Jan 4, 2021
How you keep focused during long writing sessions?
My immediate reaction to this week’s prompt? Not very well.
I have a hard time staying focused, and it’s gotten worse as I’ve got older. Even writing this short post, my mind is going in scattered directions, thinking of the things I need to get done. Finish taking down the Christmas decorations. Cook supper. Or maybe splurge and get takeout instead. I’ve had a hankering for Chinese. Balance the bank account. Finish editing the last chapter of The Ranger’s Dogtags and get it ready for my editor. Don’t forget to redo Chapter One. Check my email. Worry about the big project at work in the morning. It’s Sunday, so I need to water my flowers.
I do hold on to a precious hour at the end of the evening to focus on writing. But one hour is not a long session, according to my definition.
Photo by Rodolfo Quirós from Pexels
Take me to a cabin somewhere in the mountains, where I can sit on the porch and watch for wildlife. Play some John Denver or classic rock. Give me a pad of paper and several pens. Let me sit and tune in to Mother Nature and find my voice.
That’s a lot to ask for, especially as we aren’t going anywhere these days. Those days will come again.
In the meantime, I’ll enjoy my late-night hour. I’ve been exploring Celtic folksongs as my background music. (If anyone has a recommendation for an artist to check out, please put it in the comments. I’d love your suggestions.) I’ll put on headphones, open my current writing project, and shut out the rest of the world. Balancing the checkbook can wait until tomorrow.
What can’t wait is checking out the other posts in this blog hop. You can, too, by following the links below.
As always, until next time, please stay safe.
Jan 4, 2021
How you keep focused during long writing sessions?
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Writing has been my escape from the madness recently. I’ve been losing myself in my own worlds.
I work for a hospital. (Not medical staff) There has been no escape from the madness.
It is the same in the corporate finance world, Patricia. We have been run off our feet with rights offers and debt raising exercises. It’s exhausting and endless.
Exactly. I have the same problem. That’s why I’m stopping all social media engagement every Tuesday and Wednesday. I’m hoping that by doing this I can get back into writing again.
I’d love to hear how that goes,
It was wonderful! No notifications to answer, no social media distractions, and over 2500 words written. This will now happen every Tuesday and Wednesday!
2500 words is impressive!
I haven’t done that for ages. Today all I’ve done is catch up on WordPress.
Enya is always my go-to-first Celtic, followed by the Chieftains (still Enya). I backed off Twitter this year by a lot because people there are downright toxic these days. That gave me back almost an hour a day. Now I only retweet certain people and I only go there once a week, usually on Tuesdays so I can retweet you guys.
I can’t believe I forgot about the Chieftans!
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You know, I hadn’t thought of switching up my music. I think I’m going to try that so I can work on my own focus. Thank you!
I’ve been playing with various collections based on themes like medieval tavern music and Skyrim. All very much updated for modern ears, of course.
I think we clutter up our minds, Patricia, and try to do to many things and once and this causes an inability to focus because our minds are jumping around. I have become good at blocking time so I relax about all the other things during the different sessions. It helps me hugely.
I sometimes wonder if I’m not developing ADD in my old age. 🙂