Paradox

I attempted to unplug. I did for awhile.

I got some work done tonight. Not very much. Only about 2,000 words. I was hoping for more like... 10K. So that's a fail in my mind. I have some time left to write tonight, so I might still get some done. I'm blaming my lack of enthusiasm on the past few weeks, and trying to switch gears from business and logical thinking to more creative type stuff.

But I'm taking a break, because my brain has requested it of me. So, I thought, hey, why not let you all in on my writing process since people are asking me a lot about said writing process?

Okay. Here's how it works:

I sat down at 8 PM to write. But first I had to move around in my office so it was just so. I printed off the outline for the book I'm working on and reread it. I also played with my cat. I listened to my 90s playlist really loud, mostly skipping to the Gin Blossoms tracks.

I wrote for about 15 minutes. Then I checked twitter. I donated some money to the Red Cross and bid on some auction items by Mark Hoppus. Eric came in to tell me something. I don't remember what. But he scared me because I was listening to Sonic Youth so loud I didn't hear him come in.

Then I turned off the internet and vowed to get some work done. I wrote straight for about 20-30 minutes. I sang along to "Until It Sleeps" by Metallica.

I tried to avoid the internet, so I started watching Inception on my iTunes. I skipped around to my favorite parts (which are mostly towards the end where Joseph Gordon-Levitt is fighting people or the music is being really dramatic or Tom Hardy is being sassy). I thought about how either the movie doesn't make any sense or Christopher Nolan is a genius.

Then I wrote again for about 10 minutes straight, but then I gave up to watch Inception some more. I bid on more Mark Hoppus stuff. And I played on twitter.

Now I'm writing a blog. And that's the last three hours of my life. I've maybe written about an hour of that. And I've definitely spent more time being plugged in than I have being unplugged.

But I will most likely continue the pattern of writing for a period of time, then screwing around, then writing some more. Hopefully, though, as I get back into it, the time I spend writing will grow longer (like an hour or two at a time instead of 15-20 minutes at a time.).

And that is how I write a book.