Same List, New Day

Still doing laundry. Still working on the kitchen. I didn't touch the dining room table or the fall decorations or the pine garland (it's been raining), so I still have a lot to do. I did get the checks written and the errands done, so I got those nagging tasks off my chest. And I got more laundry done than I thought I would considering I was gone for chunks of the day. Really, I have good excuses for not doing what I didn't do.

I also have a lot of words to write, though I'm on track to get what I need by the deadline. It's an exhausting pace though, but it's probably exactly what I needed to keep me from feeling the need to do research and correct grammar, which always results in having fewer words than before. I find myself really uncomfortable writing about some of the things I don't know, like what is the proper police procedure for a burglary? I hated writing that scene, because I've been lucky enough not to have experienced a burglary, so I didn't know what would happen during such an event. I slogged through it and couldn't resist changing it a few times before I finally moved on. It's little things like that that have kept me from getting more done by now.

The other thing that has inhibited my novel productivity is being distracted during my prime writing time. I find it next to impossible to write in the morning. I can write journal entries, TODO lists, email, forum posts, whatever in the morning, but I can't write a story. It's not until afternoon that the story writing finally kicks in, and by then, I only have a couple hours before the kids get home. When I was going into the office every day, I didn't even have that. When the kids are home, it's near impossible to stay on track to write. In the evening, which is the ultimate creative time for me to write, there are television shows I really want to watch and a husband who I want to see and kids who are still bugging the crap out of me. I was writing what I could before bed, but by that time I was tired. Being tired works for me in some ways, because fatigue seems to reduce my anal-ness, but it also reduces my ability to stay awake.

Staying home these couple days has helped a lot, but today I have yet to write because I have made the mistake of answering the phone. Three times I've answered the phone and gotten into long conversations. The first was with my best friend in Nebraska, and it was in the morning when I wouldn't be writing anyway, so I'll excuse that one. I should be wise and not answer the phone when I should be writing, but I do it anyway. I can't resist. What if John needed picked up from work because he was feeling even worse than when he left this morning? What if my mother in law had something important to tell me? Yeah, they could leave a message, but what if they found out I was home and not answering the phone? I don't want to hurt or offend anyone. It's not like I'm a real writer or anything. Now the kids will be home soon, and I'll have to try and write through their ka-jillion interruptions no matter what, because I don't have one written word attributed to this day.

And what do I do? I write a journal entry. I know� I have no one to blame but myself. I will fully expect massive ridicule if I don't succeed in completing the required 50K words for this book. I'm sure everyone in my life will be more than pleased when I am done with this endeavor.