Avoiding

I love writing. I think about it, I dream about it and I do it.

Except when I don’t. Except when it becomes another chore to be completed. Except when I will do anything to avoid writing at my desk. I mean Facebook has never looked so good.

Creating a blog has been on my radar almost since I began writing seriously. By writing seriously I mean: writing every day at a scheduled or mostly scheduled time, setting goals and actually submitting work.

Building a blog was something I knew nothing about. I’d seen blogs I liked and ones I didn’t but had no idea what I was in for.  So I did what I normally do, research. I began looking into the how to’s and the why’s of building a blog. I signed up for a class which has been both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because I’ve learned a lot and a curse in that I have so much more to learn and to understand about this side of the writing life.

The good news is I have a blog I like. I like the layout and so much of what is there. Yet I am still struggling. Struggling to find my words and to convey them clearly. Struggling to know the right path to take to be a successful blogger. There are so many different way a person can build their business. I have discovered it truly is a business and quite serious at that. For me it has become about pressure. And when pressure builds in my life I tend to avoid. Everything.

Today is a day of honest avoidance. Sometimes just naming it helps. I’ve been avoiding so many things about my writing, not just about my blog and I’ve finally owned that today. I have been making excuses for myself about my inadequacies as a writer. That inner critic has been hard at work and I’ve bought it. It happens to everyone.

In my under pressure avoidance, I’ve also let some normal things slide. Well, not today. While I was avoiding my desk and the butt in chair technique I normally apply, I did manage to get a few things done:

Laundry

Dishes

Changed sheets on my bed

Cleaned my room

Knit a few rows of a blanket for a friend

Online shopping for more books – as if I need any more see this post

Its been a productive day.

The good thing is that while I was avoiding the writing, I was still writing. This also happens to a lot of people. In the middle of the pile of dishes I was working through, I found the words for this post. I finished that work before sitting down to write and magic happened.

I don’t think I am alone in this phenomenon. I’ve heard other writers talk about doing other things when the muse just won’t show up and the words won’t come. I believe we all need this down time because if anyone is like me, the everyday activities never get done if all I do is focus on my writing. Then, I’ve discovered I don’t work as well in the midst of clutter. Its a double edged sword.

So it has been a productive day. My house no longer looks like a tornado ripped through it and I’ve gotten my writing done for the day. I’d say a job well done.

Challenge: What do you do when the words just won’t come and nothing else is working?