Wednesday 7 September 2011

Lacking Focus

Do you ever get those days when you can't settle to anything for very long and you can't decide what it is you need to do first? I can't stand those sort of days and I get them often.

My mind is jabbering away in the background, nagging me and reminding me of all those jobs that need to be done. I just want to put my hands over my ears and yell, Stop!

I made sure I did some writing first thing, however. Once the children had got off to school, I printed off a list of flash prompts and wrote straight onto screen for about half an hour, using most of the prompts on the page. It felt very much like joining the dots. I enjoyed it, though, and produced just over 1,000 words of reasonable prose. Quite what its use will be, who knows?

I did a little bit of Yellow Room admin (the competition entries are gradually trickling in), but was niggled by the thought of having to go to town and do some grocery shopping (boo, hiss!). I thought I'd get this over and done with, and really wish I'd sat at my computer for longer.

I have several writing projects on the go, as well as some paid editing work to do (four short stories), competition entries to read, the next Yellow Room to prepare for typesetting and some reading for research (we won't mention the massive ironing pile and the general state of the house and garden!). The writing projects are bothering me, as I feel I really should be focusing on one thing at a time instead of hopping about between the novel, the pocket novel, stories for competitions, preparing stories for The Scott Prize anthology competition and writing stories for the women's magazines. I flit between each project like a demented butterfly and don't feel as if I'm giving any of them my best shot.

And breathe.......

3 comments:

JO said...

You are in good company. I expect there are thousands of women trying to do everything at once, now the kids are back at school. Many resort to list-making, as it looks as if they might be more organised (guilty of that one.) You'll probably find things settle - by half term!

AliB said...

Hi Jo - sometimes no excuse is needed. My birds have flown but I'm still a mental grasshopper. Not sure if this helps - but if you need further distraction, I have 'tagged' you on my blog for some random fun.
ATB with the real jobs!
AliB
http://debutnovelist.wordpress.com

Writer Pat Newcombe said...

I cannot live without my lists! They are the keys to my life. Multi tasking by numbers might be a little easier??