Articles: Writing your stories ... tomorrow.

The art of writing, said Mary Heaton Vorse, is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.
However, argues Amanda Leduc, for those who are truly skilled in the art of procrastination, this is not enough.
As Amanda has discovered, you’ll need more than just keeping your rear end on a chair to save you from modern-day distractions such as the dreaded Facebook!

You’ve made the decision

So you

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• 
  Ania

  19 Feb 13:34

  Really hit the nail on the head, and really made me chuckle!
• 
  Anna

  19 Feb 14:12

  Great article – I have to say that the times when I have been most athletic, domestic and charitable have been when I’ve been preparing myself to do a big stint of work on an essay. I’m not watching TV so what I’m doing is of course productive and entirely necessary! Of course Oxfam need my old clothes RIGHT NOW!
  How long did it take you to sit down and write this article Amanda!?;-)
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  Amanda

  19 Feb 18:40

  Ha! It didn’t actually take me very long at all … once I sat down and did it, of course. Everything was helped along rather nicely by the fact that my foot was very sore and I couldn’t actually get up to do anything (else).

  Perhaps that’s my answer, then. I should systematically break all of my toes — I could write a novel for each of them! :)
• 
  Elizabeth

  21 Feb 09:41

  Excellent, insightful article, Amanda.

  I’d like to write a book about the art of procrastination… Somehow, I just never get round to it :D
• 
  Chinelo

  07 Mar 14:08

  A really funny and relevant article, what is writing without discussing what drives the writer? Mine is that I’m as ignorant as everyone else at the start and what drives me is that even though i sometimes know where I’m going plotwise, the novel eventually takes over and takes me where I never dreamt I’ll end up. I then spend a few days, laughing, crying or screaming in my office (which luckily, is my bedroom) Curiosity drives me but when it comes to editing, I should try that broken toe story…
  Good one!
• 
  Liz

  17 Mar 11:48

  It’s as if Amanda has been spying on me. Now feeling a little edgy and have decided to delay novel-writing in order to look for the hidden cameras…
• 
  Anna

  17 Mar 14:56

  Liz – that’s probably one of the best procrastination excuses I have ever heard!
• 
  Amanda

  17 Mar 15:20

  Best procrastination excuse? If there was a word that meant ‘better than best’, I would use it. Hidden cameras! Fantastic. Also, very possibly true. I should go look for some. Right now.

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