I’ve been in a little funk with my novel. I have made some progress, and even shipped my latest edits to my writing group. However, I’m not getting much writing done. My problem is not lack of motivation or lack of time. My problem is procrastination via the Internet.
Every night I wait for my daughter to fall asleep, so I can get my “writing time”. Sometimes she falls asleep at 8:30. Sometimes at 9:00. A few times at 9:30. Then it’s my time.
Things start innocently enough. I open up my document in Open Office. Then I open up a web browser. Check the gmail. Check the stats on the blog. Check the comments. Check everyone else’s blog. Check twitter.
Then I start with the politics. FiveThrityEight.com. Huffington Post. Daily Kos. The Young Turks. Maybe even CNN.
By the time I’m done with the browsing, it’s nearly 11:00. I peck out a couple lines of writing then go to sleep. This happens way more than it should.
So, I have a strategy I’m going to try tonight. I’ve printed out the page I want to work on. Tonight, I’m going to write the old way, pen and paper. Far away from the computer. I have great faith this will work. Of course, there’s the TV…
The Struggling Writer 
The internet is a time-sucking monster. Absolutely. I try and blog-patroll during the day, while in cube-land… You must protect your precious post-9:00-time-chunks! I relate, though! It’s a snowball. Suddenly it’s 45 later and I’ve only written blog comments and Facebook wall-posts!
You could set up an old offline computer if the hand cramps become too much… π
Wow, this resonates way too much with me…even a lot of those blogs. π
I wish I took more to the pen and paper style of writing. My problem is that I revise so much while writing that it quickly becomes a mess. But good luck, Paul! I admire your strategery. π Let us know how it goes.
Thanks Sarah. So far things aren’t going as planned. I still have an hour though.
I know what you mean about the internet.. I had to disable my laptop’s internet connection and write only on that to avoid the temptation!
I hope your last hour went well. π
Did it work? I completely understand what you are saying…I had to stop posting to my blog every day as my whole life was becoming a virtual one! The pressure to trawl the internet to find stuff to write about, which then became more stuff on the internet for other people to trawl to find things to write about……
Oh man, I hear you. I’m contemplating an internet fast–right after I check my blog roll one more time. And twitter. And facebook.
Have you tried using browsing as a reward for writing? Sometimes it works for me.
Other times: not so much. Now for example it’s not working:)
I want you all to know that the internet is bad. Except my blog. That is good. You should all totally waste time here. π
Do the writing first then go on the Internet. Paper’s great too. I refuse to connect my laptop to the Internet and also I write a lot on notebooks or even little sticky notes, whatever I have handy when the ideas come.
I write during lunchtime at work, then during the 20 minutes I wait for my daughter in the school parking lot before they come out, etc., etc. It’s very hard to do anything at night because after my daughters are asleep I’m just too tired to go on.