Ah, the British Summer. That unrealistically blue sky, those wispy clouds, the unattractive men wandering around topless because they think other people want to see their bellies and faded, poorly drawn tattoos.
After weeks of rain and misery, we’re finally seeing summer. This makes it quite spectacularly difficult to focus on work of any kind, including writing. Most of the week I’m stuck in an office, able to see the sunshine, but not feel it or experience it first hand. I have to live vicariously through the tourists and those fortunate or unfortunate enough to not be working.
But, today, I’m at home. The sun is blazing down on the clothes on the line. I can hear the children playing and laughing in the warmth (Although I can hear one of them shrieking like a banshee right this moment). I can see it all. About ten feet away. But, i’ve chained myself to the computer today, promising myself that I’ll write.
So far today, excluding this blog, I think I’ve managed 0 words of novel, 1 tweet and a load of washing. It’s not the thousands of words I’d anticipated. How do you focus? How do you clear the mind of daydreams of sun-dappled walks and ice-cream, and instead fill your mind with plot and words and all that important stuff? There must be a way!
I tried sitting out in the sun, but the garden here isn’t particularly gardeny, and it’s pretty loud and dirty. And i don’t have a notepad to write on. I know if I went to the park, I’d fall asleep in the sun.
So, it’s in-the-flat action for me. I have to shut out the outside world and all its glory, and live in my head for a little longer. Concentrate on what I have to do, not what I want to do. Set myself a goal, hit it and reward myself with a sojourn into the sun.
So, set the goal, hit the goal, enjoy the sun. There’s my mantra for as long as the sun lasts…
Set the goal, hit the goal, enjoy the sun.
Set the goal, hit the goal, enjoy the sun.
Enjoy the sun.
Enjoy the sun.
