Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/10/06/why-writers-procrastinate.html
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If I could wave a magic wand and get rid of one flaw - it would be my procrastination.
Second would be eyesight.
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Talent is a really insidious myth. My son has tons of talent, but only hard work can turn that into skill.
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“Why writers procrastinate”
Because we hang out on places like BoingBoing BBS? 
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Partially true. I have some talent. I have to work hard to make something good.
I know people who can do better effortlessly.
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I’ll comment on this later.
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So what was having a be-scarfed penguin for a parent like, growing up?
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Eyesight seems an odd thing to want to get rid of.
My dad said that I had neither, and that not even hard work could put some sparkle behind my dull eyes. Every year on my birthday I think about visiting his grave to thank him, but for the life of me I can never remember where I buried him.
Ignore that last part.
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I would get rid of the FLAWS in my eyesight. I have terrible astigmatism.
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Way too much much fish in my diet.
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What if they can do better effortlessly because they put a lot of work into learning how to write really well effortlessly?
Which is more productive?
- Learning to do something the right way, or
- Learning to do one instance of that something the right way, and only when you need to do it?
IME this is an easy call to make for most stuff.
Oh. That makes much more sense than what I was thinking.
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I’d comment but I’m afraid of what people will think of it.
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I read the original article, nodded sagely, and then reflected.
Skimmed the article again, because it was missing something.
A solution.
The “why” is fine, but that’s not why anyone actually cares about the subject matter.
2500 words worth of “why” is 2000 too many.
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That is part of it, but there are people who are just effortlessly more talented. Perhaps you know someone who can sing pitch perfect or draw amazingly well with out lessons, practice, etc.
Some of them develop their talent to amazing things. Other don’t but can still outperform most people.
So raw talent can certainly be a factor in effortlessness. Hard work mixed with talent can lead to it as well. There isn’t one road to success.
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I have a deadline today, so I’ll go read the article first.
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Perhaps, and that is the common wisdom but…I wonder how much of a supposedly talented person’s childhood was devoted to similar/supporting pursuits?
Some children got legos for xmas, others got crayons.
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Well, it’s full of condescending BS about millennials, so I’d advise to you just skip it altogether, Rob.
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Well, it’s a dataset of one, but… I procrastinate on writing because I have too much else going on. I’ve been working on a new novel loosely based on my vision of the backstories of people on here and other sites, but it takes time and a level of focus that I can’t give it right now.
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The problem with you millennials is that you can’t take condescending BS about millennials.
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