Things That Stop Me From Writing, or, How Will I Ever Get Finished?

My kittehs. They’re sooooo adorable, but sooooo distracting. Also they’re officially disturbed: one is a paper shredder, the other one climbs the curtains if I don’t pay attention to them.

The paper shredder...

...and the curtain climber. Don't be fooled, they're both evil.

My husband. Since the big earthquake, hubby’s been working from home. We don’t share an office, but boy are we good at distracting each other.  

Him: I’ve hit a roadblock with my article. 

Me: Bummer. Shall we walk down to the cafe for an espresso? 

Him: Deal.

(Repeat, several times a week)

Social Networking. Any time a new notification pops up on Facebook, Twitter. Because, you know, it might be interesting.

Writing Blog Posts. Heh. Ironic.

Reading Other People’s Blog Posts. Stop being so interesting, damn you!

Writers' Forums. Both a blessing and a curse. Occasionally I read a post that gives me a writing epiphany and I rush off to tap out another thousand words. But mostly I just weigh in on the important topics, such as arguments pro- and contra- the Oxford comma.

Hunger. I’ve officially come to hate lunch. Worst meal of the day. You can’t drink a gallon of coffee with it the way you can with breakfast; the food’s never as interesting as dinner; and apparently it’s not appropriate to accompany it with a glass of wine. Who makes up these rules, anyway?

Checking my word count. I must do this eight or nine times a day. First I check my cumulative word count. Then I check how many words I’ve written today. Then I use the calculator to figure out what percentage of my book I’ve written (this last one is particularly stupid, since I never know how long a book’s going to be until it’s finished).

Wikipedia. Seeing as I write in an era that even my grandparents didn’t see, I often need to fact-check. I start at Wiki because it provides me with a list of more reliable sources. The trouble is I often get bogged down in quagmire of interesting facts that makes up Wiki, and emerge several hours later to a house full of shredded paper and clawed-up curtains.

Robert Downey, Jr:

Enough said

Feel free to comment and add your own distractions to the list! Or to send me pictures of Robert Downey, Jr :)