{"id":301,"date":"2016-02-15T12:56:07","date_gmt":"2016-02-15T17:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zachbarnesonwriting.wordpress.com\/?p=301"},"modified":"2016-02-15T12:56:07","modified_gmt":"2016-02-15T17:56:07","slug":"snow-day-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/2016\/02\/15\/snow-day-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Snow Day Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s snowing again\u00a0in Northern Virginia. \u00a0There’s not much accumulation, mind you, but a friend of mine pointed out how oddly we Northern Virginians react to snow. \u00a0As he says, we know that it’s going to snow every year, and yet it still manages to catch us off guard.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_2665\"<\/p>\n

And this might be true because everyone around here works so hard they’re probably just praying for some time off, but I think this concept applies to writing (and life) quite well.<\/p>\n

When you’re writing toward a target, there will always be snow days that could derail you. \u00a0And you’ll say,<\/p>\n

“Oh my goodness, how did this happen? I’m so surprised I probably can’t write today!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Perhaps you do need a break. \u00a0After all, snow days can be great for your mental health.\u00a0But most likely, you saw this coming, and you really shouldn’t be surprised. Writing “snow days” \u00a0vary by person. \u00a0For me, the perennial distraction is time. \u00a0If I have less than an hour to work, I’ll end up wasting that time because I usually\u00a0convince myself that one hour couldn’t be possibly enough time to get a productive amount of writing done. \u00a0After all, I need my coffee, and then I need to get comfy; finding a good playlist next is a must<\/em>, especially\u00a0before I even begin\u00a0thinking<\/em> about creativity, and by then the coffee is either gone or cold, so it’s time to\u00a0make another cup…<\/p>\n

For me,\u00a0a one hour window of time is just like snow descending upon the East Coast. \u00a0It’s going to happen again and again, and I probably should\u00a0have seen it coming at least a day in advance. Therefore, I can either assume a certain stance, buckle down, and use that time to write (sans<\/em> second cup of coffee) or I could be so surprised by the mere notion of\u00a0free time that I end up wasting it all.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here’s to stocking up on milk and bread; Have a happy snow day!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019m on facebook at:\u00a0https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/zachbarnesonwriting<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

And Twitter: @ZacharyBarnes4<\/span><\/p>\n

Like or follow me if you enjoy\u00a0the blog!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t steal\u00a0my words. \u00a0They\u2019re mine. Zachary Barnes 2016\u00a9<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s snowing again in Northern Virginia. There’s not much accumulation, mind you, but a friend of mine pointed out how oddly we Northern Virginians react to snow. As he says, we know that it’s going to snow every year, and yet it still manages to catch us off guard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amazonpipp_noncename":"","amazon-product-isactive":"","amazon-product-single-asin":"","amazon-product-content-location":"","amazon-product-content-hook-override":"","amazon-product-excerpt-hook-override":"","amazon-product-singular-only":"","amazon-product-amazon-desc":"","amazon-product-show-gallery":"","amazon-product-show-features":"","amazon-product-newwindow":"","amazon-product-show-list-price":"","amazon-product-show-used-price":"","amazon-product-show-saved-amt":"","amazon-product-timestamp":"","amazon-product-new-title":"","amazon-product-use-cartURL":"","amazon_featured_post_meta_key":"","_amazon_featured_alt":"","amazon-product-template":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[2,12,17,21,29,46,1,50],"tags":[60,61,113,176,200,204],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":141,"url":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/2015\/02\/20\/avengarde-chapter-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":301,"position":0},"title":"AVENGARDE Chapter 2","date":"February 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The spray of arterial blood showered me in steaming droplets. Like a broken bowl, the head wobbled across the floor until it came to rest at my feet.","rel":"nofollow","context":"In \"Avengarde\"","img":{"src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1551,"url":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/2017\/04\/17\/writing-challenge-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":301,"position":1},"title":"Writing Challenge #1","date":"April 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Ahoy, folksies. I have a new idea! And it stems from my perceived inability to write tension without a threat of violence. But before I get all ahead of myself, let's take a breath and explain. Athletes need to warm up (well, not according to Tallahassee from\u00a0Zombieland, but whatever) and\u2026","rel":"nofollow","context":"In \"Exercise\"","img":{"src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":181,"url":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/2015\/04\/22\/writing-and-exercise-similar\/","url_meta":{"origin":301,"position":2},"title":"Writing and Exercise: Similar?","date":"April 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"In order to avoid betraying my utter ignorance, I'll speak in vague generalities: if you're walking or running efficiently, your body works a bit like a pendulum, swinging (not forcing) itself forward. I feel that I could run or walk for hours and never get tired when I'm running or\u2026","rel":"nofollow","context":"In \"Daily Word Count\"","img":{"src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}