Distractions can be hard to overcome, especially if a writing project makes me face uncomfortable feelings. While I was working on my historical novel The Last Priestess of Malia, I ended up going to college campus every weekday with the Offspring and sitting in the library there, where I had no wifi because I didn't have the student password. If I had to look something up, it had to be on my tiny phone screen, and I was uncomfortably aware the whole time that I wasn't doing my writing work on my computer. I got the entire novel (164,000 words worth!), including all the research, written in two semesters.
I love this! 164,000 words! And you're so right, sometimes we allow distractions because there's just something about the work. Either it's making us having to deal with stuff we don't want to, or it isn't really aligned with us, or we don't fully understand why we wanted to do the thing, or whether it'll be worth it...
The novel in question is based on past life memories from a particularly difficult time. I felt I needed to write the book - it was a story that needed telling - but I was really good at avoiding the actual work because it was so emotional.
I've worked with so many people who've had exactly this challenge. The story needed written, but the emotional work that needed to be done to get it written... Ugh!
Distractions can be hard to overcome, especially if a writing project makes me face uncomfortable feelings. While I was working on my historical novel The Last Priestess of Malia, I ended up going to college campus every weekday with the Offspring and sitting in the library there, where I had no wifi because I didn't have the student password. If I had to look something up, it had to be on my tiny phone screen, and I was uncomfortably aware the whole time that I wasn't doing my writing work on my computer. I got the entire novel (164,000 words worth!), including all the research, written in two semesters.
I love this! 164,000 words! And you're so right, sometimes we allow distractions because there's just something about the work. Either it's making us having to deal with stuff we don't want to, or it isn't really aligned with us, or we don't fully understand why we wanted to do the thing, or whether it'll be worth it...
The novel in question is based on past life memories from a particularly difficult time. I felt I needed to write the book - it was a story that needed telling - but I was really good at avoiding the actual work because it was so emotional.
I've worked with so many people who've had exactly this challenge. The story needed written, but the emotional work that needed to be done to get it written... Ugh!
I have a writer friend who's a psychologist for a living, and he encourages people to write as therapy. It's definitely a challenge!