Keeping Focused in Writing

I have a grandson who has a hard time remaining focused. You ask him to clean his room, he is busy playing a video game. Ask him to do his math homework, and he's reading a book. Try to get him to help with dishes, and, no surprise, he's using the bathroom.



We had just such a morning. It took four of us, including him, to get his Valentine's for school started and finished, his socks on, his backpack found, and his homework finished - he actually left without finishing the last piece.

Sometimes it's just easier to do what comes naturally, in other words, to do the stuff you want to do. It's easier to go out to lunch with a friend, spend the evening watching old movies. It's even easier to clean the house sometimes than to write.

Your writing may get shelved for a day or two, maybe even for a week, as you trod along, doing what comes naturally.

Oftentimes, I lose my focus on writing because my 'to do' list is too long, or I'm too stressed or too tired to think about writing. And this hurts me.

When I wake up, and I do wake up, or you wouldn't be seeing this post, I realize that my list could be shorter, that I don't have to do everything in one day, that if I'm stressed or tired, writing something will take my mind off my stress and writing will take my mind off sleeping.

Writing does more than keep me awake. It takes me to another world, another place, where I can focus in on a life that matters. And because my life matters too, it's only natural that I'd want to write, and write focused every day.

Here's to your writing!

Kathryn