What an unfortunate story. I think a lot of us are related to the royal family of procrastination. It’s always a comfort to hear such spot on analysis of the habit. Thanks for sharing, Mason! I especially appreciate your recap of Worm School and can understand how the project you create to support your greater task ends up usurping it.
Thanks, Ally! I'm always curious about the connections between ambition, perfectionism, procrastination, and creativity — I think some of the traits that make people great artists also may leave them especially vulnerable to procrastination? A subject for a future post, perhaps.
Good to hear Baudelaire was a spaz. My bouts of creativity often go off like a Catherine Wheel, spinning and spraying sparks in every direction, momentarily spectacular but not necessarily yielding anything lasting.
Funny, I was just reading about the Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa, who, according to his biographer, was "a volcanic writer, and when the words started flowing, he used whatever sort of paper was close to hand." (Maybe I'll write about this in the next issue.) So I think the trick is to somehow capture those Catherine Wheel bursts!
Baudelaire's portraits could be their own post! He was always fashioning his own image as a poet: first the rebellious young dandy-bohemian, later the exhausted/dissipated outcast—though still with the elaborate, dandy-ish bow tie!
Thanks, Annette, so glad this one resonated with you. I'm always encouraged to know that other writers fought through periods of lassitude, procrastination, and on and on . . .
"bouts of listlessness..." how wonderfully dramatic and appealing to my inner procrastinator and constant "better make a plan/refine the plan/update the plan" companion. I've tried the "habit" track with the same negligible result. The Worm Zoom sessions, however, are amazingly productive hours.:) I don't know why either, but I'm really glad you started them. They give my good intentions a place to go at a designated time where I can tap into that focussed energy of the group. Thanks, Mason!
Thank you, LuAnn, it's been so great to have you on Worm Zoom this summer. Maybe the way to "conquer" listlessness/procrastination is to just not be doing it alone? Ditto for establishing new habits — always so helpful to have some outside accountability.
The demon, the dragon, the one-eyed monster that has stood between me and that writer's "equilibrium", has always been video games. I'm currently trying to quit for the 34th time. I'm not kidding. Even though I've managed to write three novels, two of them are worthless, and the third one is a Behemoth that I battle with every day (I'm currently editing the 10th version of it); my mind is not where it should be. And that has kept me from getting to where I want to be. At 40 years old, I pay a very high price by grinding at a desk job I abhor, the "secret agony of my soul," as Dickens put it.
It's funny that I've managed to stay sober for nine years and quit damaging relationships, but gaming is a whole other beast for me. It's my heroin, my bane. Why? Because little Ricky had a troubled childhood, and he found solace in the 8-bit dungeons of Zelda, among other games he played. In those worlds, my mother could not reach me. Nor the violence at home.
Reading this gives me hope. Of course, I don't possess Baudelaire's genius, but I'm sure as hell going to try to get as near to it as possible.
The Zoom sessions also keep me “in good heart day after day” (bummed to miss them this week but back at it soon ;)
Thanks, Sabrina, look forward to seeing you again next week!
What an unfortunate story. I think a lot of us are related to the royal family of procrastination. It’s always a comfort to hear such spot on analysis of the habit. Thanks for sharing, Mason! I especially appreciate your recap of Worm School and can understand how the project you create to support your greater task ends up usurping it.
Thanks, Ally! I'm always curious about the connections between ambition, perfectionism, procrastination, and creativity — I think some of the traits that make people great artists also may leave them especially vulnerable to procrastination? A subject for a future post, perhaps.
PS—This Austin Kleon piece on perfectionism has really stuck with me: https://austinkleon.substack.com/p/understanding-perfectionism
Ooh! I would love a future post on that topic. I’ll keep my eyes peeled 👀 Thanks for your reply and recommendation. You’re awesome!
Good to hear Baudelaire was a spaz. My bouts of creativity often go off like a Catherine Wheel, spinning and spraying sparks in every direction, momentarily spectacular but not necessarily yielding anything lasting.
Funny, I was just reading about the Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa, who, according to his biographer, was "a volcanic writer, and when the words started flowing, he used whatever sort of paper was close to hand." (Maybe I'll write about this in the next issue.) So I think the trick is to somehow capture those Catherine Wheel bursts!
Baudelaire certainly looks like the quintessential tortured artist in that first photo 😱.
And yes, the Kristin Posehn post is so good. I admire her writing.
Baudelaire's portraits could be their own post! He was always fashioning his own image as a poet: first the rebellious young dandy-bohemian, later the exhausted/dissipated outcast—though still with the elaborate, dandy-ish bow tie!
Sounds like he was a bit of a piece of work 😅
I really enjoyed reading this and will keep it as inspiration while I continue writing my novel.
Thanks, Annette, so glad this one resonated with you. I'm always encouraged to know that other writers fought through periods of lassitude, procrastination, and on and on . . .
Yes, to a degree it's a consolation. Worrying when it becomes an excuse.
Great work, Mason. You write as well as you sing which is sublime
THANK YOU for that Sedona Method link!
Thankyou. Very timely post. Similar pains here.
You're not alone!
"bouts of listlessness..." how wonderfully dramatic and appealing to my inner procrastinator and constant "better make a plan/refine the plan/update the plan" companion. I've tried the "habit" track with the same negligible result. The Worm Zoom sessions, however, are amazingly productive hours.:) I don't know why either, but I'm really glad you started them. They give my good intentions a place to go at a designated time where I can tap into that focussed energy of the group. Thanks, Mason!
Thank you, LuAnn, it's been so great to have you on Worm Zoom this summer. Maybe the way to "conquer" listlessness/procrastination is to just not be doing it alone? Ditto for establishing new habits — always so helpful to have some outside accountability.
The demon, the dragon, the one-eyed monster that has stood between me and that writer's "equilibrium", has always been video games. I'm currently trying to quit for the 34th time. I'm not kidding. Even though I've managed to write three novels, two of them are worthless, and the third one is a Behemoth that I battle with every day (I'm currently editing the 10th version of it); my mind is not where it should be. And that has kept me from getting to where I want to be. At 40 years old, I pay a very high price by grinding at a desk job I abhor, the "secret agony of my soul," as Dickens put it.
It's funny that I've managed to stay sober for nine years and quit damaging relationships, but gaming is a whole other beast for me. It's my heroin, my bane. Why? Because little Ricky had a troubled childhood, and he found solace in the 8-bit dungeons of Zelda, among other games he played. In those worlds, my mother could not reach me. Nor the violence at home.
Reading this gives me hope. Of course, I don't possess Baudelaire's genius, but I'm sure as hell going to try to get as near to it as possible.