Showing posts with label distractions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label distractions. Show all posts

Monday, February 17, 2014

Monday Motivation - More Write Prioritizing



More Write Prioritizing

Household chores are done, check. Laundry placed in dryer, check. Seated comfortably in recliner, check. Homemade low-fat caramel latte sitting on the end table at my side, check. Cat sleeping on lap, check. Flames are dancing in the fireplace and music is playing on the radio. My circumstances are now just right for my daily writing appointment. However, why don’t I just check my email and get it out of the way first? Then I won’t be curious if anyone has replied about something important. Well, then I should answer another email, write a little, read a blog, make a comment, recommend the article on Twitter and Google +, write a little more, hit like on friends’ Facebook statuses . . . Oh look, it’s nearly time to make dinner.

Now my two hours of uninterrupted, productive writing time has become 45 minutes. My ten in the morning writing appointment didn’t start until 2:30 p.m. But  it only took a couple of minutes to check my email, right? Wrong! While I do admit to truly being present for my writing appointment three times last week and being fairly productive during those times, it certainly made me look more closely at what I am truly doing with my writing time. I sure am easily distracted!

A successful author friend of mine encouraged me to make writing even more of a priority. She challenged me not to even check email or any social media before I write until I hit a set daily word count. Hmm . . . Or I’m thinking, at least hit goals for the day, whether it’s finishing an outline or a chapter.

This week’s goal is to move writing time to the next priority after time with the Lord and a little exercise. I don’t have to have everything perfect first. The dust bunnies aren’t going anywhere!

I do miss the days of physically having to plug in the modem to be on the Internet, though. Yes, I can turn the connection off while I write, but distractions are only a mouse-click away. What about you—how do you unplug from the Internet and social media while you write? Please share in the comment section below!

This week’s writing prompt: The first time I went to see a movie in the theater I . . .

Enjoy the walk down memory lane today!

Monday, September 23, 2013

MONDAY MOTIVATION


The Distraction Factor
When I sit down to write the next scene of a story I’m working on, I know where I’m  going, but sometimes I’m not sure how to begin where I left off and my mind wanders. It’s not so much a case of writer’s block, but more of an easily distracted state of mind. Suddenly, I remember that cobweb in the family room or the dust bunny next to the washing machine. If I go into the other room, to take care of the problem, I remember there’s laundry in the dryer to be folded that somehow can’t wait. Or perhaps, as long as I’m in the family room, I might as well look for that cookbook I needed to make dinner.

Here are a couple of ways to manage distractions, before they take me away. I try to have a  pen and paper handy to make a list of things I should do later, so I don’t have to worry that I will forget about them. Another strategy I use is to end one day’s writing in the middle of a sentence, so that on the next I have to finish the sentence, which helps me flow into continuing the story before those other pesky thoughts can distract me!

Another distraction I may have is the rude character that intrudes into my mind and begs to written about. There’s only one problem: she is from a completely different story! If that character’s voice won’t leave me alone, I use it as a writing prompt. I take five or ten minutes to explore her thoughts in writing. Now, as I go back to the manuscript I was working on, the new character has to be quiet--at least for awhile. Also, I have another story idea brewing to begin after the current project is finished. Creativity breeds creativity.

What character is begging to get out of your head today and down onto paper?

How do you deal with distractions to your writing?

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More fun for writers: Check out Tom Threadgill's humorous post:
Goofus and Gallant?)