June 10, 2010
“When I am looking for an idea, I'll do anything--clean the closet, mow the lawn, work in the garden."--Kevin Henkes, author of Chrysanthemum
Writers are especially prone to "pushing the envelope". Often, we blame our procrastination on writer's block, a condition also known as "the midnight disease" because it afflicts writers about that time of night.
You don't have to be a writer to contract it, however.
Last night, I got a bad case of it.
The midnight disease started, for me, a couple of hours before the stroke of midnight leaving me blank with not a whisp of a story idea.
Have you heard about "drunk dials" or "drunk texts"? Probably, but have you ever heard of "writer's block panic calls"?
That's my affliction.
The worried calls to family and close friends start at the stroke of midnight: " It's almost the end of the week, and my column is due, again. Help!!! Any ideas?"
Such a call to my sister resulted in this reply: "Why do you always call at midnight? Can't you get writer's block a little earlier in the evening or a little earlier in the week?"
Apparently not, and according to Alice Flaherty in her book, "The Midnight Disease", the author maintains that writer's block may be the result of brain activity being disrupted in the area of the brain that governs literary creativity.
I have no idea what interrupted my brain activity, but I did have one idea earlier in the week and wrote it down on a piece of paper, somewhere.
Actually, I write down everything I want to remember.
That way, instead of sending a lot of time trying to remember what it is I wrote down, I spend the time looking for the paper I wrote it down on.
I figure since I can't find that piece of paper and since I can't think of a thing to write, I might as well write about not having a thing to write.
My theory is that procrastinating is more than just avoiding tasks at hand. Perhaps, we enjoy living on the edge because it feels deliciously like an elixir. We crave the rush of nearly crashing and burning but being saved in the end.
Some of us put off buying airline tickets hoping the price will get better; when in fact, it costs more by waiting.
Some shop madly on Christmas Eve because we say we love the spirit and excitement of last-minute gift buying only to find the stock "picked over" and no selection left.
What is it about putting projects off until Friday or the weekend or waiting until the last possible moment? We all do it.
Perhaps, we should not be so hard on ourselves either.
Personally, I live by the pun "only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday".
And speaking of waiting on Friday, come to think of it, I think that was the idea I wrote on the lost piece of paper.
Now, I remember the story, too:
An old man waited for help on his rooftop surrounded by a flooding river. He asked his God for help and felt assured that assistance would come his way.
Soon, rescuers arrived in a small boat, but the man refused to join them. He explained that God would save him.
His situation worsened. Another rescue boat came and then another. Each time, the old man said no, God would save him and told the rescuers to go away.
He was expecting drama, the spectacle of miraculous intervention.
Sadly, the man drowned as you might guess by now. The story continues that the stubborn old codger went straight to heaven where he wasted no time confronting his maker.
"Why didn't you save me," the man demanded of God. "I believed you would."
"I tried three times," God said, "But you would not come. What were you waiting on, Friday?"
