I think I broke my brain

[rolanni]

OK. Turned in a book in October, the sequel is due in March-at-the-latest and I Cannot Focus. On anything. Reading, writing, 'rithmetic -- I can't keep my attention on any of it. Part of this probably has to do with the thyroid slowdown, to which tweakage has been applied, but relief on that front is four-to-six weeks out. I can kind of space most of the non-writing stuff on my plate at the moment; the day-job isn't being particularly disruptive, but -- that deadline ain't gettin' any further away and I have got to get with the program.

I've tried AiC and Just Doing It (which is how the October book got written) -- but my will-to-write seems to have dried up and blown away.

So -- what do you do to get motivated, and stay focused?

Comments

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

I look at my bank account. I run the budget. After the shrieking panic attack and the cold sweats have abated, I suddenly am motivated to write.

Mercenary, hell. We're trying to survive here.

On a less hard-nosed note, I had the same problem after my dad died. Focus was not possible. All I could do was make myself sit down and write words, any words, and not get up until I had at least a page. The words weren't great, but they were words. Eventually I had a ms. It needed a lot of rewriting, but it was there.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

I look at my bank account. I run the budget. After the shrieking panic attack and the cold sweats have abated, I suddenly am motivated to write.

That used to work. Then the Meisha Merlin disaster hit. The lesson I seem to have taken from this is that we'll write the book, get abused, and still not get paid. Mind you, the new publisher has shown no signs of stiffing us -- the opposite, in fact. The lizard-brain, though, is -- ahem -- apparently not ready to stand down on this.

The words weren't great, but they were words. Eventually I had a ms. It needed a lot of rewriting, but it was there.

I wrote the October book by assuring myself every time I sat down at the computer that there was no sentence so terrible that it could not be revised into something worth reading.