It’s time to write. My laptop is already turned on so I’ll just sit myself down in front of it. I probably should tackle that big pile of laundry that needs to be folded – there’s at least a week’s worth – but no, this is my writing time. The folding can wait.

So I flip up the laptop lid and wait for it to wake up. I had better check my emails first because there might be something urgent waiting. I have three email accounts but it will only take a couple of minutes to look in on them all. Now, twenty minutes later, I’ve dealt with the most urgent emails and am pleased with my ability to just leave the rest. I’ll come back to the non-urgent ones in a day or two when I have more time. I should tackle my writing now.

Oh but before I do, I’ll check in on facebook, just to see what’s happening. After all, facebook is how I keep up with most of my writer friends, largely due to us living in different countries and time zones. And reading about what all of my writer buddies are up to is a good way to get myself into the right mindset to write. Fifteen minutes later…

Gosh, look at all the mess on my desk. I can’t work with my surroundings in such chaos so I’m going to have to deal with this right now. And besides, I’ll be so much more productive once everything is in order. There, that didn’t take long. Only fifteen minutes.

On my laptop, I’m now opening my manuscript and, oh, I just remembered, I need to research that thing I thought of yesterday. I should do that before I knuckle down to writing. Hmm, that wasn’t as quick as I expected and I got sidetracked looking at that cool new blog I found. But still, it was only an hour and I did need to do that research before I go any further with my manuscript.

Since I’m already on the internet, I should catch up on a few of the blogs I follow. They’re mostly industry-related, a mixed bag of writers, publishers, editors and agents. I need to ensure I stay informed with what’s happening in the industry. And now since I’m up-to-date on all of my professional blog reading, I should check in on those couple of dog-related blogs I follow too. I don’t like to get too behind on this sort of thing because then I take time out of my writing to get caught up. There you go, forty minutes and my blog reading is all up-to-date.

Before I shut off the internet, I had better check the Fictorians blog and make sure the posting schedule hasn’t changed. I wouldn’t want to be caught unprepared when my next blog post is due. Besides, that only took five minutes.

Yawn, it’s 9pm already and I’m too tired to start writing tonight (a night owl, I am not). I’ve been productive though and I’ve worked for the better part of three hours. But I’ve got that book I’m reading for research and I should try to read at least a chapter before I go to bed. At least I will still be working…

What excuses do you make to yourself about why you aren’t writing right now?