What to do … what to do

Don’t feel like writing today? Well, join the club—we’ve all been there.

Who among us has never looked at her computer and said, “I can’t. I just can’t.” turned around and walked away? Who hasn’t choked at the mere thought of plunking down in that chair and trying to write a coherent sentence or stared at a blank screen and wanted to weep?

Well, fellow procrastinator, help is on the way. If you ever wondered “What can I do when I don’t feel like writing?” —read on.

There are, of course, the familiar and comfortable go-to’s. You could make lemon scones and a pot of tea (with caffine!), go to the gym and contort yourself, read a mystery, or —in desperation—wash a load of clothes.

Or you could be really creative. Train a squirrel, knit a Bible cover, inventory and monogram your bed linen or join Ancestery.com and do 200 years of family history.

If none of those things float your boat, how about vacuuming under the couch? It’s been a long time since I did that; it might be an adventure. No? Sew that button on your husband’s jacket. It will be fun to watch him faint from surprise after being without it all these months.

Plant a tree. Take a long walk and run your plot through your mind over and over; you may have a breakthrough. Plan the menus for your Christmas parties—so what if it’s June. Bake that extremely complicated main dish you saw on Food Network. Look up your name on Google. Paint your fingernails green.

I saved the best for the last, however.

Pray for an electric storm to knock out your power. That absolves you of the responsibility for choosing not to write. (Yes, yes, yes I know—pen and paper. But that is so yesterday.)

The long and short of it is that if you don’t feel like writing you can always find an excuse. But Michelle is correct. Sadly, if you are a writer, you MUST write. There is no getting around it. So sit. Fingers poised over the keyboard. Get ready. Set. Go!

Bev.

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