Writing at the Cottage: Dodging those Distractions!

The view from the cottage porch...The pontoon waits and beckons!

This summer, which seems to be rapidly winding down, has been a  productive one for me in terms of getting much-needed work done on my novel. Even though there is much still to figure out in order to bring the story to a satisfactory conclusion, I'm pretty well pleased with my effort in "plinking" the keys of my MacBook on a pretty regular basis. Ideally, though, I would have written a little bit each day instead of going days at a time without ever  writing a thing.  

And I occasionally find myself fending off the feelings of guilt when I'm spending time immersed in some book (e.g.-And the Mountains Echoed) instead of working on my own novel.

Of course, there are myriad other excuses to rationalize not getting quite as much writing done as preferred, such as the amount of company here throughout the summer months, our trip to Canada for a week, and the beautiful sunny weather that calls me out and beckons me to take the pontoon out to "see" the lake! I suppose a truly dedicated and disciplined writer would avoid such traps and follow the rule of "butt in chair and fingers on the keys!"

Realistically, though, that never is going to happen here. That's why those dreary, rainy, and windswept days around here are so precious--just perfect for getting that writing done! In spite of all of the little things that get in the way of regular writing output, the storyline, characters, conflicts of my novel--tentatively titled The Bet--all seem to be falling into place with each day's writing effort.

I have a few weeks remaining before we close up the place--only a scattering of guests yet to come and no more travels--so I can move awfully close to having the book in the next revision stage by summer's end. Of course, there will be more sunny "pontoon days" lurking and beckoning me once more, and that could pose some more problems. So it goes...MLA

My writing station inside the cottage

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