Relearning the Same Lessons

It’s funny how you have to keep relearning the same lessons. Like if you stay up late, you’ll be tired in the morning. Like making sure to check the laundry carefully before putting it in the dryer, so you don’t end up shrinking some of your wife’s clothes. Or like making sure you meet your writing quota for the day before you allow yourself to do the things you like to do for pleasure.

All right, that one might not apply to everyone, but it definitely applies to me. I’ve written about it before, but the idea of pages before play always does wonders for me. Whenever I feel my productivity slipping, I reinforce this rule — no Internet, no pleasure reading, and absolutely no television before I hit my thousand words for the day — and the ship gets righted.

In writing-related news, steady progress is being made on the new novel, the copyedits for Water Balloon Boys have been turned in, and I’m waiting for word on the two new books my agent is marketing. Ah, yes, waiting. The constant friend of the professional writer. The solution? Write so much you don’t have time to think about it.