Help

I'm in big trouble.  I can't stop working on the new novel, even though I have a ton of work to get through this week especially.  I start to grade a paper, then I get instantly bored and drift over to my Microsoft Word files.  The end of the school year is two weeks away.  I MUST STOP WRITING.  Really.  After the 11th of May I can work on it as long and hard as I want, but right now I need help.  Any advice?

Comments

[msf]

This is like those people who complain about having too much sex. I want to kick you right now. Just divide the days in half and keep writing. You would have killed for this problem last month, last year even.

(I mean this lovingly, of course.)

[TLB]

Yeah, I know you're right. I sound ridiculous. But I'm still behind on my "real" work.

[Brando]

Thank you, msf. She doesn't listen to me when I tell her the same thing. She just zips my mask back up.

[Jim]

I say half-ass the student papers and embrace your writing addiction. Are you sure you'll be so industrious next month?

[TLB]

Good point, Jim. (I want to say, He's dead, Jim.) The students complain when I take the grading too seriously anyway--they all think they deserve As.

[Grendel]

Uninstall Word.

[BOSSY]

Bossy suggests building a porch on the front of your house. That kills any meandering extraneous creativity immediately.

Or: How about when the writing urge strikes, you jot some of those ideas down in a small notebook and return immediately to your grading. That way you're working on both things without getting sucked into the tide of Word.

[TLB]

Bossy, if we didn't already have a porch, that would probably do the trick.

The notebook is, of course, de rigueur, but I always forget about it anyway. Thanks!