You sit down to write, or read, or draw (basically whatever “it” is that you do) and someone comes and sits down or stands right next to you – or behind you.
“Leonid Pasternak – The Passion of creation” by Leonid Pasternak – http://www.art-in-exile.com/forums/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=14639. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons.
Suddenly, you can no longer function. You can’t concentrate on the page or project before you.. All you can concentrate on are the eyes you imagine looking over your shoulder, trying to sneak a peak at whatever it is your doing. Those eyes are judging your every move (or reading whatever your trying to read or write).
Am I alone? Am I the only person who feels this way?
My family knows that I have this problem. I just can’t write with someone looking over my shoulder. My mind will go completely blank. For the most part, they’re supportive of this. However…
They don’t always realize that they aren’t being quite as supportive as they think.
For instance, my husband and my daughters can ignore me all day long, but as soon as I pull out my laptop to write, they will all start to hover around my general vicinity. They may not stay long, but once one is gone, another takes their place. Or at least one of them will decide that they absolutely MUST read a book… sitting so close to me that they may as well be on my lap. Of course, in that scenario even if I could write, I don’t have the space to type (yes, they get that close!).
I usually try to send them all away by giving them little “chores” or pulling out the “don’t you need to…” card. But it doesn’t always work. And then I get frustrated. I just want to yell at them:
But I don’t.
Instead, I close my laptop and wait for another opening in my day.
And while a part of me is really happy to get that time with my family… another part of me gets really sad.
I asked the all-knowing Google for suggestions, but only found one article that dealt with how to deal with interruptions while writing. Only finding one article made me wonder…
Am I am one of only a few people that have this issue? If I’m not, how do you deal with these type of situations?
Jess Combs 
There are not many positives I draw from generally only getting to do any writing after 9pm at night but one advantage is that the kids are asleep so I can get a clear run at it. My wife occasionally pops her head in to say goodnight or to feed me chocolate but if the door’s shut in the spare room I’m mostly left alone. I find it impossible to come up with anything unless I’m in my own space – so this means either that there are lots of us of similar mind or you’ve just happened to be lucky enough to get your solitary fellow weirdo to post a comment early 🙂
I saw a comment the other day along the lines of “What’s the best way to get your child’s attention? Sit comfortably.” – there has to be a version for writers/families I reckon!
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Lol! That’s so true. Get comfortable & someone will need you. I should try writing after the kids are in bed. That would work out SO much better for me! Thanks! 🙂
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I just keep writing. When my kids were little I’d sort of write around the chaos and now once I get into the zone I usually don’t pay attention to who is around me or what they want. And I don’t care if they sneak a peek over my shoulder to see what I’m doing because what I’m writing is going to get read anyway.
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I wish I could do that. It’s not that I don’t want them to read it ever (i usually have them read it anyway once I’m done to check for spelling, etc.), it’s just that I can’t write while someone is watching ever word.
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