“Life is what happens while you are making other plans.”
Apparently, John Lennon was one of the many great minds credited with voicing this fact, which has been replaying in my mind for the past three weeks – minus the one week I spent at Folly Beach near Charleston, S.C.
Technology hell
My desktop computer crashed shortly before we departed for vacation, just a few days before a critical deadline. So the week’s plans went down the toilet as I scrambled to restore my software and documents – only to have the darn machine die a few days after our return. It wasn’t a software problem; my hard drive failed.
I dropped the machine off for service on Friday, before the holiday weekend, and picked it up on Sunday. When I started the machine, a cluster of dead pixels mocked me from the center of the display, right at eye level. So I trucked the diabolical device back to the store, where it now awaits the arrival of a replacement part.
Fickle Fates
Several times during the course of this inconvenience, I discovered the problem when I was anxious to start working on my novel.
Perhaps you’re one of those writers for whom words flow easily, so inspiration never poses a problem.
Bully for you.
I’ve been struggling with the end of this manuscript for several weeks now. Imagine my frustration when I finally hit upon a game plan, and I rushed to my computer… only to discover my keyboard standing at attention, while “Taps” played in the background. A variation of this theme happened not once, but twice, during the past three weeks, with both instances sucking up hours of my time as I attempted to perform cyber-CPR.
Bad Behavior
Did I snatch up a pen and paper and scribble down the creative thoughts that were zooming through my brain?
No. Both times, I spent a few hours on the phone with technical support before scheduling a repair appointment. Then, I pouted, poured a glass of wine, and sulked as I read a novel published by someone whose writing career wasn’t plagued by computer troubles.
As a result, I still haven’t acted on the brilliant idea I had three weeks ago.
Not acceptable.
Life threw me a curveball in the form of a cantankerous computer problem, and I struck out. First, I spent too much time trying to fix the problem myself. Then, I indulged in self-pity and gave myself permission to slack in the writing department.
So I didn’t have a desktop computer. I do have a laptop. And I’ve got pen and paper galore. Most of this novel draft exists in an oversized spiral notebook. So what if my nifty mind-mapping software isn’t available?
Anyway, the pity party is officially over, and I’m getting my sorry self back to the page. Now, I’m trying to figure out to avoid a repeat performance when the next curveball comes… because you know they’re out there.
How do you get yourself back on track when life happens and derails your carefully crafted plans?
