You Know You're Stalling When . . .

I'm supposed to be writing a research paper right now. For some reason, I do not want to write the actual body of said paper. Here is how I can tell:

1. I am contemplating spell-checking what I have so I can stop seeing "Viollet-le-Duc" underlined in red.

2. I save after every sentence to take up more time.

3. I think it sounds more fun to triple check every coma and and period in my bibliography.

4. Ditto footnotes.

5. I have read what I have ten times now.

6. I keep going back and changing out different invisible words, like the, and, it, etc.

7. I have started assigning meaning to the obscure stone sculptures outside the library window.

8. I keep on adding meaningless notes to my outline, then crossing them out, then writing more, and repeating.

9.My main train of thought is, and has been for an hour, on lunch, not structural rationalism.

10. I keep playing with my phone as if I'm expecting a call, even though when it does vibrate it usually goes skittering all over the place and falls off my chair.

11. I am writing a blog rather than a paper.

You would think I was stuck research paper-wise, but I actually have perfect clarity. Seeing as both my professors have extended their deadlines I have lost that awesome drive I had on Monday, abandoned my paper writing schedule (which would have had me finish yesterday at noon), and am now stalling my almost done paper. This is what happens when you work your tail off for two days straight and then get free hand outs. Curses.

Poking Fun at Oscar

I've always hated the Academy Awards. They never seem to go to the movies I like, and favour sensationalism more than good filmwork. You can then imagine my delight at a video posted by a friend who has similar issues with movie awards. Check it out, this may be my favourite spoof video ever.

A Trailer for Every Academy Award Winning Movie Ever

The Right Way to Write

People seem to be asking me a lot lately if I've sent my book manuscript into any publishers. They all seem remember me saying something about doing that sometime soon. Or, last summer.

Yes, I have been procrastinating big time, but I promise it is not because I am scared. Or at least, not entirely. Last summer my query package was not ready to go, and then in the fall I got tired of working on it and started working on the sequel instead. While in Thailand, I set a goal to have it ready to go by the end of January.

I'm sure you can guess how that one went.

The fact is, I was scared. I'd done a lot of research on publishing, pitching and writing a marketable product, and the way I saw it, my manuscript wasn't ready. The way I figure, it would be better to spend more time preparing the manuscript now that I know what's wrong with it, then start sending it in an obviously flawed form. Maybe then I can skip at least one level of rejection letters.

I've started reading this book called Thanks, But This Isn't For Us: A (Sort of) Compassionate Guide to Why Your Writing is Being Rejected by Jessica Page Morrell. It's written by an freelance editor, who goes through what makes a good product, and what editors will reject. I'm finding it hugely helpful, and would recommend it to any other aspiring authors out there.

So that's where I am in writing right now. Hopefully, I can get back on the pitching wagon soon.