I was starting to ask the question, “Do distractions take anyone else away from writing like they do me?” and then I deleted it. Of course they do! Distractions are the bane of a writer’s life. Health and money distractions are the worst. How can you argue with someone to write when they have pressing concerns? You can’t. Although I have one friend who’s having trouble at home and she finds that the more she has trouble, the more she is obsessed with writing.

How nice! I said.

Nice? she said.

Yes, nice! You’re writing!

Oh, well, I guess I am, she said.

The last couple of weeks for me have been a bit nerve-racking. Waiting for results to medical tests (everything’s fine, it seems). But the waiting has been very distracting. So distracting, in fact, that I’ve done so little on my novel. Other work, yes. But fiction, no. Thinking about it, planning, plotting–yes. Writing–no.

What a waste.

When I’m distracted in that way, I do other things. Work I have to do, and I knit. I knit so much in the last couple of weeks that my thumbs hurt.

I think of writers I know who’ve encountered terrifically difficult challenges and got their writing done anyway. One such writer will be on my show tomorrow–T. Jefferson Parker.

What about all of you out there? Time to stop lurking. Post here. Tell me (us) what you do when faced with health and money distractions.