I would love to know what activity has the greatest amount of displacement activity attached to it, but writing must be in the top 10.  You start, full of good intentions, then spend a couple of hours drawing out a great spreadsheet showing who features in each chapter.  Then you start to write, but decide that before you put it down you had better check something.  So you do that and that leads onto the germ of another idea, which you think about for a while and, before you know it, the time you put aside for writing is gone.

Never mind, you say.  I shall be so much better prepared next time.

Hmm. As per the advert, rinse, repeat.  

‘I don’t procrastinate’, she thought, unloading the washing machine. ‘I don’t usually procrastinate’ she clarified, investigating 18th century fashions. ‘I don’t, eek, is that the time?’

A few years ago, I switched away from an electronic calender to a paper diary for my personal appointments.  And what a revelation - I've not gone back.  Entries do not vanish mysteriously and paper doesn't beep suddenly in embarrassing places.  Use of pencil and a rubber allows instant editing and no need to scroll through lots of pages to get to today.  I suppose the only thing that can come as a shock is to open a new week and find it a complete, white blank.  But, then the positive kicked in - a chance to rest, refresh and recharge.  And then, who knows where things can go...

The rain was continuous, a steady drip of grey, bleeding colour into the drains.  She sought colour as, feathers fluffed, a lone bird sought shrivelled berries.