Think about it - it is not writer's block - you know what you want to write - you've plotted it out. So what you are encountering is a very natural, most of us have felt it, writer's resistance. A mental block - and you find excuses to do other things.

One author's suggestion is to practice writing - if you have the habit to do it every day, no matter what, the physical warm-up will help you break through your resistance to writing. It is like an athlete warming up for an event. S/he can't say, oh, I warmed up yesterday, so I don't need to today.

I personally have been using the Writer's Digest writing prompts (which they used to do monthly, but now they have this fancy new format - so if you didn't get the December issue you'd be out of luck, except you can get their prompts at their site or e-mailed for free...). I do one every day, first. It really helps get me in gear.

Other people set an amount of time to write, and they have to write no matter what, even if they write "I can't write, why do I try, this is purposeless" for twenty minutes. It doesn't take too long for you to decide to write something else.

So - I suggest you get a timer. Set it for some amount of time - say 10 or 20 minutes. Get a writing prompt. Do it by hand in a spiral notebook or journal with a fast-flowing pen, or on your computer. The rule is to keep your hand(s) moving, no matter what - you must write. Give yourself the right to write junk - anything. Copy something if you must, to get you started. This is your warm up. You have no choice, no options, you can do nothing else. It is called discipline, and you either make yourself do it or not. Remove freecell, disconnect from the Internet, if you can't keep yourself from them. You may find your resistance melts fairly quickly. You can just freewrite about your problem - that may help!

Now, set your timer again - 20, 30 minutes, whatever you preset as your "sacred" writing time when no one in the family will distract you. You will now work on the chapter (or another part of your story if you think that will help). It could be absolute junk you write, but write it you will. A comes in with a sword. B jumps off the throne enraged, "Who let him in?" The guards outside have all been run through. A says, "This day I take what should be mine." They fight...

Yeah, ok, really bad, but the point is you are working through the resistance - the physical act of writing will overcome your mental resistance.

I've been reading a lot recently, and many of the thoughts above are thanks to Natalie Goldberg, author of "Writing Down the Bones" which I did a report on for a class.

I suggest you do this quickly - you want to, so don't find or give yourself excuses - you need to bang through it. Let it suck - you can always edit/rewrite once you have disciplined yourself to doing this!!!

And speaking of timed writing exercises, sometime they can be very fun. James Lileks did kind of the same thing for an early comic strip. You kind of need to see it to get it.

http://www.lileks.com/comics/lance/index.html

Enjoy!

a) Insecurity in work
b) Self-Destructive tendencies

Method to bypassing this:

Sit down.
Load the microsoft WORD program.
Do not load any other program.
Force yourself to follow this program.
Type the scene, no stopping allowed. Keep typing. Ignore misspellings. If you can't, close your eyes and keep typing the scene as it comes to you.

Wait for your hands to stop hurting from the fierce typing.
Edit scene.

My hubby has gotten out of the Army and has been home a lot while job searching--I have had very little alone time to work on writing. Easier to play a game or surf the Internet when interruptions are eminent.