The Internet: A Writer’s Worst Distraction

The Internet: A Writer's Worst Distraction

Sometimes the deeper we get into our story, the more we seek distraction. The internet will suck the life out of any writer. It will turn the most disciplined among us into bug-eyed addicts. Not only can it swallow great chunks of our precious writing time, it can assault the senses and steer us away from the stillness of our source.

I urge any writer to avoid the web until writing is done for the day. The same goes for cell phones, any phone calls for that matter, texting, grocery shopping, business, emails, taxes, dinner plans, visits with the in-laws. Writing requires more quiet and focus than any of these other tasks. Until I get my writing done, I’m a testy bastard. When it’s done for the day, I turn into a pussycat.

What is your worst distraction? How do you avoid it?

 

Learn more about marrying the wildness of your imagination to the rigor of structure in The 90-Day Novel, The 90-Day Memoir, or The 90-Day Screenplay workshops.

Alan Watt with L.A. hills behind

by Alan Watt

About the author

Alan Watt is the author of the international bestseller Diamond Dogs, winner of France’s Prix Printemps, and the founder of alanwatt.com (formerly L.A. Writers’ Lab). His book The 90-Day Novel is a national bestseller. As Alan has been teaching writing for over two decades, his workshops and the 90-day process have guided thousands of writers to transform raw ideas into finished works, and marry the wildness of their imaginations to the rigor of story structure to tell compelling stories.

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