Distractions are the bane of my life.
Not just my writing life, but in general. It's worse when I write, though.
Whether it's surfing the net, or playing an online game (Bad me!), a good movie on TV, or a book I'm dying to read — it's too easy to be distracted.
I am not the only one who has a problem staying focused, it's a common affliction for those of us with the attention span of an average goldfish.
Part of it has to do with the sheer number of distractions available to us today. Part of it is simply down to a lack of self discipline.

So what can you do to be less prone to procrastination?

I find there are some steps I can take to minimise how suceptible I am.

• I close email, browser windows, and any application I don't need to use.
• I get myself a cup of coffee (or make a pot) before I sit down to write.
• I get a snack before I sit down to write.
• I have a cigarette before I sit down to write. (I don't smoke indoors.)
• I set up my music to something I like. (I use headphones btw)
• I close the door, so no one disturbs me while I write.
• I often turn the phone down (won't help to take it off the hook, it'll only ring on the other phone then.)
• I get the reference books I plan on using out and stacked next to me.
• If you have a dog, walk it before you start.
• If you have kids… uh well. Try giving them something to do where they don't need to disturb you? (Don't have any, so I can't help you there.)
• If you're prone to headaches (like I am), have some Aspirin or Ibuprofen handy by your desk.
• I don't have a TV in the room where I write. Never did and never will. If you have one there… get rid of it. (No, I'm serious.) At least don't turn it on!

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
I don't do all those things every time, but the coffee and music is a ritual of mine.

I'm not saying this works for everyone. I'm not saying this works every time for me, or that I do this every time.
But it's a start, and it's worth a shot, right?

Any other suggestions?

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Well, okay. Maybe not all. Every story needs some supporting characters, but if (like me) you find yourself having ten dozen of them… well.
Give 'em the chop.
I've recently cut a supporting character out of a book. I didn't want to. I like him. My readers liked him.
He had to go. He didn't contribute anything. Originally he was the reason for discovery, he was a quirky kid who made the best of a bad situation.
Did I mention I really liked him?
Yeah.
I cut him dead, instead. Chopped him right out of the story and saved about 2k words, an entire chapter, and (hopefully) speeded up the pace.
So is poor Jack going to be dead and forgotten? Did I give him a tombstone? No.
He's safe. Safe in a file, alive and well in another story where he plays more of an integral part. He is part of the plot there, where in this story he was an afterthought, a filler.
Sometimes it is necessary to cut a character out of a story, even if it's a great character.
It's about word economy and flow. It's about continuance. It's about being ruthless.
Sometimes you just have to kill them.
What did I do to get around the plot part Jack played?
I had another character in there already (yes, another one), so he got some of Jack's plot parts instead. It still works.
There was a part where I had to rejig a lot of the story to make it fit, to have a different way of creating the conflict Jack had created, but again — all it took was a little reworking and it fitted nicely. (Okay, not as nicely as I'd have liked, but I'm working on it.)
Ask yourself if you need a character who only shows up occasionally with some pithy lines, but who essentially doesn't add anything to the story.
Do you really need them?
Can someone else come up with those lines?
Do they advance the plot?
Can someone else (already existing) advance the plot instead?
If you can cut them out, don't bury them. Save everything in a file, because that character won't just go away. (If it was a well developed character, they shouldn't, anyway.) He/She might fit as a more integral character in another story, play a bigger, more pivotal role.
Save their background, their traits and weaknesses. Save everything you can, preserve story/plot parts as intact as you are able, because you never know when you might go back to it.
Whether you keep a physical file for those chopped characters, or a digital one — keep it safe.
Just because he's not part of this story, doesn't mean your effort in creating him/her was wasted.
Like Arnie — he'll be back.

So don't sweat it. If you need to cut words in a novel, take a good hard look at the supporting cast and cut with a hatchet, rather than lose a word here and there while you preserve a character that doesn't add anything to the story.

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I will be pitching my novella tonight.
Do I have jitters?
Yeah. I’m nervous, and it’s not even close to the time to pitch.
Seven hours to go, and my stomach is churning.
I don’t know what to expect. I have five minutes in a chatroom with the editor.
However, I’m looking forward to it, too.

It’ll be the first time I pitch.
Several of my fellow critters are also pitching.
Let’s hope we all get the "Send it to me" call, at least.

In a way, if it doesn’t work and I don’t get the all important spot on the bill, I can flesh out the novella. It was hard for me to write so short, and if nothing comes of it, I will put in all the bits I had to cut out.

That’s the plan, anyway.

I’ve also entered Nathan Bransford’s "First Paragraph" competition.

Wish me luck!

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Or get challenged by a friend.

It doesn’t matter what form the challenge takes. It could be wordcount. It could be a scene. It could be dialogue. It could be character description.

You name it, you can make a contest out of it.

I’m doing the "Write A Book With Me" over at Holly Lisle’s Pocket Ful Of Words, right now.

It’s nice to see progress, it’s nice to compare progress.
It’s not a race of who does the fastest, greatest, most, or best. For me, I just like to keep up. Get a pat on the back sometimes. Pat others on the back.

If you are in a critique group, or write with a partner, why not set yourself a challenge (or a goal) every month?

How about posting a scenario, and everyone writes their version of a scene?

How about posting a keyword, and have everyone write an argument revolving around the key word?

How about posting six character flaws, and have everyone make them part of the hero, somehow? (Showing, not telling, and picking a specific flaw rather than all six.)

How about posting a specific location, and have everyone describe it?

Or you could just go and post your daily wordcount and share the ups and downs. (That’s what we’re doing at Passionate Critters at the moment.)

Go for it. Practice makes perfect.

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I’m working on the next novel, while I peddle the completed one.
No matter how disheartening the rejections are, it will not deter me from putting fingers to keyboard.

I write in my head all the time. There isn’t a time when I don’t hatch a story, dabble with scenarios, dialogue or scenery. I can’t not write. Even if no paper is to hand, my mind works in overdrive.
I recently met Katherine Howe, and she referred to it as "Telling myself a story."
I think that’s a good way of putting it. It’s what I do. It’s what a lot of writers do. (By no means all, but probably most.)
After that, you just put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, whichever you chose.) and write it down.
Easy!
What could possibly stop you?
Life. People. Everything.
Everything can get in the way of penning that great story you’ve been telling yourself.
So what can you do?
You can set yourself low goals, achievable goals.
Holly Lisle (http://www.hollylisle.com) has a little challenge going at the moment. You set your own goal, you get AFK days… stuff like that.
There used to be "Sven" (70 Days of Sweat) but I have no idea what happened with that. It’s kinda dead, over there.
If that kind of thing gets you plugging away — go for it.
Do what you can.
50, 100 or 1000 words a day – whatever you can add, it all makes that wordcount grow. Don’t beat yourself up over writing slowly. Not everyone has the time (or the willpower!) to write 5000 words a day.

So the moral of the story is…

Keep at it, and you’ll get there.

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