Your fingers fly so fast they’re a blur. Words form poetic scenes and snappy dialogue. You are in the zone until your husband asks, “Where’s the baloney?”

You give him a glacial stare, one that could freeze parts off a brass husband. “DON’T YOU SEE I’M WRITING?”
Erm, no. He didn’t. He really didn’t. He has Y chromosome poisoning but this is also a good thing. He doesn’t see your messy hair, runny nose, or the size on the tag in your jeans.

Ladies, your children don’t see you either. You are the mom. The trick is to have a visual prompt that screams I’m writing. It doesn’t matter what it is, but you need to pick something and use it consistently. I wear a hat, a cupcake hat. It says Hostess and Hostess makes cupcakes. Since I never wear a hat, even in the winter, this draws my family’s attention. I don’t wear my hat reading blogs or when I’m on twitter or facebook. It is my writing hat.

If you’re a technically savvy person you could hook up a bright red LED you turn on while writing. Sit in a chair in the corner and put a giant sign over it; WRITING CHAIR. Sit there every time you’re writing. Wear a red clown nose, wear your son’s football pads. Do anything that stands out in your family’s eyes.
It doesn’t matter if you look silly. Extreme works!

A lit candle signal worked at my house but as soon as I left, the kids played in the melted wax and it took forever to get off the desk. So choose wisely. A visual signal also makes giving the kids work when they interrupt you more fair— they have no excuse not to know you’re writing.