Writing Through the Distractions

Many of us have had our routines disrupted due to the coronavirus. My college-age daughters had to leave their university and have transitioned to online school. While having them home is a blessing (and I love it!), inevitably the house gets noisier and messier, and I have more responsibilities.

In addition to the added chaos of having more people living at home again, the constant barrage of news and the hype regarding the coronavirus has also been distracting. An unsettled feeling seeps in to everything we do, because we simply don’t know what to expect next.

 All that to say, as an author working from home, sometimes the challenges to focus and work can be significant.

The truth is, coronavirus or not, all writers have crappy days.  There are plenty of days when I wake up bleary-eyed, fighting a migraine, with a to-do list that stretches to Australia. The last thing I want to do is sit down and type a fairy tale. I’d much rather escape into one.

But, if there’s one lesson I’ve learned well over the years it’s that I have to show up to work anyway. If I consider myself a professional writer and if I want others in my life to treat me like one, then I have to act like a professional. I have to take my work time seriously. And I can’t let everything going on in my life and in the world distract me.

Interestingly, I’ve heard many best-selling authors say something along the lines of: Don’t wait for inspiration. Instead, let it find you working.

My philosophy is very similar. I would say, sit down and write, even when you’re not inspired. Once you start working, inspiration often comes along later dragging her feet. Sometimes she may even join you enthusiastically. But if she decides to stay in bed and never show her face, you must write anyway. You must stay at the keyboard and type one word after another, one day after another.

Most writers don’t have lightning-strike moments of inspiration where we’re overcome by some kind of inner frenzy of creativity that won’t let us rest until we’ve poured ourselves out. Sorry. It almost never happens that way.

Usually our writing days are fairly ordinary, perhaps even mundane. We eke out words, agonize over the story, and pray it won’t end up sounding quite as bad as it feels.

The bottom line is that most successful authors have learned that “writing under inspiration” is largely a myth. Instead, we’ve had to learn to “write under discipline.” Writers have to develop self-discipline–the ability to force ourselves to do something even when we don’t want to, even when the world feels like it’s going to pieces around us.

So what are some ways we can develop a habit of having self-discipline? Here are just a few things I’ve done to facilitate self-discipline in my writing life:

1. Plan writing time into our daily schedule. Find a time, even if it’s only for an hour (or 30 minutes). Make the time and goal realistic and doable.

2. Don’t let any excuses keep us from our scheduled writing time. Nothing is an excuse (outside a major catastrophe!), not tiredness, not appointments, not phone calls, not interruptions from family. Nothing.

3. Show up to the task on time. We can’t tell ourselves that it’s okay to check facebook for ten more minutes. Or go make a smoothie first. Or answer two emails. Start on time.

4. Just write. We can’t worry about if we’re doing it right, if our prose is pretty, or what other people might think. Turn off the internal editor and let the words flow. It doesn’t matter if they’re good or bad. Instead, just write.

Eventually all those words day after day end up turning into a story. Sometimes those words even surprise us by being a good story. But even if they’re not good, that’s what editing is for, to turn the lump of coal into a diamond.

How about you? Have you been distracted lately by the coronavirus? What are some things you do to keep focused when everything else around you seems chaotic?