The Rain is helping

What are your triggers for just not writing today?  Weather is one of mine, but you might be affected by things such as stress, childcare or just too many chores to do today.  I used to be distracted by the same things, until I realized I had to guard my writing time like I used to guard my 'me' time.

You know, that one hour you have decided you will devote to yourself, by catching up on your reading, or taking a long bath or watching that show you had to DVR on Monday, and now its Friday night?  You have to carve out that hour, even if it means going to bed late or getting up early.  Listen to your body clock, and let everyone know that you are unavailable for that time, every day.

I came to realize most of the things that popped up from laundry to kid arguments could wait for an hour.  The world didn't end, the house didn't fall apart and the kids are still alive and breathing.

Now, I wouldn't recommend you start this today, right here and now.  You need to prepare your family, friends and enemies for your new business hours.  That's what you're doing now, taking care of business, EVERY day.


Don't let what has happened up to now overshadow your objective to carve out some time to attend to your writing every day.  You have to step back and decide what is the most dependable time in your 24 hours that you can take an hour to write, being realistic that when you make this decision, things are going to intrude and try and take you off your game.

Take this time to set up your writing area, get your printer, your computer, your post-it notes, working pens and pencils, a sketch pad and your favorite magazines together in one spot.  Build your playlists for inspiration (You can go cull a few of mine if you don't know where to start, just go to Spotify and look up Trisha Lindsey), make sure your little speaker has enough batteries and that you have a semi comfortable chair.  If you can set up your desk area away from family flow or have a door you can close and lock, that's even better.  You have smoke detectors, and that old baby monitor can come in pretty handy if your kids just can't give you a moment of peace.  If you have little kids that can't be left alone, then set their toys up at your feet, give them something to draw on and set a timer that stops at 30 minutes for treats as an incentive for them to leave you alone for a minute!  Make sure its treats they ONLY get at writing time, and give them a special treat when they chill enough for you to get your writing done.  It would be great to be able to write before they get up or after you get them to bed, but you're so tired by then you should be sleeping!


Choose your scheduled time and stick to it.  If you miss a day here or there, consider it vacation time.  Look around you and see if there is another time that you can choose, based on the day of the week.  Wednesday's are my best days, with Friday being the worst day for my writing time.  Everything I missed out on or postponed during the week usually slides to Friday, like it is a point of no return for that week!  If I let it slide over the weekend, then that just adds one more thing to next week's plate.  So I try to take Friday's off.

The weather outside has been frightful for going on a week now, I've seen the sun for a few hours one day so far.

I'm a sun person, and I want to see the sun!  So, until it shows up, I will have to just soldier through and keep writing.  You soldier through too, be encouraged!