Distracted Writer's Remedy: Part 1

Are you a distracted writer?  

If you write at the computer keyboard, you're attempting to write amidst a slew of tangential demands for your attention.  Given all the information available to us in the margins (not to mention the ready-and-willing-ness of the internet just a few keystrokes away), is it any wonder it's often a challenge to get the real work of writing done?

The Distracted Writer's Remedy #1:  "Unplug"

In "Procrastination Station," today's post on the LiveWires blog, my friend and fellow writer, Emily Kischell, muses about her tendency to perceive that she's less productive when she writes despite a proliferation of productivity tools:

As writers we have so many tools of convenience now. We are able to wrangle type instantly and easily. Not that we would, but we could write a novel on our cell phone in the middle of the jungle somewhere and then email it back to our agent instantly. This is quite an evolution from ink copies made by hand in candlelight, or for that matter, from writing a college paper on a typewriter and then treking up hill both ways to a photocopy machine to create a backup. And yet where is the spare time generated by these conveniences?

Kischell attributes her diminishing productivity to a phenomenon she's coined "digital fidgeting." (I love this term.)  She's decided that, for her, the remedy is to disconnect her computer from the internet for a few hours each day.

One of my coaching clients regularly"disconnects" before his writing sessions, too. 

Next time you sit down to write, try "sealing off" your writing session by turning off the internet and writing offline.  

And please check back in a day or two for the Distracted Writer's "Remedy #2," including a special offer for you.

Comments

[Marla]

Hi Scott,

It's so good to shake up our usual routine as you've begun to do with your pen-to-paper strategy.

Re: "A rough draft should be rough." Couldn't agree with you more. (See The Art of Not-Trying to read about the "Swiss Cheese draft," if you're interested: http://is.gd/ngiQ).

thanks for stopping by The Relaxed Writer,
Coach Marla

[Scott Rooks]

I turn off my computer frequently but truthfully I just started.

I have found it so far to be very illuminating concerning my writing. I write the way I did in the first grade with pencil and paper. The more sloppy the better then I organize and type it out.

I find this liberating for idea flow and single tasking to stay into the flow of my subject. I found this somewhere on the internet and it works well. A rough draft should be rough, if I remember the exact post right.