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Why Procrastination is the Key to Your Writing Success

I was taught by my parents to do things NOW and avoid procrastination. But, for some reason, when I put things off until the last minute, it always seemed like the end result was much better than when I did it with plenty of time. I find that doing that in my writing helps me to achieve more, with less effort, in far less time, and with much better results. For example, when I am in my day job, writing blog posts and news articles, I don't do too much research the night before. I find the resources I will use to write the articles, and I only study them as I am going to write the article. Seeing as I am under a bit of a time crunch, I have to really study the material and boil it down to the key points--which I then use in my article or blog post. The result: content that is short, snappy, and easier to read, but which still has all the pith to make it valuable. According to quite a few experts, procrastination (the right way) is the key to getting more done! Putting off decisions until later can give you time to gather information, and making a last minute decision will help you know how you really feel. Your "snap judgment" is often the one that feels right, and if you have gathered all of the information, it usually will be. When it comes to writing, procrastination can be the key to success. I'm right now sitting down to start working on the third book in The Last Bucelarii series, and I don't really know where the story is going. I have a rough outline of the plot for the book, and I'll keep working on it and fine-tuning it, but I'm going to start writing without really knowing how it ends or where it goes. Why am I doing that? Easy: by forcing myself to start without all the information, it gets my brain churning away. Over the next couple of months, my brain will puzzle over the story and give me information to keep it moving along. I have no doubt that by the time I reach the last few chapters, I will already have an idea of where Book 4 is going to go. It's that kind of procrastination that I find so helpful, and I think it's what has helped me to be successful with my story-telling. A lot of work goes into making the stories great, but procrastination makes me more creative in the long run. That doesn't mean you should procrastinate when it comes to sitting down and actually doing the writing. The time to write is NOW! Putting off writing until "later" may mean that your writing time never comes. But you may just find that you come up with awesome ideas at the last minute, when you need them most.