Are you a writer? If you are, you may understand the funk I’m in. I’m a writer, except that sometimes, I don’t write. I do things related to writing, but they are not writing. They do not help the writing, in fact, they impede the writing. They are procrastination. They are self-imposed resistance. They are fun. But, sadly, not writing.
This list is intended to remind me of the things I need to stop doing in order to write. Hope it helps you. It might help me, if I can actually admit that even writing this post is a way of avoiding writing. I’m damned.
Things That Are Not Writing:
- Checking the stats on my blog is not writing. Even if I do it fifty times a day and need to type in my username and password each time, that doesn’t count as writing. On any day.
- Status updates on Facebook are not writing. Not even if I manage to make up 500 words doing several hundred status updates in a day. That, still, is not writing.
- Reading other peoples Facebook status updates is not writing. Funny, annoying, even interesting, but not writing.
- Twitter is not writing.
- Visiting Gloria Jeans for a caramelatte is not writing. Neither is anything pertaining to toasted banana bread.
- Ducking out to scour half a dozen op-shops is not writing. No, it is NOT.
- Thinking about writing later isn’t writing.
- Taking a long bath isn’t writing.
- Reading a book isn’t writing.
- Combining 7, 8 and 9 still isn’t writing.
- Checking Donald Millers blog to see what he’s writing isn’t writing.
- Checking other blogs to see if they have published my articles isn’t writing.
- Googling myself isn’t writing.
- Playing with my iPhone isn’t writing.
- Checking my emails every single time one drops into my inbox is NOT writing, even if I reply.
- Looking at courses at the local community college isn’t writing.
- Trawling through job websites when I already have a job is not bloody writing. It’s just not.
- Playing with my dreadlocks isn’t in any way, shape or form writing.
- Eating snacks, drinking tea, rifling through the cupboard for more chocolate biscuits is not writing. get over that right now.
- And finally, leaving obnoxious and inflammatory comments on other peoples blogs and websites is never, ever, ever writing.
Done procrastinating. Off to do the writing 🙂





Bahahahaha I so get this post!
PS now you know why I deactivated my personal FB account … but I still have the Footprints page and Sophie’s page to keep up to date 😉