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Later dude...

As a confirmed procrastinist I have nothing but admiration for people who are able to set goals, make lists, then feverishly work on crossing the items off. It seems to equate with a 'been there, done that' T-Shirt to me. But, then again, that my be a passive aggressive rebellion - in the same vein that the things which annoy us most about our children are the things that remind us most of ourselves.

Still, nothing actually happens until you make a start. I have found that, once I have overcome my inertia, I can set a cracking pace. I wrote my novel Vanishing Act in a month, designed and typeset it within a week and had an international worst-seller the following day. I know that literary colossi labour over their masterworks for ages - none more so than Truman Capote:

"I write my first version in longhand (pencil). Then I do a complete revision, also in longhand. Essentially I think of myself as a stylist, and stylists can become notoriously obsessed with the placing of a comma, the weight of a semicolon."


It irritated Capote (and I have to say it would drive me bonkers). I saw the Capote quote on a site called Daily Routines - How writers, artists, and other interesting people organize their days. Which I have found reading is the perfect antidote for beginning the work at hand.

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