You have a plan. You’ve
created a writing To Do list. You’ve cleared your schedule and informed your
family you are diving deep into your writing cave—no interruptions allowed.
It’s time to sit down at your laptop, open the file you’ve been thinking about
for a while, and let the magic flow.
But something distracts you.
It’s a stray thought about the dishes. Did you do them? How many are in the
sink? Is someone else going to clean them up or will they sit there until
later? You should probably take care of them now.
Okay. Done with dishes. Now
time to make the magic happen.
Wait. Have you checked your
blog stats yet? Wasn’t there a reply you were supposed to make to someone’s
tweet? Is your Facebook status still accurate? Maybe you should update that now
while you’re thinking about it. Come to think of it, wasn’t there an episode of
your favorite TV show on last night that you DVR’d? Better watch it now or else
it will bug you while you’re writing.
Does any of that sound
familiar? If so, you’ve been in contact with a total writer killer:
procrastination. It sneaks up on you sometimes, eating at what your precious
writing time before you even realize it. When writing my latest novel, Bite Thy
Neighbor, this was a problem kept encountering. There was always something else
that needed to be care of.
It’s not that doing the dishes
isn’t important or that your social media obsession is wrong. If you’re an
author working on exposure for your career, Facebook and Twitter are an
important part of getting people to learn about you. You have to take care of
those things, and let’s face it, dirty dishes stink. The thought of food
hardening on them minute by minute disturbs me on many levels.
But those are just
distractions. They keep you from
spending your time on completing your novel or short story. You have to let
them go and write. You’ll never win the big prize, you’ll never be published,
you’ll never have the accolades if you don’t do the work. When I finally
convinced myself of this, the words for Bite Thy Neighbor flowed.
I developed a writing routine
which helped me avoid procrastination.
My summer writing schedule looks like this:
·
Thirty minutes for
social media/blogging. Once done, turn off ringer on phone. Put phone in
different room.
·
One hour for writing
·
Fifteen minute
break—check email/dishes (or other task)
·
Back to writing for
another hour.
Naturally, creating a schedule
will depend on your own unique needs. Notice this is my summer schedule. My
entire routine changes in the fall. Think about what is manageable for you and
then stick to it! Good luck and happy writing!
About the Author
Esmae
Browder is an ex-catholic school girl who loves romance and vodka tonics. When
not reading a spicy novel, she enjoys creating them by combining elements of
well-known tales and updating them for our modern world. She is the author of
the Naughty Shakespeare series, as well as, the paranormal romance Bite Thy
Neighbor—a sexy Dracula meets Wisteria Lane
style novel.
WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:
WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK
About the Book:
Title:
BITE THY NEIGHBOR
Author: Esmae Browder
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Pages: 300
Genre: Erotic Paranormal Romance
Author: Esmae Browder
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Pages: 300
Genre: Erotic Paranormal Romance
BOOK
BLURB:
Some neighbors
suck...literally.
Quirky Maisy Harker
spends her time daydreaming about her sexy husband, Jensen Helsing. Though
their marriage is one of convenience, Maisy wishes the sparks of heat she feels
around him were reciprocated. Sexually starved, she also lusts after her
mysterious neighbor, Adam. True, his incisors do look a bit sharp, and he never
seems to drink or eat anything—but hey, maybe that’s how he keeps that yummy,
drool-worthy physique!
Yet Maisy knows
something’s not quite right, and it isn’t long before she learns Adam is a
centuries-old vampire embroiled in a gypsy curse placed on the women of her
family. All her female ancestors have been drawn to the vampire and bound by
his desires, experiencing a terrible side effect of the curse and resulting in
death.
It's up to Maisy to find a way to break the curse
once and for all before she, too, falls under his spell.
No comments:
Post a Comment