Working through the distractions
The town siren.
My Life Would Suck Without You is blasting on the stereo. Making every effort to get along–instead of calling the police–the neighbors have no doubt turned up the volume on their televisions to drown out the sound. Or they secretly hope the thumping bass they hear is just the subwoofers on a passing car. If there’s a pause, it only means the playlist on my pc is moving on to another song. Hmm…Buckcherry. A little something for everyone. Resume thumping bass.
Littlest brother, two-and-a-half years old, is screaming, “Mine! Mine! Mine!” at his eight-year-old brother. Of course, big brother does everything in his power to torment his younger sibling by waving the portable voice recorder in his face while it repetitiously plays, “…oo-ee-oo-ah-ah, ting tang, walla walla bing bang…” at double speed. As if you need to speed up the Chipmunks.
Little sister’s chattering away–two notches above normal volume as usual–simultaneously arguing the virtues of Harry Potter with big sister, complaining about having to conjugate verbs for Spanish class, and commenting about the numerous text messages she’s exchanging with fifteen other high school sophomores.
“Isn’t it bedtime for the boys?” I shout, grasping for any sliver of quiet amidst the din.
No answer.
Mom quietly finishes a cup of hot tea, then heads back to the bathroom to brush her teeth. It’s after 9:30 PM and the boys are calling for piggyback rides to bed, and a story, of course.
I turn from the pc and look up at the clock. Calculating… Okay, I think, by 10, I’ll be back at the keyboard and I’ll finish up this scene, or this blog post. Wishful thinking.
I once heard about an author who wrote a 500-page bestseller in spare time after 11 PM when the kids were in bed, all in about three months.
Well, it’ll take a little longer with this book. The concentration level around here has its ups and downs. But I wouldn’t trade all the bestsellers in the world for the atmosphere in my house.
o yeah. my house was like this growing up. its a wonder your getting anything done. lol
Interesting idea for a blog. I’ll be following you. Best of luck, it’s tough out there!
Gappy, what’s with the lol? Everything’s not that funny. BTW, good post. We all have our distractions to work thru. Might try some ear buds.
Thanks, wannawriter. Ear buds are a great defense for the noise issue. Now I just have to watch out for flying toys-the silent weapon!
Hey Les. Unless you have a separate room for your writing area, or some good quiet time away from the kids, looks like you will be destined for long write times for your books. Of course, once you become rich and famous, you may have become so accustomed to all the distractions, you might not be able to work without them.