8.8.11

It has been one of those days. I set my alarm last night with the purest of intentions--get up, make tea, settle in for a beautifully clear two-hour block of writing before an appointment and some errands. Then return, settle in and write the afternoon away.

Here's what happened instead:

8:00 Alarm sounds - snooze button hit

8:10 Alarm sounds - snooze button hit

8:30 Drag ass out of bed

8:40 Cat meowing plaintively for a brushing

8:50 Cat brushed, email dealt with, Diet Coke cracked (yes, it seems I am back on the caffeine. THIS MUST END) Settled in with laptop for writing. Can still get a solid hour of writing in

9:00 Channel inner Goddess by fixing corrupted Mac Harddrive - without help! (Rah - Rah!)

9:30 Lion now running lightning fast. Spend 20 minutes gliding through various apps, swiping left right and up.

9:50 Um, not sure, though I can say unequivocally there were fewer than 100 words written.

10:00 Online errand for husband

10:05 Email rechecked, RSS Feeds read - three bookmarked for future blogs, which is really a horrid form of procrastination...

10:15 Leave for appt. Optimize wasted time by cleaning apps off iPhone. iPhone continues to hang, so plan to update software as soon as I arrive home

12:30 Finish appt, head to grocery store. Virtuously multitask by making phone calls while driving

1:15 Arrive home, write checks, pay bills - writer bills, not household

1:30 Back in chair at last. Laptop open to manuscript. iPhone and iPad syncing, making me unable to turn on Freedom. All shiny objects.

2:15 Start thinking about lost time. No better way to lose more time, truly.

2:30 100 words revised

2:45 Find self making soundtrack playlist for new book

2:50 Feel overwhelming need to be funny, post stupid comment on Facebook

2:55 Open bag of sunflower seeds. For the record, eating sunflower seeds takes one hand away from the keyboard. I'm just sayin'.

3:00 Software updated across all devices. New music downloaded. Time to go.

3:10 Another 100 words.

3:20 Find myself online again, on Amazon, reminding myself that yes, I have written a book before, and yes, I will do it again. Ooh, pretty colors...

3:30 Read interesting blog post about rejection by friend Robert Gregory Browne. Order his new book, THE PARADISE PROPHESY

3:45 Start to get rather pissed at self for wasting an entirely perfect afternoon

4:00 Decide I need more accountability. Decide (tomorrow) Tuesday will be minimum 5K day. Decide to start posting short blogs around 5 pm daily, 5 days a week.

4:20 Another 100 words

4:30 Give up and write blog

4:50 Cat decides lap seems like a good idea. Screech...

5:00 Post Blog

Still haven't had the tea.

Sigh.

Mama said there'd be days like this. I am not prone to procrastination. But sometimes, I get into the cycle of doing everything AROUND what I need to be doing instead of just buckling down and getting the words down.

I know that sometimes, the writer's brain will not be forced into creativity. That there are certain absolutes in life - you will have days that even though your butt is in the chair, it doesn't matter, because your mind has absconded. It's frustrating. It's demoralizing. It's something that happens to the very best of writers.

It's what you do the next day that matters.

So repeat after me.

I will endeavor to do better tomorrow.

Because really, what else can you do?