Mr. Approach, Meet Ms. Avoidance

You’re pushing a cart through the supermarket or driving a car full of kids to their softball game, but the characters talking in your head won’t stop demanding attention. You can’t wait for Saturday afternoon or the next write-in with your online group when you’ll finally have a couple of hours to make some headway on your manuscript.

When the time arrives, though, your thoughts take off every which way. You need to return your dad’s call. You meant to order flowers for your sick friend. You ca...