I have never had a problem just sitting down and getting to work. I know many writers need to sort things out first, sharpening all the proverbial pencils and tidying out already pristine cupboards, before allowing themselves the mental space needed to write. Maybe I'm just a slob and don't mind chaos around me - having juggled four children and a full time job, I got very good at utilising any spare minute that could be salvaged! However, writing can become self consuming, where minutes turn into hours, meals get missed and conversations with nearest and dearest become non existent. So, I do like to take complete breaks from writing, especially when there is tennis to watch and books to read!
My trusty Kindle is never far away - my lovely children bought it for me a few Christmases ago and I just love it - most of my favourite authors are free to read and I recently switched allegiance from Dickens to Trollope - he is much funnier by far ... and I am really enjoying working my way through the complete works of John Buchan. It's also great just to watch the life of our little village. We bought a place in Lazio a few years ago and slowly we are settling in. It does help the creative process having no TV or internet but it's not good for the figure because I can only get online at the local bar where they serve really great coffee and sweet pastries!
