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| This was me yesterday. |
Second things second: yesterday I cleaned the house.
I mean: I cleaned the house.
I scrubbed the bathroom sinks. The toilet. Washed every dish and every article of clothing. I even broke out the scented candles and Febreeze.
This place is spotless, y'all.
And I need to finish Book 2 by Monday. (Actually, Friday.)
So why clean all the things?
Because I need to finish Book 2 by Monday. (Actually, Friday.)
I don't know why it is, but whenever I have a big project nearing completion and deadline...I need to clean the house. I don't usually clean the house--it usually stays in a state somewhere between Frat Boy and Seven Year Olds Alone In the House for Too Long. But around the time when I should be working on writing, that's around the time when I suddenly blink, look up, and decide to
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What about you? What do you do when you should be finishing a big project?
23 comments:
:) My room is always the cleanest whenever I have an exam the next morning -- cleaning's the best procrastination technique, really.
Eat copious amounts of chocolate.
Twitter. Blogger. Or "researching" things for my current story but really getting sidetracked and intrigued by random things. The cleaning is put off in my apartment until I trip over things one too many times! Lol
I have a hard time really focusing if the house is a disaster. So when I have a school deadline approaching or can't seem to focus, I usually have to get up and CLEAN ALL THE THINGS before I can function. It's especially bad with kiddos running around!
Get crackin' on that deadline, lady!
At the moment it's work and college homework assignments instead of finishing my next project, but I often get a 'clean all the things' feeling when I should be writing.
I tend to clean up when everything seems messy and difficult in my life. It can be exams or personal issues, but organising and tidying up seem to organise and, indeed, tidy up my mind.
It is how I, and it seems yourself, deal with stress. I think there's a quote saying something like: "A tidy desk, a tidy mind." It may just be something we were told in primary school...I think I'll thank them for my OCD then...
Also tidiness and cleanliness creates a feeling of space (John Williams) so perhaps that's feeling we try to achieve: space to work with.
Good luck finishing!
I can't believe we haven't gotten the first book and you're already making a second: what a way to keep us hooked.
Read blogs and tweet. *ahem*
Also, on occassion, I've been hit by the cleaning bug.
Dunno where you stand on the, "your book is your baby," metaphor, but I have had several pregnant friends embark on mega-cleaning bouts just before going into labor.
Best wishes with your deadline!
~Tui
Read blogs.
Nothing ever gives me the urge to clean - not books nor babies. Well maybe my Mum's imminent arrival :)
The past couple of days I've been lamenting the fact that my dream of becoming Queen of England is over. My only consolation is knowing he will be bald by the time he's King.
So you're telling me that all I need to do to get the house cleaned by T'giving (and family visitors) is add a deadline to my life?! At least your house is spotless now. :)
Beth, as Kari and I told you on the Twitter yesterday, we also love to talk about CLEAN ALL THE THINGS. And, you know what, whenver I have a big project to do, that's when I decide to CLEAN ALL THE THINGS. Or at least some of the things. Like, I'll do laundry or the dishes.
Because I, too, live in a house that is part frat boy part child. Boyfriend is a neat freak, and he'll be getting home from a two week trip this weekend. He's going to walk into my place and have a heart attack. Because I do not have any looming deadlines other than NaNoWriMo, which means in order to separate me from my computer you might have to lure me with freshly baked cookies. Or maybe peel me off the sofa with a spatula. Sigh.
That blog post really is the story of my life, Beth. So many of us writers relate to it, I find it a little uncanny. And awesome.
LOL! My husband was like, "What are you laughing at?"
Believe it or not, I'm sort of the same way. Before I sit down to write, the room I am in has to be clean or else I will keep looking at it and it will bother the crap out of me!
And cookies! I have the premade dough in my fridge and it's so easy to scoop it up and back in ten minutes--how can you resist macademia or double chocolate cookies?! It's impossible I tell you!
Sometimes (pronounce that "rarely") I clean. Usually I read.
Try to get it done or spend too much time on blogs. Depends on how motivated I am.
So, I tend to procrastinate more than anyone and do things like CLEAN EVERYTHING. To make sure that I made deadlines I had my good friend give me a punishment if I didn't make my deadlines. I have to edit the second draft of my manuscript and she told me if it's not done by the end of November, I must go without trashy reality TV for two weeks. It's made crack-a-lack. Find that friend to punish you and crack-a-lack, YOU CAN DO IT!
So true! Cleaning is the endless time suck. I sweep and vacuum. Strangely, my house is still super messy, so why even bother?
Because housework is easier than NaNoWriMo!
ps. I once read an interview with Joyce Carol Oates; she said housework is the fun thing she gets to do after she's done her writing (paraphrasing)
I do the same thing, except I feel like I can't get started on a project (or continue working on a project) if my house is too disorderly. Like right now, I'm supposed to be Nanowrimo-ing, but my side of the couch is covered in yarn and knitting patterns, and I just KNOW there's stuff on the table in the other room and there's laundry waiting to be put away...which means I'm reading blogs, instead of writing :)
hee-hee. I love Hyperbole and a Half. Mostly I CLEAN ALL THE THINGS when someone is coming to visit. I look around and go, "Gah. Where did all this stuff come from and however will I clean it?" And then I do.
Ha! I do this too. I also bake when I have deadlines. I HATE to cook, but somehow I get an itch to make cookies or bread or pies when I have a ton of stuff to get done. And once I've gotten it out of my system, I can usually get back to it.
Good luck with your deadline!
In college, I would purge my files and closets. My roommates thought I was just really good at tossing stuff.
I too am guilty of the cleaning when I have a huge project or deadline to meet. My hubby gets a look of fear when he comes home to a spotless house (small space + toddler + dog usually = not so spotless) because he knows something is going on that I'm avoiding. He will come in and say "What homework are you avoiding or what do you have to turn in soon". LOL
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