Monday, January 9, 2012

10 Signs You're NOT in The Zone

10. Just one more game of solitaire. Just one. Oops, where did that hour go?

9. Notice you've used the word 'pretty' twice. Not in the same paragraph; the same sentence.

8. (If you write mysteries) Your sleuth is about to have his/her big 'aha' moment. This is when you realize there is no logical way they could have leapt to the solution.

7. Realize your fingers are cramping because they've been frozen over the keyboard for such a long time.

6. It's been so long since you've looked at your WIP that when you actually open up the document you have to spend considerable time re-reading it because you have no idea what's going on.

5. Congratulations; you've just forgotten your main character's name.

4. You've only got half an hour to write and you're determined to make it count. Okay, just one more game of solitaire and you're going to start.

3. Your pet just came into the room, yawned and left. He knows.

2. You've been popping about the internet completing vital research. How is it possible that your computer's screen is showing travel packages to Tahiti?

1. A new high score in solitaire. Time well-spent.

11 comments:

  1. Good morning!

    Number 5 made me laugh out loud :D
    I kind of recognized myself in several of those. Time to hunker down and get things written this year...after one more game of Angry Birds...

    Jen

    ReplyDelete
  2. I soooo understand this today. I'm caught waiting for projects to start and publishers to get back in gear and I'm a bit sick and I've spent most of the day on FB and checking blogs. Tomorrow I'll be better- promise.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Elspeth - Oh, yes, those are definitely signs you're not "In the Zone." And then there's one that happens to me: Just one more sip of coffee, and then I'll start. No, wait - just one more...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Are you peeking over my shoulder or what?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jen; So far I've managed to stay away from Angry Birds. But you never know, maybe in the name of research...

    Lauri; It's your summer, lay back in your pool for a day!

    Margot; And...a chocolate! (for energy, of course)

    Karen; I'll never tell...

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think I need to make some popcorn. Can't write without popcorn.

    ReplyDelete
  7. My pet never yawns and leaves. She meows loudly, jumps on the desk, and sits between me and monitor so I can't see the cards...

    ReplyDelete
  8. LOL, I related to way too many of these. And I thought the frozen fingers were just due to arthritis.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Where are you hiding that you know so much about me?

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'd trade solitaire for Twitter and blog hopping. Just one more tweet, one more post, one more comment.

    ReplyDelete

Please leave a comment as I love to hear from you!