So I've come to my final year of college (yeah, weird) and for my honors thesis, I'm writing a book! I almost feel professional (minus the agent, book deal, editor, and all that stuff) because for the first time, I have a real deadline for a full book. I started off the year determined to do well in this.
But home is distracting! Friends coming over, roommates doing fun stuff, social media, you know the temptations. Now I've buckled down.
I set a word goal for the day, and I don't leave campus until that is complete.
This works for me because I like home. It's warm and there's food and it's a place to rest after a long day of classes and work. But by staying on campus, I'm still in the mindset of work mode. I have to keep typing until I hit that word count, and only then can I eat food and play around on facebook and start my other homework.
It's nice, here though. One of the buildings has comfy chairs with foot stools, an outlet, and no distraction from the strangers around me. It's working out great and I've gotten to my word goal every day so far!
What do you do to keep distractions at bay while writing?
I completely understand how you feel. I often lock myself in my room but my husband will come in and out and then he starts talking to me about football and I fall out of writing mode. The hardest part is getting in the "groove" and once you are there it is so annoying when people interrupt you. I think your plan of getting writing time in on campus is great. People know you are working and will hopefully leave you alone.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a place to get away from distractions. It all depends on my own discipline, which has been a little bit lacking lately. I'm glad you found a spot. Sometimes that makes all the difference.
ReplyDeleteThat's exciting about it being your last year! Seems like it would be, anyway. And getting to approach it all professionally is also wizard.
ReplyDeleteI could definitely work on avoiding distractions better. One tip I heard at a conference was to set up a certain writing time in a set writing place every day, and to treat that time like an appointment, schedule other things around it. So that's one thing I'm working on arranging right now. Hopefully it helps.
Good luck! I wish I had written a novel as my senior thesis. :) I think writing outside your house will help. That's what I've been doing lately to stay productive.
ReplyDeleteI'm not very good at keeping distractions at bay, so I try to write when I can avoid them (i.e., getting up before the household wakes and also using my daughter's naptime for writing). With my writing time so limited, I find that I don't slack off too much.
ReplyDeleteAnd congrats on your last year in college!
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