Sooner or later, We Who Write Books (or we who do anything creative, demanding and tied to a deadline!) must come to that inevitable place, the Deadline Tunnel, as it's termed in my house. And I'm there, with helmet and flashlight, backpack and snacks, an extra pair of socks and a notebook. It's also known in my house as the Hobbit hole -- a place where I can be left aloooooone for the duration, with not enough sleep, not much attention paid to food, clothing, housework or the needs of the bewildered family. For the next several weeks, the only thing that matters is Book, Book, Book.
BUT -- with lots left to do and barely enough hours left in day or night to race that deadline clock, or get to the light at the end of that tunnel ... I am still finding lots of OTHER things to do first.
Reading Pat's post the other day, a discussion of blogs, websites, Twitter and other forms of Major Web Distraction, made me think about how much my writing process has been altered by the Web. Several years ago, as long as my sons were all accounted for -- at school, doing homework, playing video games or sleeping (thankfully for at-home mom writers, teenage boys sleep a LOT) -- I could turn off the phone, shut myself up in my office or the spare bedroom (where the chair is very comfy for laptop use), and zero in on the work to be done. Total immersion in the book. It's a great place, and a tortuous place at times, to be. And it's essential to the process.
But that was before the Web and e-mail transformed life as I knew it. And that's what Pat's post the other day brought into sharp relief. I realize I'm more distractible than I used to be, even with the sons mostly out of the house (one to go and two still visiting frequently! *g*)-- and even when the calendar says I must delve deep in that book and stay there, that internet icon on my desktop beckons like a Siren...
I just need to check my e-mail once more, waiting for a response from agent/editor/friend in need/son/etc. ....okay, done--but what's that headline? OMG, she wore THAT and got caught by the paparazzi?? Oops, forgot to check my other e-mail addresses...and back to work -- dang! I'd better check that all-important factoid on the Web ... oh look, I could make that recipe for dinner *if I ever get out of this house to go to the grocery store again* ... back to work ... .... yeah, that scene just isn't ready yet -- gotta think about that emotional motivation ... oh man, I forgot to check www.dailypuppy.com today!! Time for another cup of tea, and while the water's boiling, I'll sit down with the laptop in the kitchen - it's still on ... right, I'll reply to that note later, but -- the kettle is still not boiling yet, and my friend sent me another link to the videos at www.cutethingsfallingasleep.com ... awwww!!! ... send that out ... okay, BACK to work...
...Now it's time for more tea, a little chocolate, and oh yeah I do need to find that bit of Irish verse in its earliest translation. The transcribed Gaelic would be good too ... yup, there it is, so that's the right word, now to get back to that chapter... what, it's going to rain tomorrow?! That's okay, I will be inside all day writing, writing... what's this new YouTube video - oh that's a HOOT! ...
And that's WITHOUT hours on Facebook or Twitter, blogs and a million other possibilities for time-sinking, er, spending. So far I've been good about keeping extra web activities to a bare minimum, because I've resisted the social sites ... but the Internet is a time-sink of mythic proportions, no matter what form the addiction takes.
I'm not particularly ADD by nature. When I need to focus, I can -- or used to be able to do that without a problem. Yet I am a curious and thinking sort, and that creates its own distractibility. Still, when I have to work, I do it -- nonstop for hours, days, weeks when necessary. No question, though, it was a helluva lot easier before the Web. To some extent, with all these bytes and bits and fascinating facts, all the enormous incredible accessibility of everything on the Web, my brain has become entrained to a more fragmented concentration.... and I have to work harder to claim it back. I have be stern with myself, and that's hard to do, as I'd rather stretch a line than toe it.
So if I start Twittering, or get lost in the maze of Facebook or LinkedIn or whatever, what then for the trusty deadline tunnel? Isolation and focus is necessary to finish a manuscript, which means reverting to a non-techie existence (except for computer-as-word-processor and internet-as-research-library).
Really, it's a relief to isolate for the book and cut myself off from virtual and techie supply. The web-savvy world can be delightful but demanding, offering way too much for quick disposal and way too much vying for our attention. The things that need and deserve quality attention are not always getting enough nurturing focus.
I don't mean my kids, husband or the housework -- yeah, I can ignore them guilt-free for the short term, they know I'll come back. I mean the BOOK. The next book won't exist in its best form unless I can concentrate and give it all I've got. And when I splinter available creative focus by sauntering over to the Web with its myriad temptations, it takes time and energy that belongs to my writing.
But sometimes I can't help myself, my curiosity and the need for a little brain down-time overrules.
All you Twitterers and Facebookers, Bloggers and Readers, Compulsive Checkers of E-Mail and DailyPuppy.com -- have you noticed a change in your ability to focus? Do you put off important things to do less important -but more immediate- things on the Web?
And here's another question -- in what ways is the major web distraction HELPING you? Argue for following the temptation of it. If I can rationalize my web-wandering, that would be Good.
Allow me to offer one more distraction: the trade paperback of LADY MACBETH will be released SOON -- April 7!!! -- and the first two chapters of the next book (QUEEN HEREAFTER) are in the back of the book, along with Reader's Guide questions and a gorgeous new look! It's available for pre-order at Amazon now. See the link to the right side of the page!
Happy Web-wandering and of course happy reading to all,
Susan Sarah