[From the Archive] Now thta the Season has Moved from Winter to Spring…
Ironic. This was written in April 2010 – but here in January 2012 we’ve had Springlike temps which are shifting back to Winter norms for February (because February is just that unpredictable – which may be way so many creative people are born in this tiny little month).
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Now that the season has moved from Winter to Spring, it’s time for flowers and trees to bloom and distractions to come at us from all….SQUIRREL!
Yes, as writers we are quite prone to distractions, and I’m not immune. It’s what you do with them that matters. Those squirrels can turn into plot bunnies or even plots. Distractions can lead to further research into both the industry and your next story. Distractions can drive you insane or help keep you sane, depending on how you deal with them.
When distractions take on the guise of plot bunnies – write them down and come back to them later. The plot bunnies that breed now can reap litters of rewards down the road. The distractions that lead you to new research – write that down or save them in a file or a bookmark to come back to later. The plot bunnies will need to be fed after all. The distractions that are simply distractions? Get ’em out of your system.
Clean your house. Write your blog rant on whatever political issue has your hackles up. Read up on the newest industries change – for the record, the new ebooks pricing systems start going into effect tomorrow, that will provide many distractions for many writers. As Amazon and the publishing houses agree on pricing models and everyone starts talking and complaining about it, read what you can when you can so you know what’s going on, then LET IT GO. Let it all go and reapply behind to chair.
Writers are a shiny lot. We like our squirrels. But we can’t let the squirrels and the shiny things take over. That’s not the way to progress. I say this to myself as well. I’ve fallen off my Daily Word Count wagon in the last couple of weeks. I’m frantically running behind, trying to jump back on and to do that I need to let my squirrels go. Who’s with me?