I’ll write this blog entry tomorrow. Honest!

It’s been a few days now since I officially announced my intentions to finally finish the book I’ve been working on for several years. I launched this website, started this blog, even set up a new Facebook profile and page, alongside a new Twitter account, and, to be fair, it’s been going pretty well. A lot of my friends have been supportive, (Thanks all, I love you loads!) I’ve got new people following my Facebook page and my Twitter friends list is gradually increasing, with a lot of other writers and authors following me as well!

So far, so good!

The one thing I haven’t done yet, though, is actually get any writing of the book done.

And therein lies my biggest issue. I procrastinate. A LOT.

To be fair, it’s not entirely my fault. I work, full time, in retail and this week in the UK, Lockdown 3.0 is gradually coming to an end. This means retail is re-opening next week and I’ve been back at work this week to get the store sorted out in readiness to open next week. To say it’s been hard is an understatement. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been lucky, I’ve been furloughed like a lot of people and been nice and comfortable sat at home watching TV, playing computer games and more whilst people have been out there ricking their lives fighting against Covid and serving the public at risk to themselves (Much respect to all of you!) but this also means I’ve not been that active so going back to work, lots of physical exercise and heavy lifting has hit me like a bomb and I’m aching. All. Over!

This is, of course, an excuse.

I mean, it’s not, I really don’t feel like it tonight as I am in some pain, although, as Rosie and I would say to the kids when they whinge about something daft, “You’ll live!” but it doesn’t really excuse the beginning of the week. There were at least three days when I could have done some writing, but I was too busy looking at Twitter and Facebook to think about it, so it became yet another reason not to get any work done on the book.

The problem I have is that I’m far to easily distracted. I’ll be sat at my computer, all ready to work, been planning out what I want to do and then something will distract me, like a funny message from a friend on Facebook, or it’s time to eat ,which inevitably becomes several hours watching television which will then be followed by some time playing a new game or something and the cycle continues.

Honestly, I’m my own worst enemy!

And so I turn to you, dear reader! How do you get past it? How do you make yourself do the things you know you want to do but end up not doing for some silly reason? How do you make yourself focus on the thing in front of you instead of the shiny Wikipedia entry you just stumbled upon about why Crispin Glover sued the makers of the Back To The Future sequels (Turns out they used his likeness without permission!) or finding out where all the calculators go when they die! (Silicon Heaven, obviously.) How do any of you authors out there make yourself put the words on the (virtual) page?

Also, if anyone knows of a good way to help my back stop aching, I’d be eternally grateful!

2 thoughts on “I’ll write this blog entry tomorrow. Honest!

  1. Hey, Steve

    One thing I’ve learned over time is that you can’t force it. Words will flow when they’re good and ready. You can try and force it, but often you’ll just end up with crap that needs to be rewritten anyway.

    I generally try switching up what I’m doing. So I’ll blog, or edit something I’ve already written, or maybe dabble with plotting instead. Just something to get me in the right mindset.

    Music is my other great motivator. I’ll often put on music that plays to what I want to write about and that clicks me into the frame of mind.

    1. I do listen to music a lot while writing, although for different reasons, usually it’s just to blot out the sound of whatever rubbish movie Rosie is watching on TV next to me 😉

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.