Top Five Ways to Procrastinate when I should be Writing by Louise Masters – Guest Blog


Long and Short Reviews welcomes Louise Masters who is celebrating the upcoming release of I’ve Got This.

Top Five Ways to Procrastinate when I should be Writing

No matter how excited I am by a particular book, there will always come a time in the writing—or editing—process when I find myself procrastinating. It’s too hard. I don’t know what comes next. I need some time away from it. There’s so much else to do today. Those are just a few of the things I whine to myself and anyone else who can’t escape fast enough. Sometimes I manage to convince myself to get cracking and write those words, but too often, I give in and find a distraction. It’s important to note that I never allow myself to read or watch TV when I’m procrastinating, because then I feel guilty. Here are some of the things I did while procrastinating over my latest release, I’ve Got This.

1. Social Media. This is one of my favorite methods of procrastination, because I can tell myself I’m networking and that’s actually a vital part of being an author. I’m building my brand. Never mind that what I’m actually doing is liking everyone’s cat pictures and engaging in gif wars in someone’s post comments.

2. Administration and research. Well, that’s what I call it when I start going through and deleting emails that have been around for six years. It’s pretty obvious that this one is just a delaying tactic. On the plus side, it’s usually pretty mindless, and occasionally I’ll find an email that has useful information I forgot about. I also had a fabulous time creating a map and all kinds of unnecessary information about Joy Universe, the fictional theme park complex in I’ve Got This.

3. Grocery shopping. Most of the time, I make a five-minute dash to the supermarket and grab just enough food for that day and the next. I’ve become an expert at whipping up dinner from odd items at the back of the pantry and freezer. When I’m procrastinating, though, I spend ages doing inventory, making a long list of things I need and things I could buy because maybe I’ll need them in the future, and then I go meander up and down every aisle at the supermarket, taking my time to examine items, compare prices, and read labels. This is followed by The Unpacking and Arranging of the Pantry, and leads to

4. Cooking. I love cooking, but not on an everyday basis. When I’m cooking at dinnertime, I want it done fast, easily, and with minimum mess. But when I’m playing with new recipes or making stuff to freeze… well, that becomes an all-day extravaganza. I’ll spend hours looking up recipes online. Experiment with things I’ve never tried before. Bake. Decorate what I’ve baked. Make six kilos of lemon curd. And then, when I’m surrounded by food I’ll never manage to eat, I can extend my procrastination by having a dinner party.

5. Cleaning. This is my least favorite method of procrastination, because I hate to clean, but it’s the most useful, because dust falls every second. In the midst of a particularly strong bout of procrastination, I can make a case for cleaning the house every day. Interestingly, this method of procrastination is also the one most likely to end the procrastination… because staring at a blank page and lamenting that the words won’t come is more fun than cleaning the bathroom for the third day in a row.

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Derek Bryer loves his life. His job as an assistant director at Joy Universe, the second-largest theme park complex on the planet, makes him indirectly responsible for bringing joy (pun intended) to millions of people. So what if none of his relationships are that close? Everyone he meets loves him.

Except Trav Jones. For some reason, the visiting Broadway performer would rather Derek just go away. He appreciates Derek’s work ethic, though, and after Trav steps up when Derek desperately needs someone to fill in for his sick staff, Derek seizes the chance to convince Trav he’s not such a bad guy.

Falling in love while distracted by a murder at the park, food poisoning, and colleagues laying bets on their relationship won’t be easy, but between the two of them and with the magic of Joy Universe, they’ve got this.

About the Author:Louisa Masters started reading romance much earlier than her mother thought she should. While other teenagers were sneaking out of the house, Louisa was sneaking romance novels in and working out how to read them without being discovered. She’s spent most of her life feeling sorry for people who don’t read, convinced that books are the solution to every problem. As an adult, she feeds her addiction in every spare second, only occasionally tearing herself away to do things like answer the phone and pay bills. She spent years trying to build a “sensible” career, working in bookstores, recruitment, resource management, administration, and as a travel agent, before finally conceding defeat and devoting herself to the world of romance novels.

Louisa has a long list of places first discovered in books that she wants to visit, and every so often she overcomes her loathing of jet lag and takes a trip that charges her imagination. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, where she whines about the weather for most of the year while secretly admitting she’ll probably never move.

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