HABITS

Every morning before I write, I play a couple games of something called Inlay Safari. I ignore the easy sections -- no challenge there -- and concentrate on three or four harder sections which I can usually beat the first or second time I try. Total time expenditure: 20 minutes.

There are a couple of sections, however, that are really difficult and beating them can take an hour. Nevertheless, plucky writer that I am, I will sally forth and give it a try and if an hour passes and my hand is numb and I am still struggling, well, that's not so bad because that's part of my before writing ritual.

Okay, sometimes I add in another game called Fairy Treasure and that one is deceptive in that each level takes very little time but moving between levels is a mere click of the mouse. Oops, now two hours have passed.

So, the other day I thought of this: playing these games before I write has become part of my writing experience. Think of it like undressing and brushing your teeth before bed. Think of it as washing your hands before a meal or adjusting a mirror before you back the car out of the garage. But these rituals don't safeguard me, they distract me and if I can create the need for them, can't I then dismiss that need and start a new ritual that may include writing first and playing games later, kind of like rewarding a child for eating a healthy meal with a taste of desert? In other words, can I replace a bad habit with a good one? Why not? Am I not in control of my own destiny!!!

And yet, there's something inside me that says I'm not ready to write when I first sit down, that I need a certain amount of time in a zone of some kind before I can leap into creative mode. Does that mean my bad habits are actually good habits? Ack!!!

I read somewhere it takes 30 days to break a bad habit. In other words, if the dh leaves his underwear on the floor, it will take thirty days of picking it up before it becomes a habit to always pick it up. Of course, what is needed here is motivation and discipline.

I know Genene keeps no games on her writing computer so she isn't tempted, but I'm willing to bet most of us have some kind of time dump we enter into round about writing time. I'm curious to know what yours are, if you have ever tried to break them or replace them with something constructive. Did it work? Or, like me, are you still caught up in a flow of bad habits that include everything but getting to work without playing around first.

Fess up!