{"id":779,"date":"2016-10-12T09:08:57","date_gmt":"2016-10-12T13:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/?p=779"},"modified":"2016-10-12T09:08:57","modified_gmt":"2016-10-12T13:08:57","slug":"trapped-by-the-internet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/12\/trapped-by-the-internet\/","title":{"rendered":"Trapped by the (inter)net"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before the post, I have a question: Are there words, other than curse words, that make you cringe? I read that the word moist<\/em> is the most disliked word in English, but I don\u2019t mind it. I do intensely dislike two other perfectly good words: scurry<\/em> and smirk<\/em>. I\u2019m trying to get past my aversion because I\u2019d like to be able to use them. Do any of you have words that get unpleasantly under your skin, that you shrink from using, that cause a shudder when you read them?<\/p>\n

On June 12, 2016, Christie V Powell wrote, How do you focus on your writing instead of getting distracted by the internet? My computer broke down so I have to borrow my husband\u2019s, which means that I have to have internet access to get to my files. It doesn\u2019t help either that my main WIP is being reviewed by beta-readers at the moment so I need to start something new in order to keep up the writing habit. Anyway, what tips do you have for staying focused and actually writing?<\/em><\/p>\n

I got mixed up when I copied the responses over to my list, so what follows may not be in the order in which it came in:<\/p>\n

Song4myKing: I do have one trick that helps me \u2013 location (I use a laptop). Upstairs, at my desk, where internet is sometimes a little flaky anyway, I\u2019ve instituted a personal \u201cno internet except email\u201d ultimatum. Even if the email sounds like something interesting on Facebook or Pinterest and includes a handy link. When I want to do something on internet, yes, including reading a blog about writing, I do it downstairs on the family computer, or bring my laptop down. Bringing my laptop down sometimes has the unfortunate effect of the laptop staying downstairs for a few days. But I think over all, writing-only time has improved, and internet time-wasting has decreased since I started.<\/em><\/p>\n

Kitty: What type of computer is it? Do you use Google Docs or Word? If you use Word (or whatever the Mac\/Linux equivalent is), there shouldn\u2019t be a problem working offline. If you\u2019re using Google Docs and a Chromebook, there\u2019s a \u201cwork offline\u201d feature in the built-in Google Drive app. If you\u2019re using Google Docs on a PC, then there\u2019s a Google Drive app you can download, but I\u2019m not sure if it has the same features as the Chromebook one.<\/em><\/p>\n

These are super helpful!<\/p>\n

I confess I haven\u2019t been very focused in the last week or so, and I haven\u2019t often met my day\u2019s writing goal. Tomorrow looks pretty good, however, for low distractions. It\u2019s interesting that future time generally looks less cluttered than present or near-present.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the ways I keep distraction down. I\u2019m on Facebook and LinkedIn, but I hardly ever go near them. I\u2019m not on Instagram or Twitter or Snapchat (do I have that one right?) or anything else.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not at all that I sneer at these programs. I fear them! I think I\u2019d love them and get sucked in, so I just keep them out of my life.<\/p>\n

I have been struggling with a computer-related addiction, however, which I mentioned once before here. It\u2019s a form of solitaire called Free Cell, and I play it too much. It presents a little puzzle that takes anywhere from three minutes to fifteen to solve. After you play a while, you almost always win, but some of the games are hard. I can feel my brain buzz when I even think about playing. I do manage to keep it down. I never play more than one game at a time and I usually interrupt myself on the long ones, but it\u2019s hard, and I have dire imaginings of myself in a small cell, gibbering, and playing Free Cell again and again on my phone. When my rehab counselors take the phone away, I play in the air with imagined cards. The way back is a long, uphill slog.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also incapable of ignoring emails and text messages\u2013or, while the weather is still fine–the real-life implorings of Reggie to come outside and play with him.<\/p>\n

My main method of getting in enough writing to keep me from a severe guilt attack, is to keep track of my writing time. Say I start at 8:03, I type that in to my Time document. And say that at 8:07 an email comes in, and it\u2019s one that interests me. I type 8:07, read the email, go back to my Time page and type 8:10 and continue writing. By the end of a writing day, I may have twenty start-and-stop listings, and I know exactly how much time I actually put in. My minimum is two-and-a-quarter hours, but I try for more. If I make the minimum, however, I can feel okay about the day.<\/p>\n

