Distractions!

I've been quite prone to falling into distractions so far this week. I dialed up WRTI on the print server computer this morning so I could keep the laptop offline, in order to keep from gettting sucked into the Internet instead of writing. I went away to prepare a cup of tea. When I returned I realised my screen saver was boring. I then proceeded to spend half an hour looking at screen savers on my system, finally stopping when one of the image slideshows locked up KDE. Eheheh. So much for the Internet as my only distraction!

When I'm this plagued by monkey mind, it's hard to get anything accomplished. Couple that with the extra fatigue brought on by Extreme Sinus Action! and I'm anything but productive. I'd meditate if I thought I could keep from dozing off in the middle of it.

A chat this weekend with friends about Jim Butcher's latest Harry Dresden novel touched off a discussion on what makes a compelling story. I'll be exploring that later this week. Jim Butcher has a blog over at LiveJournal in which he gives advice for writers. I'll probably be referencing that as well. It's no longer updated, it appears, but it's still chock-a-block full of good stuff.

Let's catch up on the Poem-A-Day Challenge. Today is April 12 13th, and so far I have six poems completed, with two ideas for others. None of them follow the prompts on the website. Le sigh. The enthusiasm I had last week, during the summer weather preview we got in these parts, has faded, replaced by sinus congestion. Not a good trade, I feel. Yet I soldier on, albeit slowly and armed with tissues. The sneezing is getting old, now. Honestly, it can quit any time now. I'm serious.

In a not-really-related note, I'm supposed to be working on the next phase of an adventure I started running a few weeks ago for the roleplaying game Cat. Anything can be an adventure, yes, even a trip to the vet! Anyone who's ever tried to round up even one cat for a veterinarian trip knows what sort of searching, cajoling, screeching, dragging, shoving, clawing and biting catastrophe (heh) that can be. I have five players, soon to be six, and only three humans to deal with them. I wonder if they ought to phone a friend or relative for moral support at the vet's office when the crated kitties get loose. Or buy a tranq gun. Catnip works well enough on at least one of the members of the kitty crew, who was all too happy to ride in the crate once he had his precious catnip mousie. Just say no, kids.

So that's another creative direction I'm finding myself pulled in. It's only Tuesday but I've yet to sit my butt down for fiction writing, or article writing so far. But I'll keep plodding along, tossing bits of (I hope) interesting stuff for you folks to read. Stay tuned!