I am so chuffed to be on The Quivering Pen books blog, the online hideout of Iraq War novelist David Abrams. I’ve been following it for years. I have shamelessly headhunted many of its guests for The Undercover Soundtrack (and yes, you’ll see David’s Soundtrack here soon).
David has a series called My First Time, where authors confess a virgin experience of writing and publishing life. I’m there today talking about distraction projects – creative stuff you do when you really should be doing something else. You probably all know my travel diary is one of those, but I’ve actually been far more distractible than that. In my time I’ve made recipe books and a music soundtrack for a series of illustrated books. All of which taught me surprising things when I returned to my proper work.
Anyway, do pop over. Especially if you really should be doing something more important.
Nail Your Novel 
Reblogged this on Notes from An Alien and commented:
Today’s re-blog is according to schedule 🙂
Thanks, Alexander!
Loved your story Roz. I have my own special soup of distractions. 🙂
Do spill it here, Debby…
Well I don’t think us creatives are much different from each other when it comes to creativity. I tend to always have at least 2 projects on the go at once. When the well runs dry or confused, I’ll write something on a totally different topic to start a new idea, blogpost, or in my journal for future books ideas. It’s important that we learn when we need a healthy distraction, even just a walk outside to observe anything around us, it opens up a new avenue of ideas. 🙂 Nothing exciting Roz, but honestly, as you know, it works to divert and put our energy into something else, refreshing us with a new perspective when we return. 🙂
I enjoyed this post. The way you explore creativity and freedom really resonated. Looking forward to reading your travelogue, Roz.
Hello Josephine! It was fun to write. And now I’m curious to know what creative work you do in downtime. Or times when you’re supposed to be ‘up’…
“In my time I’ve made recipe books and a music soundtrack for a series of illustrated books.” I think you just helped me make sense of my life. No joke. I have a ton of melodies with no words that I thought would never be used.
Hi Tim! Nice to meet a fellow distracted creative. And maybe somebody reading this is the perfect partner for your wordless tunes.