Here are ten things writers actually do when they are supposed to be writing. Procrastination at it's finest!
1. Looking for music that is *JUST* right.
This often involves repeating the same song nine times and/or devoting a few hours to creating an entirely new playlist that fits an all too specific aesthetic.
2. Reheating your mug of coffee or tea or hot chocolate.
...that will almost certainly have to be reheated, again, because you keep forgetting about it.
Bonus points if you look out the rain-clouded window at your drear surroundings while your stir your cup of what-have-you, and then, with a sigh, daintily lay your spoon aside on the saucer; the picture of refined yet achingly abraded ennui.
3. Doodling your characters.
that should be recycled but you're just too close to the situation to interfere.
4. Spending an excessive amount of time changing the font.
Because darn you, Times New Roman, I can be a free thinker! I think lots of...free things...all the time! I don't need you t-that much.
5. Asking yourself: "What would Ernest Hemingway do?"
...Never mind...
6. Giving up and taking a fan-fiction break.
YUP.
7. Netflix.
No explanation is really necessary for this one, I think.
8. Browsing social media.
Although there are limitless worlds you could be exploring right now with your words, you just keep finding yourself on Facebook watching recipe videos you've seen at least twice already.
9. Toying with the thought of emotionally destroying your main characters.
Because we writers like to #suffer and pass it on.10. Looking up tropes.
And then you wail as you realize that your super duper original story has probably already been told a million times over and there and back again.
But there's something you need to know about that: the world hasn't heard you tell this story. Your creativity and heart might just surprise you. In the words of C. S. Lewis:
"Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it."
Now, close this window and get writing!
