Too Much Time To Write?

I don’t have a lot of time for writing. Work and family take the lion’s share of my time, so I have to make a conscious effort to squeeze in my writing. Ten minutes here, twenty minutes there. Whatever I can find. Whenever I can find it.  Unfortunately, since it usually requires several minutes for me to get into the necessary creative state of mind, these short snippets of time don’t always result in productive writing. So you can imagine how excited I get when I manage to snag a large block of guilt-free writing time. Woohoo!

The funny thing is, when that block of time arrives, I’ll immediately begin procrastinating. I may have spent the last hour fantasizing about all the pages I plan to write, but the moment I sit down in front of the computer, I’ll feel the need to get a drink of water, or  to check my emails, or I’ll decide that maybe I should work on a blog post instead of my manuscript. What’s my problem?

It’s as if the idea of spending several hours on my manuscript frightens me. Perhaps I’m afraid I won’t get anything accomplished. Maybe I’m so excited by the prospect of having all this time available, I can’t force myself to focus. I don't know.  It’s like I enjoy the idea of having time to write more than doing the writing itself. Weird.

Of course, once I force myself to type those first couple of words, then all is well. You can’t drag me away from the computer. But that initial reluctance to get down to business still leaves me scratching my head.

I don’t suppose any of you suffer from the same malady, do you?