What Doesn't Work

Everybody has a set way to do things. I know how I like my eggs cooked, I know what font I like to edit in, I know what kind of shoes I love to wear. But I never considered what *doesn't* work for me.

So I will because I need to vent before I go write tonight's quota. And it's best not to vent on the actual subject, it's unrelated to writing and no one would care.
So........
- Lack of sleep. I need sleep or I get grumpy.
- Improper diet. I notice if I'm not getting anything healthy because I'm still hungry after three cookies.
- Dehydration. Headaches = no will to write
- Evening meetings for anything. I try to write right after the kids are in bed and a meeting that delays bedtime or has me working when I should be writing drives me bananas.
- Comparison shopping. I look dreamily at agents and go, "If only...." When I should be typing industriously and ignoring the siren call of the local book store.
- Working in a vacuum. I hate not having feedback! It's why I belong to a critique group. I'll wrangle, tangle, and edit to get feedback just don't make me sit in the dark dungeon of my mind and do it alone!


Really, I'm an adult and all those things are completely controlable. No one is force feeding me donuts in the morning. No one is forbidding me to drink water, and I'm the one who sets the bedtime in this house so I have no one to blame but myself.

Now I need to learn how to not abuse myself while writing a novel.

Write.

Er, I mean right.