Playing With
Her Shadow – Distractions to Writing
By Beth Ann Erickson,
FilbertPublishing.com
I’ve got a crazy Rat
Terrier. She’s a
puppy so most of what she does doesn’t make any sense.
I remember the day she found her
shadow.
She spent nearly an hour spinning,
turning, lunging, digging into the carpet, and snapping at that
dark specter that kept following her wherever she
went.
She reminded me of me.
There are so many things to do every
day. I need to
take care of my family. I need to advertise my
writing business.
I need to promote my books and newsletter.
My desk’s a mess, I’ve got to answer my
mail. I’ve got
queries to research, and I’ve GOT to take time to exercise or
I’ll turn into a blimp. And you should see the
kitchen – SOMEBODY didn’t wash the supper
dishes….
And then there’s
Lucy. God only
knows what she’s destroyed recently.
With all these distractions, it’s easy to
feel like Lucy when she discovered her
shadow. I
can spend the majority of each day chasing the
shadows.
But then I wouldn’t get any writing
done. And that’s
the point of being a writer, isn’t it?
So what are we supposed to do when another
shadow lunges in front of us, begging for our
attention?
Here’s what I do: I make a list and tape it to
my computer screen.
After my family commitments, writing comes
first. After I’m
done with that, then I need to get my
promotion/marketing/queries out, answer mail/e-mail, then comes
keeping my office tidy, then the house cleaning, etc., etc.,
etc.
But until I made that list I got a lot of
shadow chasing done and precious little writing.
Here’s an assignment:
Write your shadows in your
journal. Write
them stream-of-conscious style – without
over-thinking.
After you’ve written down all your shadows, make your list of
the most important first priority first. Then proceed from there.
When you get a chance, write your list on
a Post-It® note and stick it to your computer
monitor. That’s
where mine is.
That way you’ll never forget what needs to
be done first
~~~
Beth Erickson is the publisher of Writing
Etc. the FREE emag
for writers. Make
your writing sparkle. Write killer
copy. Get
published.
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