tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-193618020323267617.post6498656906974631811..comments2024-03-29T02:35:55.719-04:00Comments on The Writer's Guide: Embracing Technology (Slowly)The Writer's Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865473150470492535noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-193618020323267617.post-39604466034257611972008-09-11T17:53:00.000-04:002008-09-11T17:53:00.000-04:00I struggle with that, too. Especially since I make...I struggle with that, too. Especially since I make my money from working on the computer. So it probably has an even stronger pull on me. But I've managed to reach a bargain.<BR/><BR/>The thing is, the computer does several things besides acting as a typewriter. If you're talking about just the effect on your writing, then yes, it can be a distraction. But lots of things can be distractions. The TV. The endlessly broken-down car in the garage. The forever battle against the encroachment of weeds in the garden.<BR/><BR/>There are always things you can use to create excuses for not writing, even subconsciously. Even if it's being tempted, and indulging that temptation, to browse silly YouTube videos. Or playing a video game. Or playing with the colors or alignments of text in the document you're making, rather than focusing on creating the content.<BR/><BR/>The bargain I've struck is that I'll give the computer attention in all the other ways it wants it, but when I sit down to write, that's what I'm doing. And nothing else is going to pull my attention away.<BR/><BR/>I think that once you get past the novelty of the technology it's easier to write when you need to write. It seems a matter more of the discipline to make that decision to write, and do it, regardless of what tools you're using.<BR/><BR/>That being said, there is an aesthetic of the medium you choose. Pencil on paper -- some people need that feeling as they write. Some people can't stand it, and must use a pen. Printed lines on a paper, or blank paper? Do the lines distract? The mechanical thwacking of typewriters? Kids screaming outside the window as they play?<BR/><BR/>I don't know if it's the technology itself, other than an aesthetic, subjective preference. But when I'm going to start writing, my mind turns off all the other aspects of the computer, and it becomes just a typing device. The mail and messaging programs get closed. And in that sense, I suppose, even virtual isolation happens. Telephone, too, by the way.<BR/><BR/>If only I could put locks on all the doors leading to my space, and had enough padding in the walls to block out calls for "dinner!", or "what are you working on?" <BR/><BR/>But as for the computer, it's one of the least troubling distractions, at least for me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com