Distraction

The month of poetry was fun. It gave me a reason to write each day and provided me with an honest distraction from completing my book. Now that the Fourth of July holiday is behind us and the month of writing poems is completed, I need to get back to the task at hand--finishing Lost and Found. This brings me to a discussion of procrastination, i.e. self-sabotage. It's amazing how many little things I can find to get in the way of sitting down at the computer and finishing this book.

Yesterday, for example, I spent some time thinking about my writing niche. In this age of specialization, I'm a generalist, a butterfly, writing about whatever captures my attention. I know I need to focus, find some area of interest and make it my own, but so far I've been unable to find any one thing that captures my complete attention. For example, my latest Google search led to me food writing jobs. One advertisement for an ebook claims I can "combine my love of food and writing to earn a living...or as much as a six figure annual income!" Wow! six figures and free meals for the low, low price of $14.95. I want to believe this is possible, but I do know better. I exercised restraint, didn't reach for my credit card, and took the dogs--well one of them, the other hurt her foot--for a walk instead.

This morning, I woke up at 6:00, the time when I do my best writing, but instead of turning on my computer, I cleaned up the kitchen and sat down to read our local paper, the highlight of which is the police blotter. Nevada City isn't exactly a hotbed of crime, but with the Fourth of July, I was hoping for more than the usual loud parties, loitering teenagers, and dope smoking, but other than a call about drugs "cooking" that turned out to be a dead deer, it was business as usual. By 7:00 I turned on my computer and now, I'm writing this blog. I have to ask myself why I do it? I'm pretty sure it's just another distraction--a way to convince myself that I'm writing even though it's taking me away from the writing that I want most to complete.

Curious to see how many people actually read what I post,last week I installed StatCounter--a free download that tells me a lot about visitors. Just as I suspected, there aren't a lot of people who come to read what I have to say. On the one hand, this information could have been disappointing. Every writer likes to believe their carefully crafted words are being read. In my case, this was good news because if I'm ever going to finish my book, I need to stop the distractions. Among other things, I need to stop blogging. Knowing I won't be disappointing more than a handful of fans--mostly family and a few close friends, makes it easier.

Until I finish writing Lost and Found, I will no longer be hanging upside-down. And if and when I do return to blogging, it will be with a clearer sense of who I am as a writer. In the meantime, if you are a regular visitor or if you stumble upon this site, thank you for visiting. If and when I do post again, I'll announce it on twitter and facebook.