IWSG: Digging Out!

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is a community of writers who love to share ideas and encourage others.  It's a great place to express doubts and concerns as well as offer and receive tribulations and guidance from other writers. IWSG posts the first Wednesday of every month.  I think you'll find it to be a great writer's resource that's well worth your time.  Be sure to stop by and visit with some of the other IWSG writers/bloggers at IWSG Members.

 Our Twitter hashtag is #IWSG

The awesome co-hosts for the February 3 posting of the IWSG will be Allison Gammons,Tamara Narayan, Eva E. Solar, Rachel Pattison, and Ann V. Friend! 

Digging Out:

The great blizzard of 2016 has come and gone, but not without wreaking havoc on my little corner of the world.  I live in the South for different reasons, one being the relatively mild winters with their lack of massive snow storms and cold temps.  However, Mother Nature threw us a curve ball in January with both sub-freezing temperatures that lingered for two weeks plus several inches of snow and ice - ice being the operative word.  Our rural roads remained impassable for five days while parents & children who were forced inside went stir-crazy.

I had hoped this would prove to be a productive writing time for me, but since I wasn't snowed in alone, it just wasn't meant to be.  One bored husband equals a whole lot of frustrating interruptions.  You know the ones . . . those that start with the little tap on your office door and then the  soft voice that says, "I hate to bother you but . . . " or "I know you're trying to work but . . . " and then comes the earth-shattering, just can't wait until you finish working question:  "Are we out of chips?"  or "What time is supper?" or "Have you seen the remote?"  Please note that none of these questions can be found on my posted sign of plausible reasons for interrupting this writer at work as you can clearly see . . .  

I should state that most of the time, my husband is good about trying to leave me alone during my designated writing time, but with the storm holding us prisoner inside and the walls closing in, he freaked and lost all control, repeatedly breaking our agreement that my writing time is sacred except in case of a real emergency.  

This all leads me to "digging out".  Not only did I have to dig out from under the blizzard of 2016, I'm also faced with a backlog of unwritten Reviews, Blog Articles, Research, and the yet unwritten chapters of my current w-i-p.  One month into 2016 and I'm already behind schedule.  Is it all my husband's fault?  While it's tempting to say yes, the answer is no, of course not. (although he may have gotten the impression that it is!)  For various reasons, I haven't been able to maintain my writing schedule as planned.  (Have I mentioned how much I hate this "falling behind" feeling?)  So . . . my job now is to dig myself out from under, get back on track, back on my schedule.  It's really not rocket science.  It's more of a "lock door, place butt in chair, ignore knocking, and just do it" thing.

How do you "dig out" when life (or somebody) wreaks havoc with your writing plan?  Share your strategy for getting caught up when life repeatedly throws curve balls your way.  Do you have any Words of Wisdom to share with newer writers who can't seem to stay on schedule?