So today was my day off from my full time job. I had a specific to-do list for the day: laundry, dinner, and writing. I did cross everything off my list, but I will admit to being distracted by other things as well. Like sorting through the seashells I brought home from our writers’ retreat at the shore last month.
This wasn’t on my to-do list. Honestly, I really ought to have done it before now. But it was a distraction, and sometimes we need a distraction from whatever we’re doing or dealing with at the moment. And the rather mindless task of sifting through the different shells I’d collected let my brain do its own thing for a little while. Like making me wonder what it was that had caused me to choose some of the shells. Looking at them, my reason for some of the choices was obvious–a beautiful color, or unusual texture or shape. And then my brain wandered off to why some of my characters have made the choices they have made in two of my works-in-progress. Which led me to realize there are other things going on with these characters than I realized, deeper issues that will make the story stronger once I highlight and fix these issues.
How do your distractions work for you? Problem-solving? Stress relief?