CRD

It turns out McDonald's really does have free wi-fi.  Go in, sit at a table, power up, find the attwifi and connect.  It will take you to a McDonalds window that asks if you agree to the terms and conditions, click yes, then click continue and you're there.  Internet...go for it.  It was Monday afternoon when we were out of town and I didn't even do anything except get it set up and turned the laptop over to Jay.  He placed his order and I don't know what else from the angle I was sitting but he was wise and kept me pre-occupied by buying me an ice cream cone to keep me busy and distracted.  It worked.  I didn't even get a chance to check anything of my own but I didn't really mind.  I hadn't had a soft-serve vanilla cone in ages!  I've been on the internet very recently.  It was a good trade off. 
The weather while I was gone was beautiful, not too breezy by the water but just enough.  I had nothing to do but relax and I finished the book I brought the first day.  I bought another and finished that one too but it was another quick read...I mean the name is Finger lickin' Fifteen...and yes...book #fifteen in that particular series.  I went on to my writing magazines and took those down and finished them like the two books.  I am beginning to realize how well I can procrastinate my own writing at this stage by reading too much about writing.  I am beginning to see where I know some of the stuff they are telling me in these articles and how I don't really need to keep relying on knowing more about writing but just keep doing what I should be doing which is writing. 
I spent some time reading the last 2500 words I had written to my story and was more than pleasantly surprised that it didn't sound too bad.  I usually read something back to myself after a period of time and can sometimes get that feeling of knowing it's off - but not this time.  That feeling is called Creeping Rot Disease.  At least that is what it was called in the article from my magazine and it says that every writer is stricken.  "CRD begins as a dark feeling that takes over your mind and heart when you least expect it.  You look at your manuscript and the feeling creeps over you that all you've done is foul a perfectly good stack of paper.  It's lousy.  It's not original....I'm wasting my life, you think." 
Well, I can't deny that I haven't had that feeling before!  I just didn't know it was CRD.  It had a solution to take a break and turn off your computer because the problem was not with your manuscript but with you.  I liked the idea that it also had a few bullet pointed options to solve it including: get some good coffee or phone a friend and spill your guts.  I can do the coffee...but I'm afraid I don't have a friend left that I could call and spill to.  Hopefully that won't make my CRD get any worse.  I don't think so, I hope not.
I guess if I really needed I could always go to McDonalds and get myself an ice cream cone.  Then after I had distracted myself and I felt better I could log into the Internet and start writing again.
TT
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CRD excerpt taken from Writer's Digest September 2010 issue - article by Elizabeth Sims - 10 minute fixes to 10 common plot problems (#10!).