Of Comfy Chairs, Books, and Other Things…

To say that tonight is a silent night, would be a lie. To say it is a quiet one is more near the truth. The elms and evergreens outside are basked in shadows, and yet they are full of life. Late summer breezes blow through their branches, lifting the soft chirping of the crickets high towards the inky blanket that lays over the sky, speckled with fluttering, winking lights. The grass is just starting to grow damp and heavy with dew as the night air cools, and somewhere in the distance, a coyote howls.

Here I am, tucked into my armchair, a laptop resting comfortably on my lap, listening to the sounds of summer and wondering what on earth to write.

Let me give you a little bit of background. In June I was travelling Europe, which just so happens to be at the same time that my debut novel, The Last Pages, was released. So you can imagine my panic when I was sitting in a small house in Tuscany, laptop in hand, trying frantically to market my book for its release.

After that, I went to camp and had possibly the best month of my life, but… I was away from technology all together. So my family had to scramble to try and market for me (thanks Mom and Dad) while I was away.

Now I am back, swamped with a ton of catching up to do in building my platform and getting my book seen and I have no idea where even to begin. Oh yeah. And I want to finish the two books I am currently writing as well.

So… I sit here, wondering what on earth I should do for marketing, or whether I should even bother pulling up the file for my latest WIP.

Writers Block. A word used, debatably, for people who stare at a blank screen or an unfinished work and can’t figure out what to write. I’v heard that its because the author is afraid to continue and mess up, or they just lack the ambition to write the next scene, or they just can’t think and gain creativity for the life of them.

I think I am at a spot where all three of those theories apply. Either that, or the pile of work I have is just so daunting that I am too lazy to delve into it.

Whether it be with writing, home work, job related work or anything else, we all have times when we just have so much to do we don’t even know where to start.

My tips for getting over a spot like this?

1. Drink coffee.

Or tea, or hot chocolate, or anything else that helps you take a moment to just breathe in, breathe out, and relax. Stop thinking about everything for a moment. Everyone needs a breather.

2. Get your priorities straight.

Now that we’ve calmed down and just taken a moment to pause, we can start sorting out our priorities. What needs to get done now and what can wait for a little while? Create a list. Order it from greatest to least priority.

3. Great! Now, brace yourself, you have to start on the first task.

Buckle down and get it done and I promise, you’ll feel a lot better. After that, it is a whole bunch easier to get everything done.   Now, my advice isn’t golden, and it isn’t a rule book to live by, it is just a tip that I have been using to try and get over this huge work load in front of me.

So, best of luck in confronting that workload, and I better get back to mine.

Lara

Quote of the day:

Not all those who wander are lost ~ J.R.R. Tolkien