On Using Distractions
I was reading through some of my blog posts from the old Story Arcs and I saw one about writers block. In particular, it was about how one of the things I did to work through it, cutting through distractions.
First, I’d like to say that a lot of people say there’s no such thing, there are just writers not writing, allowing things to get in the way or too afraid of “messing up” to put words on paper.
That’s not important, not to my point anyway. It surprised me because things have changed bit since then. Eliminating distractions is often essential to getting things doen, but for a while now I’ve actually been using them. My favorite way to write at the moment is to put Netflix on one side of the screen and Word (or WordPress at the moment) on the other. Then I burn through some TV while writing.
So far, it’s been working pretty good. I’ve watched seven seasons of Supernatural while generating several thousand words. I don’t know if I went into this, but my break from the blog was also a break from writing in general. Since coming back to it I’ve added twenty-five thousand words to the story.
This kind of distraction creates a nice flow, because I’m only partially paying attention to what I’m doing. It makes things kinda rough, but it puts them on the paper. I worked through several scenes that had stumped me since I first started this story. Now they’re down and I’m pretty damn happy about them. I am generating content, pushing the story forward. It helps because I’m not second guessing myself.
For me, one of the best ways to think and come up with ideas is to do something that lets me zone out. Driving to and from work, taking a shower, mowing the yard, anything that divides my attention. Watching something while writing does the same thing.
What got me into this was actually Supernatural. I realize I’m not exactly the usual fan base for the CW, but I really like that show. It has some great fantasy elements and even though it has some really dramatic moments, it is never afraid to make fun of itself. I just finished the seventh season and will hit the eighth as soon as it hits the instant. Now I’ll be looking for a different show to do this with. It may not work as well, in which case I’ll just write, but it’s been fun going so far.
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