Writing is not all just about your fingers on the keyboard. Though we do that a lot. Other things come in to play in this business. Such as, copy edits for a book that has long left your brain. Fortunately, my recent set of copy edits came with good timing. I had just finished my option novella and put it in the mail to my editor, so no worries there. Didn’t have to stop in the middle of a story and redirect myself.
Often, I’ll stop and read. I find, for me, that helps to keep small threads of impressions and happenings consistent through the book. But this takes time, time I’m not generating new words. Even setting up a file for a new project takes time. Just yesterday I spent almost an hour setting up and downloading what I’d written (I write on an AlphaSmart, away from the distractions of the computer). Granted I downloaded over 60 pages – my efforts for the past week, but still…
Of course there is email, and spider solitaire, and BBC – I love to listen to their shows on the computer. Unfortunately, I have found I can only do that if I’m not having to pay attention to what’s been written on the screen. Being past-president of my local writer’s group doesn’t take too much time, but we do have the occasional meeting, or issue that needs to be discussed. There can be time spent on finding an agent or researching a new idea.
So once in a while, you just have to step away from the keyboard and take care of the other stuff…
