A shift to the left

This morning I've been distracted by computer troubles once again. Armed with a determination to get in here and write my 500 words before settling in to other tasks that need to be done, I was almost immediately derailed by my laptop misbehaving. I'll spare you the gory and geeky details, but I'm over here, two feet to the left, now typing on Cairns, the most recent acquisition from the local library, who donated a total of three used computers and a slew of mice and keyboards to me last year. Hopefully he'll play nice and let me get my work done.

Actually, I'm supposed to be writing my 500 words before writing in here. Distraction. Forgetfulness. Me. Anyhow, I nailed down my 500 words lickety-split yesterday, getting them done, as I had planned to do today, before I did nearly anything else (barring breakfast, of course).

Honestly, I didn't mean for the blog to turn into a constant run down of my progress with the challenge, but things got all backwards today and it's so odd to be working on a full keyboard and not my laptop and I'm just all discombobulated creativity-wise. Strange how one little change in the environment can completely throw me off my game. It's time to refocus! I do have some topics in mind for next week. Topics that aren't just about my manuscript. There are some burning questions that I intend to throw out here. There are some cool sites I've discovered recently. And other things, perhaps. So have a good weekend and I'll be back next week with ... stuff. Interesting stuff. Debatable stuff! See you then.

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February Challenge Day Three: 626

Scatterbrain and the problem of Motivation

I'm writing this from a newly-installed Kubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat operating system, which won't mean much to many of you, but it's a distraction all its own this morning. I've finally stopped myself from tweaking and playing with it (and stressing the compsitor out to the point I felt it prudent to reboot) so I can settle down to the business of writing.

I read Gary Henderson's most recent post on WriteWright. He talks about getting back to a story he's been plugging away at for some time now. I'm envious. I have projects (too many, perhaps) but I've always been plagued with the problem of starting something and not finishing. Even NaNoWriMo hasn't cured me of that: though I get the requisite 50,000 words written by the deadline, then I have a manuscript which needs revision, editing, polishing, etc. and it doesn't get done.

I look at Gary's writing blog and I'm envious of it. It's clean, it's neat, it has this awesomely shiny sharing widget that I covet. But he put a lot of work into that site. More than I'm willing or able to put into mine. I don't know if I want to get into the nuts and bolts of building my own blog from scratch, or even from a Wordpress template. I've had my issues with templates here on Blogger, and they handle all the behind-the-scenes stuff for me. There was a time I was more than happy to dive in and get my hands dirty with HTML and CSS and formatting and tweaking and settings, oh my. Occasionally I still get the urge. But usually, I want it quick and simple, with a finished product that looks pleasant and performs well.

During NaNoWriMo, I'm all business with respect to the task at hand. I set weekly goals. I wave rewards in front of my nose to get me to keep writing. I have thousands upon thousands of other people across the world who are doing this mad thing with me, and it gives me strength and motivation to keep going, even if I feel like what I'm writing is scary bad.

What I need is the ability to generate that kind of thing for myself. I've long been very bad at kicking my own butt into gear. If I owe work to someone else, I get it done. If I owe it to myself, well, that's different. I'm me, after all, and if I let myself down, it's just me getting let down and what's that matter? I'm not important enough to myself much of the time, it would seem.

The Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group is gearing up for critique meetings. I'm hoping that by participating in some of them I can get some feedback and motivation for my writing. I need at least a little external push (or pull) to keep me going.

Do you have difficulties with motivation in your creative efforts (or elsewhere in your life?) How do you handle them? Do you have any special tools, be they people, places, or things, that help you deal with them?

Staring Into Space

It's muggy in the house today; it's hard to breathe. I can't seem to get fully awake, and every time I look out the window I'm reminded of what a grey, overcast day it is. How depressing.

There's a meditation in Walking On Alligators that speaks to me today. It's about getting down to work. "To set to work right away, without dallying, is ideal," Susan Shaughnessy says. "But it doesn't work for everyone. Some writers need a time of pencil sharpening and staring into space." That's me, usually. I was working on some computers in here yesterday and so before I sat down to do serious work I took a few minutes to pile the stuff up in the corner to reduce clutter. Clutter disperses my creative energies and makes it harder for them to coalesce. I periodically go through the study and tidy up (or at least throw piles of papers into storage boxes) to reduce the clutter factor. Yes, in a way, I still clean my room like a teenager. No wonder I'm always running out to Staples for more boxes. Eheh.

Other days I sit down but don't get started until my tea is steeped and honeyed, my cookies are sitting beside it, and I've checked my e-mail to make sure nothing important has come in overnight. That's a little silly, I suppose, and probably counterproductive: to start off by indulging in a distraction. But if someone's changed their plans or needs something from me first thing, I need to know that. Not that it usually happens that way. Also, the Writer's Almanac comes in my e-mail every day, and I frequently need it to inspire me and get me going.

How do you cope with distraction? Do you go to work straight away or linger a bit before getting down to things? May your week be productive this week! Make and do awesome things!