How To Write Through All The Daily Distractions

How To Write With Focus
How To Write Without Losing Focus

Learning how to write through all the daily distractions is one of the most important things for a writer to master. Because you have to learn how to write productively every day if you ever want to finish your book.

If you don't, you won’t get published. But how can you finish your book when there are so many daily distractions? Especially if you are writing a book for the first time, it's hard for everyone around you to understand the process. And how much focus is needed to finish the steps to writing a book.

So let's look at a few ways to learn how to write through the daily distractions to keep you on track. And not upset anyone who needs your attention on a daily basis.

How To Write Through The Immediate Distractions.

When you are writing - you will have to make your family, roommates, or coworkers aware of it. But just because you have told them not to bother you doesn't mean that they can dismiss their own need for immediate attention.

And just when you are deep in thought, figuring out how to write something, is when they will come up with an emergency that only you can solve. (Probably a variation on something you have answered many times. Way before you were working out how to write a bestseller.)

And yet, there they are, standing in the doorway, shifting their weight, trying not to bother you. (But they have something so important and so weighty on their minds it simply cannot wait.) But you have told them not to bother you. 

Then when you look up, distracted, they immediately apologize, “I’m so sorry to bother you, but…”

And your thought is gone.

In this situation, I have found that the best thing to do is to let the person know beforehand that they can speak up when they enter the room, with the purpose of asking something, say what it is that they want, and then leave.

And even when I don’t look up from my computer, they know that I have heard them. And that I will respond when I come to the end of my thought.

I have learned through experience that this is the least intrusive of all options. And through experience I have learned to maintain enough concentration to be able to finish a thought, a paragraph, or a page, and acknowledge a person's immediate need at the same time.

Whatever it is they really  want, I don’t know, but when I come to a stopping place, I will find out. And help them.

But they will simply have to wait for fifteen minutes or so while I work out how to write a story outline, or another story writing format.

Then I can fix the satellite reception. Or reset the microwave display. Or whatever is so pressing.

How To Write Through The Electronic Distractions.

Even as a person who wants to learn how to write better - you’re like everyone else in the fact that you stay in touch with people by texting, phoning, and other means of instant messaging. That’s perfectly normal. But how do you tell these people that you can’t respond immediately as you learn how to write a book? Because if the person who is in the same room with you doesn't get that you are working on how to write a novel, how does someone in another location know?

You can let them know in a text that you are writing.

But how do you ignore a person who is used to an immediate response. Without them thinking that something isn't wrong when they don't get it?

I can say, “Turn off your phone when you write.”

But that is not the answer. Your people want you available. Immediately. And, at the same time, you also want to be there to keep abreast of things.

This is how we communicate.

That said, I’ve learned to keep my eyes and my focus on my computer screen while I am writing. Even when I know someone is trying to get a hold of me. I text with my right hand as necessary, typing with my left as I do so.

The first thing I text is, “Writing Now.”

After that, if someone wants a conversation, they will get the least amount of my attention.

Usually with “yes,” or “no,” or another one-word response. At a certain point, these answers will come slower. Until they cease coming at all. The other person will either get the hint or not.

But I am able to finish my writing.

I’ll talk to them later anyway, with the satisfaction of having finished another chapter. And I can also tell about how to write a novel step-by-step, including keeping in touch with them.

How To Write Through The Noise Distractions.

A continuously barking neighbor dog. Music through the walls. A television in the other room. No one is deliberately bothering us, but there it is. And it is still distracting us from how to write better.

In this case, it’s not be so much the noise, as your lack of being able to concentrate over it. Which is very difficult to do if you are writing a book for the first time.

And it may be that you are out of ideas or stuck in a writing rut. Or you have a deadline for something else you are working on.  Like how to write an article for a magazine. So at this point, an outside distraction is more obvious and more irritating than it otherwise might be.

Believe it or not, this is actually a good time to stop what you are doing and read a book on your subject matter. Or a novel in your same genre. Reading something else will not only give you something productive to do but it will also give you some new ideas. It’s like taking a break and doing something useful at the same time. You’ll come back to your writing later. Revitalized and with fresh thoughts.

Go here for information on reading and how to write a book:

And when you learn how to write through your daily distractions, you will also learn how to write a bestseller.

I know you can do it.

How To Write A Book

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