Recharging the brain cell.

Sherry: So, my DH and I went to the Texas Hill Country on a motorcycle trip to meet up with friends and on the trip there I’m admiring the scenery and reminding myself that I have a book to finish writing and that I’m stuck. I should be using all this downtime spent riding on the back of the Harley occupying my brain cells to solve my wip problem.

So, sez I, here goes….

Now my H needs some motivation… oh, look! There is ….count em. 10 deer! Beautiful. Anyway, so why is does he have the heroine…mmm, spectacular view of a field of purple thistle. With the rolling hills, it might be somewhere in Scotland…

Focus!

Okay. Now concentrate. The hero has hied away to the cabin with another man’s intended bride. How will he turn this into his advantage? Oh… What a gorgeous cloud of butterflies. Wonder where they are off to? Oh my gosh, look at the roadside display of pottery. Is that a water feature? Sure would look great outside my dining room window.

What was I saying about the wip? *confoozlement*

Finally, I sighed and told the DH my predicament. He was quiet and seemed as confoozled as me. Finally he said, ‘we are surrounded by some of the best scenery in Texas. Maybe your braincell is trying to tell you to give it a rest and to soak up some new experiences. Maybe you should just relax’.

Relax? Huh. There’s an idea, but could the anal side of me concede the point?

Well, 14 hours of ride time, a pitcher of the best Sangria wine ever, one Hawaiian luau and two days spent with some of the best people and fellow riding enthusiasts around, all in some of the most wonderful countryside that Texas has to offer --- I’m no closer to solving my wip problems, but even my anal retentive brain cell is thanking me.

Today we are rejuvenated, refocused and recharged. Still don’t know how I’ll fix my wip, but I’m a lot happier and more relaxed trying to figure it out.

Sometimes, you just gotta let it all go and then it will come to you.



Laura: My braincell gave up the ghost on the current WIP a couple weeks ago. I KNOW what I need to do to finish this novel, and get it done, but gee... I have a house to finish unpacking, pictures to hang, laundry to do, children, a spouse and pets to clean up after, swimming lessons to take the boys to, read HP7, see HP 5 (both excellent, BTW)... What's the problem? Why can't I just Sit the Heckadoodle Down and Finish the WIP?

I think it's because my brain has moved on to the next project. I'm chomping at the bit, as it were, to get to my "Adventure WIP"-- the one I should be writing while Sherry's writing hers. Hmm... we seem to be on the same wavelength most of the time, I wonder if writer's block is contagious.

Anyway, it all comes down to having the time AND the motivation to finish. I can make the time. Just need the find the right motivation. After all, I can only clean the kitchen and bathrooms so many times before they're scrubbed away due to my procrastination. Huh. Maybe I should contemplate painting the downstairs bathroom as my next procrastination event.

Oh, brother.

Pass the chocolate.

And put Procrastination back in his cage, for crying out loud.