It’s strange how the house swallowed up all of my brain power. I had a few days a week at the flat when I could rest and theoretically write, but I couldn’t. Every time I tried, it was the house I was thinking about and what I was writing was total rubbish. This week has been the first time in three months I can actually sit here and write without (m)any distractions.
For the past two months, my entire being has been consumed by the new house. From the day we got the keys to the renovation, moving in and to now – two weeks after moving in and unpacking (most of) the boxes. There are still jobs to do, but as people have pointed out, there will always be jobs to do and so I am finally able to concentrate on my writing again. Which is good, because I have been really panicking about it.
I’m sure there are people who can compartmentalise their days and when they have a spare few hours, can write; I am not one of those people. For me, I need space, no distractions, instrumental music softly playing in the background and no notifications popping up on my screen every few minutes. I need to lose myself in the writing, just me and my computer, hammering away on my trusty keyboard. For me, the best time to write is after lunch. Fully awake, fully fed, cup of tea by my side and my creativity flowing. I can pump out 1,000 words an hour in these times, sometimes more. But inevitably, life gets in the way which also pulls back in the distractions. All that tea – need a wee. While you’re going to the bathroom, you might as well check Twitter – 27 notifications, now I’ve seen them I have to reply otherwise people will think I’m being rude. Hmmm, now I’m thirty again, checks watch, it’s before 6pm so I can have another cup of tea… and the cycle continues.
Distractions are constant and everywhere. I sometimes dream of staying in a house in the middle of a lake or on the top of a mountain. No reception, no people, just me and my computer. Solitude to write… but honestly, I think boredom would engulf me and stop me from writing at all. Even though the new house over-took my brain, I always knew it was for the short-term and once we were in, I would be free to write. And here I am. Sitting in my own office, with my new standing desk in our beautiful new home. We can’t avoid distractions, instead we need to learn how to live with them.
I have turned all the notifications for social media off my phone – except for DMs of course. It means I get to chose when I go online and spend the rest of the time working. It’s really freeing, not being pulled away mid-sentence by a follow train or funny meme tweet. And let’s face it – it’s not like I’m going to forget to log back in!
In other news, for those who don’t know yet, I’m writing and performing a play at the Edinburgh Fringe and Camden Fringe in August. It’s called Blink and You’ll Miss it and is an LGBTQIA one-man, dark-comedy drama. If you’re in Scotland or London this summer, come and see it. Tickets are on sale now. The dates are on the poster and I even created a short teaser trailer for the show.
And until April 30, Refraction is only .99 on Kindle – so you can grab both of my books for .99 this week. All the links you need are here: linktr.ee/terryjgeo
Sorry for being away for so long and thank you for sticking around. And if you do read my book and/or see my show, please review them. Thank you!