My top Ten Writing Distractions

Ugh, I am terrible at blogging. I really am. I know I have plenty to blog about when it comes to writing but I always feel like I’m either preaching to the choir or unable to articulate what I’m trying to get across (but I suppose everyone feels that way to some extent. So I’m preaching to the choir after all! :D)

Mostly, though, I’m very easily distracted. So I decided to do a top ten things that often keep me from writing. These aren’t things I need to over come or anything – mostly because I can’t, and partly because they really aren’t that big of a deal. Distractions happen, but as long as I eventually get words written down, then it’s all good. So, counting down….

10. My cats. They’re just so dang fluffy I have to stop and pet them or play with them every once in a while. Either that or they’re sitting in my lap, making it hard for me to reach the keyboard.

9. 5 to 6 o’clock PM. I don’t know what it is about this time but I’m always hit with either fatigue or a general feeling of ick. Once this time passes, however, I’m awake, alert and ready to go.

8. TV and movies. Specifically new episodes or movies I haven’t seen before, because my brains likes to mull over what I’ve seen, making it hard to focus on other things.

7. Video Games, but usually only brand new video games full of shiny potential and mysterious worlds. Because once I’ve managed to play the game all the way through – or played it long enough – I lose enough interest to get back to my other tasks. Really, though, video games are actually more of a help to me than a hinder. They clear my head and give me a change of scene, so to speak, after spending hours in one room writing.

6. The Internet. Enough said. But still not all that bad a distraction. Sometimes I need to step away from the story for a minute or two in order to think, and so long as I don’t go overboard with my browsing, then it gives me something to look at while I think.

5. Other stories. And I don’t just mean getting caught up in reading a good story, I also mean having this need to read a particular kind of story, and thus spending hours scouring the Internet to satisfy the obnoxious needs of my friggin’ id. Stupid id.

4. Doubts. When I begin to wonder if my story idea is good enough or if I could have done it better. But I tend to combat this quite easily with the thought that someone out there will like the idea, and it’s those people I’m writing for.

3. Other story ideas. This one drives me crazy. I’m writing along, halfway through my recent project, when I get a new story idea that’s shiny and fun and all I want to do is focus on that idea and that idea alone, thus setting aside poor current project until I become bored with “new idea.”

2. Controversial topics. This is when my web browsing becomes a hinder – when I come across some controversial or thinky topic that either gets my hackles up or makes me ponder so much that I can’t focus on anything else. It’s why I try to keep my browsing to a minimum and confined to only certain sites.

1. Issues within the story. I think one of the amazing things about being a writer is honing your craft to a point where certain things become second nature. Kind of like driving – you reach a point where you don’t have to think about every little action (like signaling, or slowing down to turn… usually) you just do it. Writing’s the same way, because when there’s an issue with a scene or a chapter, my subconscious knows it. And until my conscious figures out what it is my subconscious has picked up on, my writing mojo comes to a complete and utter halt. Problem is, until I figure out what it is that my subconscious is trying to tell me, I’m sitting there wrestling with doubts and wondering if the problem is that the story isn’t good enough, or I need to be writing something else, or I’m just bored with writing. Then, bam! It finally hits me that the problem is that the scene sucks and I need to rewrite it. And once I reach that realization, I’m able to move forward. But until that point comes, it’s everything I can do not to bang my head against the wall.