It's Not Procrastinating When It's Actual Work. Right?

Image: theorange.co

It's been a longish while since I actually felt the urge, the need to write. To get started on one of my many ideas, hopefully labelled "projects" in my head that have been lying about for a while or that have just recently popped up.

The thing is... As much as I would love to sit down and just devote all my time to a whole new "book" (whichever that would turn out to be, by the way), whether it's just for myself or for a possible contest or something, I fear to get started when I know I can only devote so much time to it.

That's one of those things NaNoWriMo taught me. That I work wonderful things when I get to devote an entire month of my son's naps to writing one specific story, to the full exclusion of everything else except blog posts about said specific story.

But right now, it's mid-May and I have four deadlines coming up. Four translations, two of which are short (compared to what I'm used to), and two are full-length Young Adult novels. Two deadlines are around the end of this month (or at least, that's what I want them both to be), and the others have one month each for completion. That may sound like an ocean of time, but translating takes time and brain cells and concentration, plus I have to type all the words myself. It's a bit like writing a novel, but just in a different language. And with the already-written-story next to you. Still, all jokes aside, if you want it to be a good translation, it will take time and concentration and effort. Juggling an entire story that you want to write in that same month... not a good idea.

So while I get to hide safely behind four deadlines - and feel wholly and totally justified in saying that this really isn't procrastinating - it does feel like a bit of a bummer not being able to write an entire story when I actually want to. I might write bits and pieces here and there, of course, but I just can't devote the same quality time to this as I could back in November, during NaNo.

Although on the other hand I'm content with that too. I love my job. I love translating. I love being able to get one book ready for publication in a different language so that even more readers can enjoy them. I love having a published book in my hands that I've slaved over. I love seeing my name hidden away on the pages. I love being able to immerse myself in an existing story, taking a book apart like only translators can - because that, too, teaches me so much about writing.