12 April 2011

Priorities


via unknown

A few months ago, I was asked by an illustrator to write the story for a picture-book she would then illustrate. Even though the storyline has been in my head for a while, it's high time I started putting the exact words onto paper. The illustration above sums it up really. The deadline I set myself is looming and somehow nothing really materializes. I am afraid to fail. I tell myself I am very busy. I need  to have a coffee first, check some blogs, have a cigarette, work a little on my own blog. Ready?  No! I have to cuddle the cat first. He looks like he really, REALLY needs a hug. Surely, no animals should be hurt during the making of this book??? Have I had a cigarette yet?  So, I have had to make a deal with myself: only after having written a page (half a page?) a day am I allowed to work on my blog. 
Sigh ...
Watch this space for news...
Or ..wait a minute ....
YOU!  Yes, YOU!
Do NOT watch this space. 
GO AND GET SOME WORK DONE!
(Ok, you're allowed to cuddle your cat/dog/guinea pig first. People with pet fish get permission to hug a pillow instead)




5 comments :

agnes szucs said...

hah... i read this just now...
all too falmiliar!!! i should say, sadly enough... :P are all of us so-called creative-types like this? i think not... and i think that maybe we can change... i guess this "first i have to..." is because of some fear, that we just have to shed like old skin.

but anyways...
did it turn out to be good in the end? :)

hugs,
agnes
:)

E. said...

Hi Agnes

I agree it is some sort of fear. Of failure. Even of success at times. I remember you writing a similar post a few months ago. What helped me a great deal was my decision to make the task as un-threatening as possible. I set myself 2 hours each day to work on the book. Short enough not to feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the task, yet long enough to get SOMEthing done. Once the two hours were up, I gave myself a pat on the back, even if I had only written one line I was happy with.

In the end, there was a book. Whether it is good or not, I'm not sure about. It is ok for a first attempt, but it's not entirely what I had envisaged it to be. It was a great learning process though, and that makes me happy in itself!

xx

agnes szucs said...

i'm glad to hear that. :) :)

yes, i'm struggling with this a lot. :)

yours seems to be a good technique...
and once you start doing it, things and ideas just start to come...
starting must be a key... and making some/any progress every day, too... (hehe... i actually always know, how i SHOULD do my stuff :P)

oh, i just read a good quote:

"It's in the doing that the idea comes" (Edmund Bacon) (i read it in a youtube vid)

hugs,
agnes
:)

E. said...

Great quote! Love it!

X. E

agnes szucs said...

:) :) i'm glad you do. :) :)

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