shiny new idea + procrastination = doom?

After several weeks of decent writing progress/general sense of contentment related to all-things-creative, I have once more reached a sticky stage with the “really long story.” (That’d be a novel… shhhh… that word will be scary until I finish my first one).

There has been a little procrastination.

I have contemplated jobs like washing out cupboards and clearing through my files. Honestly. Aspects of the following video hit close to home:

(Thanks Tanita, for that link. I feel less alone).

And then, this morning, the worst thing happened.

While procrastinating, a shiny new idea showed up. Just like that. There it was. It floated before me all pretty and tantalizing. It said, “Look at me! I am new! I am not messed up! I will never keep you awake at night or make you feel like a dummy or cause you to bake excessively to avoid me! Yoo-hoo? Over here…” (The wise and ever-fabulous Laini Taylor calls these sorts of new ideas “newts”: “a New Weird Thing, that is, a writing project that is usurping the place of another writing project. Also known as a “slutty new idea”. Newts are to be discouraged, despite their unfailing awesomeness.” )

Thankfully, I remembered these words of wisdom. I considered the shiny new idea for two minutes (okay, maybe five), and then I wrote it down and shut it away and turned back to my oh-so-imperfect project.

And I kept on going. Doom is not an option.

So says the Elf.

By the way, sometimes when you procrastinate, you find pretty things that perk you up and make you want to keep working on saying something worthwhile about the endlessly surprising, every-so-often heart-filling world we live in. Here’s one thing like that:

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