Rollin' rollin' rollin' rawhide

The story is still flowing!  I love it when they seem to write themselves, but here is one of the banes of an author's existence.  DISTRACTION.

While I have kept fairly focused on writing my latest, every now and then I come across a concept that I don't know enough about, so I stop midsentence (sometimes) to check my facts.  Fortunately, I have a resource close by (upstairs, as a matter of fact, sitting at his own computer), but my curiousity and need to know extend beyond even his knowledge at times.  Then I have to zip onto the Internet to check it out (I have lots of new bookmarks!).  For the most part, I've kept focused and haven't let peripheral information take me on detours down the information superhighway.  So that distraction has been reined in well, if I do say so myself.

Another distraction - every day life.  Yeah, that happens all the time.  Writing or not writing, on a roll or stymied.  Distraction of the week:  I have a strawberry patch.  We have had ideal weather for growing strawberries this year and I'm getting an abundant harvest.  Berries don't keep forever, ya know.  So I've had to take extra time to make some homemade jam (thanks, mom) and a couple of frozen strawberry (technically I guess they'd be strawberry cream) pies/desserts.  Okay, that hurdle conquered, there's the other everyday distraction of exercise.  Yes, we all need to keep fit (and I'm doing a 5K tomorrow, so no slacking off!)

I finally sit back at my computer - ready to go again.  But there are emails to address, and critiques to do, and critiques I've received to consider.  It's a matter of prioritizing, and yet it all needs to be done.  Two hours later, I'm caught up again, but then there's the blog thing (yes, here I am).  It's been more than a week again (my apologies).

Does all this mean I've lost my entire day?  Nope.  I've edited my first three chapters according to useful critiques I've received and gotten additional information to include in chapter four, currently under construction.  I'm still rolling along with my story, and now that my distractions are out of the way - oh wait.  It's dinner time.

The distractions will always be there.  It's making the time in between to write that makes the difference.  And yes, there IS a chapter four and it IS progressing.  And with all my other distractions out of the way today (there's still good writing time left), tomorrow looks promising - until tomorrow's distractions kick in.