Friday 15 April 2011
The other day, while I was writing, some check-the-meter lady walked through my front yard. When The Old Man And The Sea (AKA Tomats, AKA My Cat) saw this woman, she jumped up onto her perch by the window and started growling. This is something Tomats does when she sees a stranger in our yard - she doesn't like strangers, and she wants to chase them off.
This happens often, but when it happened the other day, a thought landed in the pool of my mind, and I made a note that I wanted to push the ripples of this thought all the way to you as soon as I had a chance (of course, now that I am only posting on Fridays, this "chance" was not until now!).
The thought said this: "That's the way you should be when you are writing."
For many of us, it's easy to become distracted when we write. After all, this is not the old days. We do not close ourselves in a room with books and a typewriter and clickety-clackety away the morning. We type on our computers now. If we have research to do, we do it online.
The problem, however, is this: We also check the news on our computers. We send and receive mail on our computers. We check friendface on our computers. We watch YouTube on our computers. We use our computers to be clever with the faceless world.
Writers used to unplug their house phone - and this took care of all distractions. This allowed them to sink inside the story, and write.
But nowadays, we #amwriting, and then we write.
We hop online to look up something for our manuscript, and then we answer an email, and then we see what's going on in our social media networks, and then we watch a funny video, and then we continue writing. And through all this, something vital is lost.
I know that some of you will disagree with me on this. I hope that some of you do - after all, what is the point of an opinion if everyone agrees with it? But I also hope those of you who disagree will take the time to explore this question: Am I maximizing my writing?
On this site, I always aim to keep the tone as positve as possible. I try to keep the content uplifting and agreeable. But I feel that this is an important point to bring up. It is an important exploration each of us must make.
Am I maximizing my writing?
Writing is a solo endeavor. As best as you can make it, in fact, writing should be a monastic endeavor.
I do not mean you have to hide yourself in a quiet room. Some people write in public - in coffee shops or bookstores. Some people listen to music when they write. Some people need noise around them in order to write. Everyone approaches writing in a different way - but as far as interaction goes, you should cut yourself off. Just for that time. Cut yourself off.
Make yourself an island.
And write.
Write.
Write.
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Actually I do agree with you. Once I drop off Monster Child at school, I social network until 9 am. Then I hole myself up and write until noon. That's three hours every day to myself. I don't answer the phone, do laundry, dishes, anything that distracts me from my writing. It's my work time. I treat writing like a job.
ReplyDeleteAt noon, I eat and social network for a half hour. Then I get back on the keyboard and work until I have to pick her up again.
I think it's so important to have that quality time to yourself and your work. It's sacred. Your thoughts connecting to paper (albeit computer screen), I think, are a gift from the Almighty. And with that connection, you must revere it. Because someday, it might not be there.
And work on an old computer -- one that isn't connected to the Internet.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I keep a separate computer for writing. Every time I turn it on, a little box pops up to remind me that my Internet connection is down. I smile at that happy, un-distracting thought and get to work.
Isn't it amazing how the simplest advice can be the truest? After all, if your story doesn't take _you_ away, how is it supposed to transport its readers? And if it doesn't transport its readers, it has no point.
ReplyDeleteBtw- I have to sing whenever I see your banner :)
I should be writing right this minute. Instead I am reading your blog and a couple of others. Oh and watching the dog hunt down the cat on the lawn and listening to my daughter watch I-Carly and cooking dinner...... no I don't agree with you :)
ReplyDeleteUgh. Your finger is pointing directly at me.
ReplyDeleteI didn't like you for a minute there
;-)
Seriously, though, I agree. I have figured that I just CAN'T write on the computer. I have to write with pen and paper, and then transfer it to the computer. Does it take twice as long? Not really, since I type 105 wpm, but it is a bit more of a hassle. It gets the job done, though.
The internet and its various outlets for discussion and research is too distracting for me. There are programs that will block you from the internet for a set period of time, or other programs like Write Or Die that will make horrible noises or even start deleting what you've written if you stop writing, but I'd rather just go the "old fashioned" route.
Thanks for the reminder, Jordan :) Hope you have a fabulous weekend!
My schedule used to be 4AM yoga. Shower. Social network. Drop the kid off at the bus stop. Write until she came home.
ReplyDeleteHow I long for those days.
Now I'm so busy with writing projects (which is a good thing!) that I hardly have time for the social stuff. I only tweet a few times a day, and I do my social stuff on my Blackberry while I'm out and about. Writing time is just that, writing time. Butt in the chair, and off goes the 'Net. It helps to be super busy, because you don't have time for a five-hour research project on the aspects of medieval cheesemaking, just so you can get a tiny detail right in your script/novel/whathaveyou.
Of course, today is Saturday. Taking the morning off. I read your blog instead of napping.
I agree that computers and the internet can be a distraction when writing. I prefer writing in public places as I watch people and what they do. I write down people's movements, actions, words etc and use them in my novel.
ReplyDeleteI was referred to your blog by Paul Joseph who I've been following closely for the last couple of weeks.
Duncan In Kuantan
I thought once my three children were all in school, I'd have hours of free time to devote to writing. Boy, was I wrong! I'm busier now than I ever was before, so I really have to manage my time wisely. It's a difficult thing to do, to say the least. I'm easily distracted by dishes in the sink or clothes on the floor, not to mention all the child-related phone calls and appointments. And as supportive as the husband is, he tends to look at me a little cross-eyed when he comes home from work and there's no dinner in the oven. ;-)
ReplyDeleteDelayed response to all... (I was out of town all weekend!)
ReplyDeleteAnne - I think "hole myself up and write" is a great way to word that optimal writing experience!
Juliana - I have a separate account on my computer for writing...but when I turn the internet off on that account, it also turns the internet off on the other. Haha, doesn't quite work as well as what you have going on.
Grace - "And if it doesn't transport its readers, it has not point." So true. So true.
Marlene - Maybe if you add the dog and the cat into your story... ;)
Katie - 105 WPM? Geesh! I'm at 85, and I thought I was a monster on the keyboard.
Anna - I agree; it can actually feel great to be so busy actually "doing" that you have no real time to discuss.
Duncan - Funny, when you said that about "writing in public places," I was thinking about Paul Joseph, since he does the same thing. Welcome, by the way; honored to have you.
Melissa - Buy some fast food, hide the wrappers, and pull it out of the oven when he gets home; it might work ;)