#WriteThinking – Rachael Lucas
May
24
RACHAEL LUCAS!!!! I’m SO excited to have Rachael on my blog today. I’ve been a fan and followed Rachael’s story (stalked) for a while now. Rachael isn’t just a great writer (her latest book Wildflower Bay – Part 1 is OUT NOW, and on my kindle for my next read) but she’s a great person. Well, either that, or every time a message from me pops up on her phone she pours herself a gin. Either way, over to Rachael and her post about procrastination.
I was going to sit down and write something helpful like FIVE WAYS TO FIND THE TIME TO WRITE or HOW TO JUGGLE FOUR CHILDREN AND WRITING or something like that.
You know the sort of thing – the ones you read and think ooh, I’m definitely going to take those hints on board, and next time I sit down to write I’m going to be super efficient and organised.
The thing is – it would be a lie. I’m appallingly bad at finding the time to write. Very good at finding the time to stand at the kitchen worktop burning dinner and tweeting. Excellent at sitting in Costa reading a magazine and looking out of the window. And yet the books get written, somehow. A post on HOW TO HIT DEADLINES WHILST PROCRASTINATING WILDLY doesn’t sound quite so appealing, mind you.
But I’ve learned that procrastinating wildly is actually part of the process for me. This morning when I was supposed to be writing this (and about fifteen other things, and doing a million other publication day related activities) I decided instead to drive across the countryside to go and try on riding hats. (There is a logical reason for that. As a random displacement activity it would have been a bit odd, even by my standards.)
As I was driving along listening to dodgy songs from the 90s a snippet of thought from the character I’m trying to write floated into my head and lodged itself there, waiting in an obliging manner until I could stop and scribble it down. And as if by magic, whilst faffing, I have the beginnings of the prologue for book five – proof that procrastination can actually be useful writing time.
I spend ages floating around, scribbling bits of ideas down in notepads which I then lose. I type character sketches into my phone. I drive early to school and sit in the best car park space (the one where you can see them come out so you don’t have to stand freezing your arse off in the middle of winter) and watch people and think. It all looks like I’m doing nothing, but that’s where the stories come alive.
If you’re thinking this is basically an extended justification for wasting time online, avoiding boring housework, and spending a fortune in coffee shops, you’d be right. The good thing about it? By the time I’ve done all that, the deadline is usually looming, and that gives me The Fear (I suspect because I’m always convinced someone’s going to come along and tell me I’ve been found out, and I’ll have to go and get a proper job). So the work gets done. And then I write blog posts which end up being HOW TO HIT DEADLINES WHILST PROCRASTINATING WILDLY – because it’s the only thing I can talk about with any authority.
(Well, that, and what’s happening on Twitter.)
My new book Wildflower Bay is published by Pan Macmillan. It’s released as an exclusive three part ebook serial starting today, and will be available in the shops in paperback on 11th August.
(much love, R xxxx)
You can catch up with the amazing Rachael over at > rachaellucas.com | email | twitter | facebook GO AND DO IT NOW!