Distractions...

Happy Friday! We made it through another week. I’m currently going through my formatted eBook file and making sure it’s ready for launch day. Excited and nervous. But I expect that’s normal.

Today I’m talking about distractions. Not like you may be thinking, though. As writers we usually discuss ways to stay focused on our writing, like setting schedules to ensure daily word counts, and how to step away from the Internet. But what about when writing IS the distraction?

If you’ve been writing long enough, you’ve already figured out how to stay focused, but what if you’re too focused? I have to remind myself of this all the time. Especially when one of my kids asks me to play with them while I’m right in the middle of edits or drafting or whatnot. It’s so easy to tell them I’m too busy.

But I should never be too busy to spend time with my kids, among other things. My dog is good about insisting I step away from the laptop to walk him. He paws my leg til I get the message. It’s pretty easy to shoo him away, or put him outside so I can stay focused on my stories. But stepping away to walk the dog refreshes me EVERY time.

Then there’s exercise in general. Are we getting enough of it as writers? A few years ago when I decided I was going to be a writer no matter what, I had to wake at 4am to draft. My kids weren’t in school full time and I had no time to myself. I also gained 20 pounds from focusing too much on writing. This past April, I just lopped off that extra 20 pounds. Finally! Good riddance. Honestly, it hadn’t bothered me before then, because I was so focused on my writing.

Til I wanted to wear those cute pants hanging in my closet and they were too tight.

I started biking 7 miles every day, paying attention more to what time of day I was eating, and easing up on the determined writer’s mentality. It feels great to be healthier again (and to fit in my fave clothes.) Distractions can be a very good thing. And even though we want to dedicate ourselves to our writing–because it’s the only way to truly get better–we need to remember that other side of ourself that’s NOT a writer. The one that needs a daily dose of nature, or to spend more time with their kids and/or spouse. And the one that must EXERCISE to stay healthy.

It ALWAYS replenishes my creative well when I embrace these distractions. Distractions are life. It’s the world happening to us while we’ve got our nose in a book, or head buried in our computers. The written word may last forever, but our relationships are ever changing, and must be cared for and cultivated at all times. As well as the essence of our very being.

Writing is wonderful. I am a writer, and I love it. But life is happening all around us, and it’s okay to be distracted with it now and then.

Hey guess who’s revealing the cover for their book and having a fantastic giveaway? My friend Lexa! She’s having a fun game to celebrate, so look closely at her cover and then hop over to the other blogs featuring her today and find all the cover errors to win a prize.

Can you find the error on this cover?

Check these blogs and compare it:

Alex J Cavanaugh
Father Dragon Writes
Bards and Prophets
The Write Game
Ellie Garrett
Klahanie
Julie Flanders
In High Spirits
Mainewords

And don’t forget to hop over to Lexa’s blog for the official contest rules, and to wish her congrats on her new release, Soul Cutter, coming December!