I have a page thumbtacked up at my desk at work, it says:

Anyone can do any amount of work provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at the moment -- Robert Benchley


As for actually getting things done, is there any part you're looking forward to working on? Can you start doing that, then maybe move backwards?

Lester Bangs said something we should all always remember: "Lower your expectations and get to work!"

Why not get a job again and start writing passionately like you used to?

Isaac Asimov used to go see a brainless movie when he was blocked. Apparently it worked every time.

That Lester Bangs comment is absolutely appropriate. As always, Lester Bangs to the rescue!

As for getting a job again, that is not currently an option, hadjiboy. It is write or sink!

(Capn, I'm looking forward to working on all parts of this book, just at inopportune moments, like when I'm driving or in the shower. When I sit down to write, I'm all confuzzled. But I shall persevere.)

Thanks, guys.

A brainless movie, hellbient? Like a zombie flick or a chick flick?

As for zombie flicks, 28 Weeks Later was so depressingly terrible that I swear I couldn't write for like three days after I saw it.

I have found that the less distractions I have the less inspired I am. The more freetime I have, the less productive I get. The busier I am, and the less time I have to really concentrate on a creative project, the more ideas I have and the more I want to work on it. I'm far better at my job when I'm overworked somehow. It's not fair and makes no sense, really.

So my suggestion start booking yourself with things besides cleaning the house. Do volunteer work or take a class or get a night job or whatever. Go out with friends regularly. It's counter intuitive because you need to be concentrating on your book, but somehow NOT concentrating on your book might actually help you to want to concentrate on your book. In theory. Hopefully.

Creative jobs are tricky. The mind doesn't always cooperate...

I have no idea if any of that made sense to anyone but me. Possibly not.

brina - I think it was more like an action movie. I certainly wouldn't call 28 Weeks Later brainless (although I haven't seen it yet).

Overcoming writer's block.

hellbient: Trust me, it's brainless. So, so very sadly brainless.

And thanks for the link. I've been here before, with the writer's block, but I just needed to vent, y'know?

You need the new Mando Diao album, "Ode to Ochrasy." Also, Dave Godin's "Deep Soul Treasures, Vol. 1" (also vol. 2-4) has been clinically proven to help writers write.

If you're sparing your reading mind for writing by not reading anything, cut it out. Read Dumas for the dialogue. Read Gaddis for the narrative. Read your favorite book for your least favorite reason, read a master of one form for her mastery of another. If you only read novels, read non-fiction or plays. If you only read non-fiction, read a novel. If you only read magazines, quit writing.

Go outside and dig a hole. Put something in it, like a bush or a bone or some dirt or a bladder full of pee. Get a dartboard, remove all the numbers, and concentrate on the bullseye. Go into an empty church and sing your favorite song (if it's empty, nobody will mind).

Eat apples. Go for a run. Stretch your legs out. Spend an hour in the shower making noise with every body part you can find. Jump up and down.

Have fun.

If you're sparing your reading mind for writing by not reading anything, cut it out.

Hah! As if one could ever abstain from reading.

But I like this idea of digging a hole. I can take all the millipedes that have recently crawled into my building (after being transported here in supposedly "super-rich" soil) and bury them. After putting stakes through their hearts, because last night I found one in the bathtub and discovered that it, like a cockroach, was a member of the undead.

No really, though, thanks for the advice, all. I don't really need advice, though. Just, you know, a swift kick in the pants and maybe a vampire slayer to deal with those centipedes.

I know you're not looking for more advice, but you might try reading some poetry. Sometimes a little poetry helps my brain forget about itself in a way that helps me write (fiction or otherwise). I recommend Franz Wright or Charles Simic. Accessible, but mind-benders.