As I sit here writing this blog post, my mind is being bombarded by the voices of the characters in the novel I’m currently re-writing/editing, ideas burgeoning for the next novel, and the pull towards the feeds of Twitter and Facebook whilst sitting on my laptop.

Some days, I’m able to rebuff these distractions with ease, focusing solely on the task in hand with the characters I’ve chosen to be with. Those days are joyous, walking or running alongside the characters, and allowing them to lead me down paths that weren’t even on my map. But other days, it’s a passage into the depths of a dank, dark well.

I’ve explored different ways to manage these moments, from not linking my laptop to the internet connection whilst writing, to eating jelly beans to aid my concentration. But these don’t always work as I can still find my mind wandering. So I’ve tried listening to classical music, as music with lyrics can be just as distracting as the voices in my head. Classical music is great until I hear something like Handel’s Messiah, and then I’m joining in!

What I’d dearly like is a room of my own – as said Virgina Woolf – but that’s not about to happen any time soon; even the Guide Dog in training we board demands of my time and attention. Family need clean clothes, a clean house, and feeding, never mind the need to be spoken to and have their troubles soothed. One could say that as my eldest is at uni, although home for two weeks currently, my other daughter is about to take her A levels then disappear off to uni this September, and mu husband’s old enough to care for himself, that I should have plenty of free time. I do in many ways, but the days always seem cluttered with things that require doing, not necessarily with things I want to do.

So it’s frustrating when I do get time to write, that I find myself distracted by things I mentioned above. I still need to find fool-proof ways to deal with distractions, and if any of you have a genius solution to this problem, I’ll gladly receive your ideas.

Happy Word Flow One & All