And if I don\u2019t make it, which I sometimes don\u2019t, I forgive myself–essential for being able to get started again the next day.<\/p>\n

Oh, and there is a kind of computer activity that I count as writing. If I Google something I need to know for my story, I don\u2019t call a time-out. For example, in my WIP, Ogre Enchanted<\/em>, my MC is a healer, and I\u2019m often looking up herbal remedies. I don\u2019t think I should be penalized for that! But I try not to be sucked in to expanding my search or lingering more than I should.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also been sending fifty page chunks of manuscript to my editor, because I want to know if I\u2019m going off-course. I don\u2019t have a deadline for that, but it is a goad. I want to get her the pages. I want to power through another fifty pages, which will get me closer to \u201cThe End.\u201d I want to impress her with my productivity. If I let myself get lost online or with Free Cell, none of this will happen.<\/p>\n

You may not have an editor who\u2019s willing to look at your work as you\u2019re writing it, but you may be able to exchange work with another writer in chunks like this. Or with a family member, a teacher, a librarian.<\/p>\n

For poetry, I\u2019m in a little critique group that meets every two weeks, which means that I have to come up with a poem, and that focuses my mind. Let me just add\u2013off-topic\u2013that needing to produce a poem wakes me up to the world. I never know where my next poem will come from, so I pay attention.<\/p>\n

I have other assists that you all may not have. The book I\u2019m working has a deadline (January 1, 2018), and that is a powerful motivator. When I get it done, my editor will, I hope, want another book. There will be another contract and another advance, because I earn my living this way.<\/p>\n

Even if you don\u2019t yet get paid for your writing, you can regard it as a job, or as prep for your future, and you can use that notion to keep yourself moving. But don\u2019t use it\u00a0as a stick to beat yourself with if you don\u2019t meet your goals. Forgive yourself and climb back in the saddle.<\/p>\n

A lot of you participate in NaNoWriMo and NaNoWriMo camp. This is a great way to keep yourself out of the online rabbit hole.<\/p>\n

I love this blog, as you all know. I love the questions you ask and the help you give each other, but please don\u2019t let it be part of the problem. There\u2019s kind of a pull, when someone asks for aid. But giving it shouldn\u2019t come at a cost to your own work.<\/p>\n

And none of the advice above should fuel self-criticism. Everybody writes at his or her own pace.<\/p>\n

Here are four prompts:<\/p>\n

\u2219 This comes from Becoming a Writer<\/em> by Dorothea Brande. It\u2019s very old\u2013eighty years, maybe, and old-fashioned–written for adults, but nothing in it will hurt anyone, I don\u2019t think, and it\u2019s useful. She offers this\u00a0exercise, which I’ve modified: Wake up twenty minutes early every day until the next post and write for the twenty minutes. Pee, if you must, but don\u2019t dress, drink coffee, turn on the\u00a0TV, or look at anything online. If possible, don’t talk to anyone. Work on your WIP or journal or write notes or a rant, whatever. Report how it went after the next post.<\/p>\n

\u2219 If you have a meal by yourself or can make yourself alone, write while you eat. I do this at lunch and sometimes breakfast. After I eat, I often get sleepy, but chewing keeps me awake. Don\u2019t look online. Just eat and write. Do this until the next post and report back.<\/p>\n

\u2219 Try my practice of recording your writing times. Set a daily goal and keep track. If you don\u2019t make it for one day, forgive yourself and go back to it. Report on how this went.<\/p>\n

\u2219 Keep a Bridget Jones (high school and up) type diary of your writing life. Or write about a character who\u2019s a tormented writer and write her story for her.<\/p>\n

Have fun, and save what you write!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before the post, I have a question: Are there words, other than curse words, that make you cringe? I read that the word moist is the most disliked word in English, but I don\u2019t mind it. I do intensely dislike two other perfectly good words: scurry and smirk. I\u2019m trying to get past my aversion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[199,202],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":780,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions\/780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}