Concentration in Chaos

Last Tuesday, my Panda Express fortune cookie told me, “You are a bundle of energy, always on the go.” While I was slightly upset because that’s not a fortune, it was kind of interesting to read because it is very true. I’m the kind of person who’s not happy doing nothing. I get antsy after being inside for three hours, and I’d rather go for a walk than relax.

Normally I’m good at balancing this, but since I’ve been taking this class at GrubStreet, I need to spend a lot more time actually writing. Spoiler alert: it hasn’t been working out for me.

This past week really should have been exactly what I needed. MIT closed two days for snow, and I spent the rest of last week working from home due to dismal travel conditions (and maybe just a little laziness). But somehow I didn’t get much writing done. Instead I filled my time with useful, but notably less-important tasks such as cleaning, laundry, shoveling snow, and teaching myself Javascript. I’d even venture a guess and say that this blog post is just another procrastination tool…

So how do I move forward and concentrate on writing, when there are so many other things I could be spending my time doing? For one, I’m going to start writing on my commute again. Hopefully those snippets will help keep the creative juices flowing, making it easier when I try to sit down at 9pm and churn out some pages. I’m also going to make more specific writing goals, rather than just putting “write 3 pages” on my to-do list. For example, right now my goal is “write at least 8 more pages of that Thanksgiving scene you started, and don’t forget that you’re supposed to be using first person.” If those things don’t work, I’ll probably have to go back to the old standards: prayer, sleep deprivation, and snack-based motivation.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.