Over at Madwoman in the Forest, Laurie Halse Anderson is hosting her annual Write Fifteen Minutes a Day Challenge. So far, I think I'm flunking. I just left this comment:
So...if I've spent the first 5 days of WFMAD submerged in copyedits, does that count? Clearly it's writing-related, but even when I'm tweaking a scene it doesn't feel like "real" writing -- it mostly feels like clerical work. At the end of a day of copyedits, the last thing I want to do is compose something new, and I end up rationalizing for waaaay more than 15 minutes:
This is necessary work, real-live-published-author-work. The deadline is Friday; that takes precedence. You've been at it for hours, give yourself a break. (ad nauseam)
Maybe I do need to quit being so literal and give myself a break. Pirate Code of Writing, and all that. But the daily rationalization bugs me -- isn't that exactly the sort of procrastinatory baloney that WFAMD aims to conquer? Isn't rationalizing a signal of guilt? Because for the record, I KNOW DARN WELL ANOTHER 15 MINUTES WON'T KILL ME. I just don't *want* to....
What do you think? Should I atone with make-up days in September? Or am I being too hard on myself?
(In the interest of full disclosure: a couple days ago I did squeeze in my 15 minutes. It felt FABULOUS -- when it was over, that is.)
