Why I Haven't Been Writing

To say that I've been busy would definitely be an understatement. I've had an idea tickling at my brain for months, but I didn't get a chance to work on it at all until just recently. There were many reasons why I didn't write, and some of them could have been helped by writing.

1. I had a lot of homework. It was my last semester this past April, and I had the two toughest classes I'd ever had my entire bachelor's degree. A lot of things slid to the side. Writing was, sadly, one of them.
2. I had a lot of personal issues come up. Everyone except me, my husband, and my daughter ended up losing their mind. Some of them impacted us personally, and some of them should have been more of a side impact and weren't.
3. I've had a lot of stress going on. These personal issues and homework caused a lot of stress, and being a wife and mother added more stress on top of that. Stress on top of stress causes more stress, which only caused more stress. My stress is usually relieved by writing, but I felt too stressed to write.
4. I've been depressed. All of the above sent me into a deep, dark hole I didn't feel like I had the strength to get out of. Writing will usually combat this, but what little time I did have was immediately dashed aside by homework or personal issues or husband or daughter. So, I stayed in my hole.
5. I had a LOT of homework. I know I already mentioned this, but I really feel that this needs to be stressed. Homework is always in my life, but this homework was by far the most I've ever had. It was tough, and it was a lot. I hated it.

So, as you can see, I had a lot on my plate for these past few months, and I've just recently gotten back into the writing groove. So, expect more blog updates and more writing stuff.

How to Avoid Writing in 5 Ways or Less

So, lately I've been really wanting to write. My brain is filled with the desire to put words to the page. My body (and non-creative brain parts), however, is doing everything it can to keep me from this desire. So, here are five ways (or less) that my body and non-creative brain pieces are distracting me:

1. The cat box needs to be cleaned. This is usually a chore that I save for the end of the day before bed so that the cats can do whatever they like in it all night long without doing their business in other places of my home. I did this about 30 minutes ago.
2. The calendar needs to be updated. Okay, it really did need updating, but it didn't need to be updated right that second. It's a dry-erase calendar that sticks to my fridge, and the weeks are separated. All you have to do is pick up the old week and move it to the bottom of the calendar, erase it, and fill it in. Should be easy to do once a week, right? Well, I still had most of December still listed and hardly anything of January. I did that about 15 minutes ago (but it did have to be done!).
3. I needed coffee. Now, this one right here kind of went with the track of getting myself in the writing grove. I wish I could say that my Prescription Coffee Cup and Vanilla Caramel coffee led to more words being written, but alas, it did not. Not in the creative sense, anyway.
4. Dragon Age Origins is far more interesting than my novel. Yes, it is true. Why? Because it's already a written story! All I have to do is create my character, make a couple of choices, and the game pieces together a story for me. Wouldn't it be great if all stories could be written like this? Sadly, I still want to play more Dragon Age Origins.
5. I could write a blog post about how my body and non-creative brain parts are distracting me. Hey, wouldn't you know it! I'm doing that one right now.

Usually, to combat the writing blues, I'll play a little music, sit down with some coffee, and write in a way that's different from how I usually do it. For example, if I've been doing a lot of typing, I'll write by hand instead. If I've been doing a lot of handwriting, I'll type instead. So, I put on some music, got myself some coffee, opened a notebook, uncapped an awesome Papermate InkJoy 100 purple pen and wrote hardly anything at all. Perhaps it's because I went to bed at 2:30 and woke at 6 and had coffee, or maybe I'm just making excuses for myself. Either way, I'm going to have to buckle down and get some words written sooner or later. I've got people I need to answer to, especially if I want to earn certain prizes from a certain fellow writer.