On Not Writing

Not Writing is something I have become spectacularly good at over the last few months. Pretty much since I lost heart with Project Seven, in fact. A more disciplined writer, I realise, would have just put it aside (if not actually destroyed it) and gone back to one of Projects 1-6. There are various reasons why I haven’t done just that, the main one being that I need a crash course in Time Management for Parents of Recalcitrant Three-Year-Olds, but I’ve no idea when I’d fit that in around the day job, the housework, the gardening, family time, and all the other constructive stuff that fills my time.

However, I don’t spend that much time procrastinating in a bad way; I’m more likely to hack down some rampaging brambles in the garden or clear out the recycling than spend hours on facebook. In fact, blogs, social networking, and various online forums where I should have a presence are also somewhat neglected at the moment. On the other hand, I have watched a couple of half-episodes of Knight Rider over the last few weeks, which in no way qualifies as time well spent; I haven’t even constructed a blog post about how bad it is to justify myself.

No, the problem is that I lack focus. I first need to get into a project, and then find the time to dedicate to it. Project Seven has, unfortunately, reverted to the planning stage again. I may put some more effort into that so that I can really get moving with it during NaNoWriMo. Last year’s NaNo may in fact have a salvageable plot, given sufficient editing time. And I have several short stories to either finish writing or to edit into something potentially publishable.

I seem to have talked myself out of novel writing, at least until the November frenzy hits… maybe, just maybe, with that psychological weight off my shoulders, I can get planning instead, maybe write a half-decent short story, and, who knows, maybe even blog about it…