Get out of the house, and other helpful advice
November 13th 2006 02:31
My friends knew it was only a matter of time until their partners were asking where their pressed laundry was and why they didn’t get a martini when they walked through the door. And they knew it was only a matter of time before they started to feel bad about their chipped nail polish and their less than well thought out outfits. They had to get me writing – and fast – and they had a lot of advice.
Louise’s advice
If you are being distracted by jobs that need to be done around the house, Louise told me, just get out of the house! Louise read an interview with an author who said that she takes her laptop down to the local café, where there were no fridges that suddenly desperately needed cleaning behind, and works solidly and without distractions for a few hours. It’s great, she says. The fresh air, being out in the real world – inspirational!
Sounded just the thing. So yesterday I packed up my laptop and walked down to the local. Louise was right – I felt revved up to go. Oh, what a cute puppy! Does puppy want a pat, does puppy want a pat? Focus! OK, good start, a few sentences written. Hey, is that a sale sign on the window of Quick Brown Fox? I wonder if they have any of those over-sized red handbags left… Stop!
Just as I was discovering that going to a café doesn’t remove you from distractions, rather presents you with a whole heap of new ones, I also discover that café owners are really only happy having you occupy a table if you are actually drinking coffee.
After a couple of hours and with shaking hands and bursting bladder, I packed up my computer and went home.
Karen’s advice
Treat writing like work, advises the very organised and very corporate Karen. You’ve got a study, use it! Damn it, I think, I should never have told her that I set up my laptop in the living room so I don’t miss Oprah and Judge Judy. Walk into the study in the morning and pretend you are in an office – you don’t leave work to walk the dog or bake cakes, so don’t leave the study.
Hmmm, treat the study like an office. Would I have to participate in office politics with myself? Jamb my own photocopier and then yell at myself? Drink instant coffee all day?
Nope. This one I can’t even bring myself to try.
Mum’s advice
Oh for goodness sake just write! How hard can it be? Just sit there and type! When I was your age…
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