Comments on: Unplugging

By: Munk

Munk — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:45:14 +0000

I treat my netbook like a typewriter while I work creatively. If I need to fact check I simply place a key “word” like ‘xxx’ to search on and return to it during re-writes. People say writing is lonely. Not if you love your characters enough to want to spend the day with them… and no one else.

By: martha

martha — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:09:07 +0000

. . . good rule of thumb (for the most part) . . . unplug for the weekend!

By: Josephine

Josephine — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:39:15 +0000

I’m glad I procrastinated over here because that Freedom program sounds right up my alley!

I usually have to go somewhere that doesn’t have internet access. That used to be my backyard until my tech-savvy husband got us wi-fi.

I also had a pretty good stint this summer of putting aside one day a week for *no* computer at all. I wouldn’t even turn it on for 24 hours, and instead I’d work by hand on character development, plot, or structure. This post reminded me about how productive and freeing that time was. Time to start it up again!

By: Joanna

Joanna — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:03:10 +0000

I also have the morning ritual of checkig my various email accounts and fav. blogs – but then I turn it OFF, turn on some music and get to work. If I don’t, then 2:15 rolls around awfully quick and I have to pick up my son from school – and my work day is pretty much finished. I like the idea of tying myself to the chair until I reach my word count for the day – it would certainly keep me from running to the kitchen for a non-virtual cookie every so often…. Which reminds me, I still have one chocolate-peppermint JoeJoe left (from Trader Joe’s). I’d better get writing so I can eat it!

By: Ruby

Ruby — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:31:17 +0000

Having been one of the first children in the country diagnosed with bonafide attention deficit in 1969 (I have to use a clapping and shouting technique I’ve developed just to get my own attention enough to make dinner), my fight against distraction has not only been grueling; it’s been downright painful.

In order to write I have to go straight to a coffee shop (the white noise keeps me focused) with a laptop that only has Word function. Period.

Writing at home for me is futile. I don’t even attempt it anymore.

By: Bejeweled

Bejeweled — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:46:33 +0000

The only thing that must must must get turned off is the tv. Hubby will be hacking away at his own laptop with any show he just so happens to find blaring on the tube just feet aaway. He says it helps him think. And since he pulls a 4.0 in school and is coveted by anyone who’s ever had a problem with a machine, who am I to argue with his genius?

But when I get in my writing mode I like silence around me.

I also do ‘the ritual’ of checking and answering email, going through all the notes posted to me on fb, and seeing how many comments I received on my latest blog.

Once that is done I am easily plunged into my latest novel, and can spend hours creating more for the world within its proverbial pages. I guess it helps to know that something has been accomplished for me to be able to ‘play’ the rest of the day, even if it was just to clear the virtual mailboxes.

Yes. Technology has brought us some fun toys. I will remember that without this laptop, I would not have four wonderful novels. Typing is a much more productive way to explore new places than pen and paper. For me anyway.

Thank you for this post. Funny how I never saw the ‘ritual’ before it was pointed out. Precious glimpses… thank you, too, Larissa. And my email also stays open all day.

By: Larissa

Larissa — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:40:11 +0000

I have an internet “ritual” during which I clear all of my email, check twitter, and glance at the blueboards. Once I do that, I can settle into my writing undistracted.

I do, however, have to keep an internet window open to my email…

By: Meghan Ward

Meghan Ward — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:27:44 +0000

I use Mac Freedom, which allows me to use the computer but not the Internet, and a stopwatch widget, which keeps track of exactly how long I’ve been writing.

By: Kristi

Kristi — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:32:14 +0000

I’m very focused when I work and I just can’t put off a research question until later – I’m way too obsessive, so I go back and forth between my ms and the internet to find whatever information I need for my novel. I can Google like nobody’s business. I’m not tempted at all by email or anything extraneous when writing so I’m lucky that way.

By: Robin L

Robin L — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:05:39 +0000

I have to turn wifi off when I’m really working. I used to have to do that in the corporate world, too. I’d shut down outlook and my IM. Another thing I’ve been doing is using my desktop for writing/editing, and my netbook for internet stuff, so I know I’m writing if I sit down at the desktop.