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The bogart of interruptions Editor's Notes #118
March 16, 2012
Hello,

“The mind is refrigerated by interruption;
the thoughts are diverted from the principle subject."

--Samuel Johnson


In this issue:

1. The bogart of interruptions
2. Tickled my funnybone
3. Interesting Web site
4. On hold

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1. The bogart of interruptions
A bogart, a household fairy, makes items disappear, disrupts sleep, and generally makes life difficult for the family it lives with.

A writer's bogart steals time by creating interruptions. In themselves, the interruptions seem mild enough. The phone rings. A child asks a question. The drier buzzer goes off. Even a sneeze can be an interruption.

These interruptions are brief, so where's the harm?

Researchers have found that if you are interrupted, you may need ten to twenty times as long as the break lasted to recover from it. In other words, if you leave your task -- in this case, your writing -- for one minute, you may not be back in the groove for ten to twenty minutes.

Unless you are a monk in a cave, interruptions will be part of your writing life. Being aware of how time multiplies when you are interrupted puts you on guard against interruptions.

On the other hand, taking a break from writing can sometimes bring you back to your work refreshed. So when the bogart of interruption crashes in, you might choose to put your shoes on and go out for a walk, coming back full of enthusiasm and new ideas.

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2.Tickled my funnybone
 Coffee: n. The person upon whom one coughs. 

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3. Interesting Web site
Here's a site that doles out daily and weekly hits of vocabulary and grammar development.
http://www.vocabvitamins.com/

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4. On hold
Between the last issue and this one, I was hit by a nasty bug that knocked me completely out of the park for more than a week. I've had to make choices in catching up, so I have not finished the promised pdf file of ways to overcome writer's block.

This gives some of you time to submit your own best way to conquer writer's block for inclusion in the pdf file to be shared with other subscribers. Here's the link to the last issue explaining how to submit your idea. https://www.writershelper.com/Editors_Notes-117.html

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