Non-fiction writing continues to take time from novel-gazing.  Sometimes, a person just has to write a letter to the editor.  To do otherwise is citizenship malpractice.  What’s in the letter doesn’t belong here, but the dilemma of where to use one’s writing time is pertinent.

  • How much does composing, editing and sending editorial comments siphon away the energy from daily word production?  (finding an address, or climbing the learning curve, however shallow, of an online submission form, always takes that extra bit of time and energy)
  • During novelizing, how sequestered should the creatrix keep herself to minimize distraction?  (reading the paper always prompts some kind of editorial outburst)
  • Or, is distraction a necessary part of the process that feeds the work in the ink mines?  (if I don’t know what’s going on, do I lose touch?)

I’ll add blogging to the novel list of distractions.