All right, folks, listen up. If you’re looking to kick-start your writing day, you’ve come to the right place for some tried-and true, sure-fire, can’t-miss tips. Ready? Here goes: 🙂
- Wake up bright and early to take advantage of that blissfully quiet time before the rest of the household stirs and the distractions begin.
- Throw in a load of laundry before you sit down at the computer so you won’t have to stop writing later to do so.
- Feed the cats. And the dog. And the rabbit.
- Make coffee (better plan on a few cups to compensate for the early start).
- While the coffee is brewing, decide what will be for dinner and get everything prepped so you can write longer this afternoon.
- Eat breakfast in front of your computer so you don’t waste a single precious minute. But, because it’s hard to write and spoon cereal into your mouth at the same time, use your eating time to check your email…and your Facebook page.
- Share a couple of interesting links you find on Facebook to your Twitter account so you won’t have to stop writing later to stay in touch with your followers.
- Take your breakfast dishes to the dishwasher — you don’t want to attract any flies that might distract you. While you’re up, get another cup of coffee.
- Open your work-in-progress and find where you left off.
- Try to figure out where you were going with that last, obscure line.
- Give up and scrap the last paragraph. Halfway through the rewrite, remember what you intended to write. Search computer for the previously saved version because now you can’t remember how you’d worded that critical, obscure line.
- Realize you have to pee because you’ve had two large cups of coffee.
- While you’re in the bathroom, decide to get your shower out of the way before the bathroom is taken over by other parties in the house.
- When you’re finished your shower, clean the bathroom because wow, how long has it been since someone washed all the shelves in the cabinet, anyway?
- You may as well do your hair and makeup while you’re in there, too.
- When you emerge from the bathroom, greet your husband. Be generous and make him breakfast — you got up extra early today, so you have the time.
- Clean the kitchen again so you don’t have to face a mess when you make your lunch.
- Pour more coffee, say goodbye to husband.
- Sit down at desk to write.
- Remember you still haven’t found the previously saved version with that all-important obscure line.
- Remember there’s a wet load of clothes in the washing machine.
- Hang the clothes out to dry on the clothesline. Notice what a beautiful day it is. Feel guilty because you haven’t done any kind of exercise yet, and you know how important exercise is.
- Go for a long walk. Plot out your next scene while you’re walking because that’s almost as good as actually writing. Almost.
- While you’re walking past the grocery store, remember that you’re completely out of milk for breakfast the next day.
- Return home for your wallet and drive back to the grocery store so you don’t waste any of your precious writing time.
- Realize when you get home that it’s lunchtime and you’re starving from all that fresh air. Make a salad because you know a heavy meal will make you sleepy and you really have to spend some time writing this afternoon.
- Clean the kitchen so you don’t have to face a mess when you put the final touches to dinner.
- Plug in the kettle for tea. Tea is always inspiring.
- While you’re waiting for the kettle, check the mailbox.
- Find an overdue gas bill and realize you forgot to pay all the bills last week.
- Curse as you dig out the papers you need from the avalanche on your desk.
- Get fed up with your procrastination and spend twenty minutes filing things. Find a plate of unidentifiable food remains at the bottom of the avalanche.
- Return to the kitchen to dispose of unnatural science experiment and get your tea.
- Sit down to write.
- After a half-hour of rewriting the same sentence over and over, realize your tea has gone cold. Decide you’re too tired to be productive at the moment and stretch out on the couch for a ten-minute catnap.
- Wake two hours later to find cat has joined you for nap.
- Finish making dinner. Greet spouse coming in from work.
- Eat dinner and clean the kitchen.
- Join spouse for after-dinner television because dammit, you’ve just had too many distractions today to get focused.
- Go to bed at a decent hour so you can get up bright and early to take advantage of that blissfully quiet time before the rest of the household stirs and the distractions begin…and repeat.
See? Piece of cake. 😉
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