FOCUS – Do You Have It?

Have you found yourself wondering whether or not you have ADHD? Can you sit still and focus on your words without hopping over to the internet and back? Lately, I’m hearing all kinds of complaints about the lack of Focus– the dreaded word that every writer craves.

 Focus is a concentrated effort or attention on a particular thing; an area of concern, responsibility, or investigation; the quality that makes an image sharply defined with clear edges and contrast.

 Writers need FOCUS to let their creativity loose. We need words on the page in order to edit a story into a sale. But in today’s world, there are so many distractions and drains on our lives. We’re ruled by technology and while the techno age is welcoming to some, it can be hazardous to a writer’s business – words.

There are many focus drains within the time we allot to our writing –

   Social media – Facebook, Email, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Google and more

   Research—all internet based versus leaving home for a library visit, phone calls, dvds

   Noise—radio; MP3 music; e-books, television, computer video ads

 Distractions used to be phone calls and maybe the television or radio. And we still face those same distractions in the form of telemarketers, charity calls, computer robo calls on home phone lines and via our cellphones.

 Add in LIFE, which is family, pets, weather, technology, age, more…NOISE. Noise that robs us of the mental peace we need to write.

 Writers write. With the current changes in the publishing industry, we are now faced with possibly being our own publishing company. We have to use the left brain activities of editing, writing blurbs, reviewing, deciding on book covers, formatting and on and on.  Our poor right brain which helps us imagine our stories is worn out and refuses to play anymore.

 Endless chatter without substance is killing our lives. Some of us can handle a power outage, can you? Some don’t know what to do without technology and technology runs on power.

 Ultimately, we must connect to what matters most.  As a writer, it’s your stories. What drains your focus? Makes you crazy? Robs your attention from your writing? Do you need to unplug?

To help in recovery, go here to get started…