am so happy you like the blog. Is there any topic that you were looking for advice on that you haven’t found? I’m always looking for new ideas that readers want help with.
Jennifer
Totally relate! Now that my husband freelance writes (for law firms) at home, he’s had to learn that my pacing through the house is actually my creating time.
That’s awesome that your not writing looks like pacing! Love it!
Like those before me, I really love this post, Jennifer! I, too, do a good deal of my best writing while showering, playing ball with the dog, or working out…just ask my hubby or any friend who’s seen me sprint for my notebook to write down the lede that materialized in my head full-blown while I was plowing through an HIIT workout. 🙂
We really are our own worst enemies, always stewing about what we *should* be doing or how someone else’s process is different (and undoubtedly better) than the one we’re using.
I’ve come to the conclusion that when that evil little gremlin appears to whisper nonsense in our ear, the best bet is to stuff his nasty little butt back into his jar and slam the lid on *tight.* We’re always the better for it.
Thanks again for the great post!! 🙂
I LOVE your comment about the gremlin. And you are so right, we are totally our own worst enemies.
So, So, So, So true for me. And I know it. But somehow actually reading it makes me feel…less guilty. I also appreciate why you don’t like the hourly rate. For many years as a lawyer I used to beat myself up in the same way. I’d be thinking all weekend about what I was going to say in a brief, and was much more efficient when I started writing, then felt guilty for charging more hours than I actually spent writing. Thank you.
I feel like I have done my good deed for the day so I can call it quits. I am so glad that I made you feel less guilty. Yes, that’s exactly why I can’t do hourly rates because either I way under charge or I feel like I am scamming my clients because I charged for writing in my head. I have to say that once I explain this to clients who want to hire me at a hourly rate, they laugh and always agree to the project rate.
Great post! I write in my head while walking in the neighborhood or working out at the gym, and the shower is like an idea chamber for me.
A prolific writer once told me he thinks about his article right before he goes to bed and his brain works on it while he is asleep. When he wakes up, he immediately writes.
Wow! I wish it were as easy as the writer you mentioned for me. But that’s awesome that he can write while sleeping. That would be much more productive than my process.
Oh the shower, yes I forgot about that one for me as well! Love that phrase “like an idea chamber for me.”
Yes! I often get insights into the perfect approach to an article or marketing piece when I’m waking up slowly and still lounging in bed looking out the window at the trees and the light or making funny good morning faces at my dogs. I get intros or even whole pieces written in my head during that easeful time of flow. And I’ve learned to write it down on a tablet (with a pen! — no computer LED to break my dreaminess) before I really get up and get moving with my day so I don’t forget it later.
I also learned an amazing technique from Napolean Hill’s Think & Grow Rich classic: give your subconscious a clear instruction to solve something before going to sleep. You’ll be amazed at how you wake up with a great idea or how easy it is to write when you sit down at your desk later. Good stuff!
Jennifer, thank you so much for your fantastic blog. Love your candidness and commitment to the writer community!
Thanks so much for this gentle reminder to be true to your own processes. I call my non-writing time “percolating” or “fermenting.” It usually happens after a period of researching and accumulating information, but sometimes it happens after I write the first or even the second draft of a document. I find that revisions are so much more productive if I have taken the time to let the ideas rest and settle in.
I love the phrase percolating! We wouldn’t dream of drinking coffee before it’s done percolating, but it’s easy to try to rush our own process. I try whenever possible to let a story sit overnight before I edit it for the same reason. I usually do the writing like you do after researching. But I will sometimes redo something, especially the lede after my percolation period, lol.