Furry Writers' Guild Forum

On distractions...

General Writing Discussion
#1

I’m curious to hear how others deal with this.

So, how do you as a writer reconcile with outside factors that take away from your time to actually write? Let’s use something I’m dealing with as an example: I’m easily distracted by outside sources, namely my boyfriend and video games. So I feel as though I’m letting my projects suffer by setting aside some extra time to both enjoy games (current contender is Pokemon) and visit with him, rather than use that same time to write the past few days. I’ve somewhat remedied it by staying awake an extra hour or two, but that isn’t exactly a good long-term solution.

How do you deal with distractions, be they entertaining ones like a videogame, or more pressing ones like familial obligations? Do you set time aside for both? Do you set follow a strict schedule? If it’s something you enjoy doing, do you just get it out of your system, get your fill, and then return to a more regular writing pattern after? Or do you follow the policy that if you enjoyed what you were doing then it wasn’t time wasted?

#2

If writing is something you truly care about then you have to put in a conscious effort to make time. Cut the video games out a decent amount and put in however much work you think you should be getting done. Time to write won’t create itself; you have to make it.

As far as avoiding general distractions go, try writing somewhere outside the house. Usually works for me when I absolutely can’t focus.

#3

I pretty much decided to take a few days off to play pokemon. I’ve played it heavily since it came out and I consider is beaten at this point, though I will continue to dabble with them when time permits. The time I’ve been using to play pokemon (this is my fall break, which is why I have so much time) I’m now switching to editing my novel. So, basically, I focus on one thing at a time.

#4

Expanding upon SeanRiverCritic, I find that having a generally quiet place helps. While Stephen King, in a recent publication, said that being in a small, isolated place with minimal access to the outside visually. I’d feel more comfortable in saying that open spaces are more inspiring, even though it incurs the risk of further distraction. While you may feel more comfortable in a closed environment such as a cafe or something of the like, you could also go to a park, or a green space. I have the blessing as a college student of having access to a totally undeveloped forest where I can just go to and chill in if I’d like. Chances are you’ve got at least a park in your area, and I’d take use of that. But you can also go the route of the coffee shop as well, it’s all a matter of personal preference.

Sometimes, distractions, if you use them properly, can lead to a pretty good surge of creativity. For instance, a few of my friends and I will be attending a handful of college hockey games. While in November, since I’m doing NaNoWriMo, you might say that’s a bit counter-intuitive, yes? Not entirely so. Being in a crowd can help you understand how people may operate in a highly social environment like such. Every time a scuffle breaks out on the ice, you might think of how to improve combat scenes (if you’d have things like that). Always carry a notebook or some way to record your thoughts if you aren’t explicitly writing. When you’re in an environment around lots of people, think about how they act. Think about how they interact. Just observe life happen if you’re feeling distracted when you are writing. The more interconnected your writing is with your microcosm, the more developed your writing has the potential to be.

That’s all I’ve got. If I raised any more questions than answers, let me know.

#5

Since my mate Yannarra is like Pinkie Pie and prone to distracting me with everything from cat toys (usually flung in my general area, followed by a playing feline) or random touches that break me from whatever I am writing, I generally have to deal with this anytime I have to write.

Thankfully, Yan understands after a few conversations, that I need to be left alone to write, or I won’t get it done. As it is a passion, and something I try to do professionally, she understands it is important to me and tries to leave me alone. (mostly successfully) My desk is set up facing a corner, where I have placed general knicknacks on its shelves. I put on noise cancelling headphones, turn off the internet, and write. Usually I end up being so out of touch with outside distractions that I will generally miss anything she or our roommate says, including them going out.

So my advice to you is to explain to your boyfriend that you need some time to write, and that during that time they should respect your need for no distractions. Just remember, you’re not being a bad boyfriend, and those video games will always be there (and can be played in a lot more places than you where you can write, especially Pokemon), but your writing is more important.

The final, and possibly most brutal truth of the matter is that video games are a time sink. They don’t do anything for you, aren’t at all important, and are there to just waste your time. Your boyfriend is not, nor is your writing. Spending time with your boyfriend is important because it’s social interaction and helps the relationship. Your writing is something you can make money on, is a passion of yours that furthers your communication skills and such. If something really needs to be cut out, it’s video games.
But as I said, that’s a very brutal truth of the matter, and there are a lot of people out there that are obsessed with video games/tv/MMOs/etc that really don’t serve any purpose.

#6

Lots of helpful opinions in here. Definitely a few things I need to consider, especially regarding being sociable. Although, I think I might have over-exaggerated exactly how much my time is strained, especially in regards to being around the boyfriend. Not exactly missing much during the week, considering he gets home at about 10:00 at night. At the very least, I’ve sacrificed very little on any front in the past few days. It’s more-so something I’m worried about happening, rather than it being a reality right now.

This was essentially my approach to it, at first. The main issue with that (for me) though, is apparently I’m the slowest Pokemon player on the planet. I tentatively say it’ll be out of my system in about a week, thankfully. Games are about the only common denominator among us all in the house, so at the very least I’m not locked in a bedroom on my computer whenever I’m home. And I have plenty of time for Pokemon at work, so it hasn’t drawn too much time away from me.

#7

I have to disagree. Video games are an exceptionally powerful tool. There are many, many studies that show that the productive feeling you get from them improves not only your mood but also your productivity in other activities you undertake after playing them. “Binge playing” like I do is actually not the proper way to go about reaping those rewards, but that comes as a function of how I focus on things. Video games are fun because they allow us to do rewarding work, which is something we rarely ever get in real life. They also bring us together. For example, I’ve had conversations with complete strangers because of games I play, and that’s such a rare thing.

I heavily recommend “Reality is Broken” by Jane McGonigal; she lays out several brilliant reasons as to why reality is broken and video games are better, but more importantly, how we can take those lessons from video games to make our world more rewarding.

#8

They can also have exceptional stories! I don’t even really play games unless they have a good plot. If they don’t, they damn well need something else to pull me in. When I mention my own interest in games, I definitely don’t mean Call of Duty or other shooters (minus the Halo series, but my interest in that was actually sparked by the books, so that’s a bit of a bridge for the two mediums for me). Two examples of great stories I can think of are Heavy Rain and the Mass Effect series. The latter definitely got a few tears out of me in its conclusion. Maybe I’m a bit biased because it was my childhood dream to be a scriptwriter for video games, but I definitely see them as a great tool to tell a story.

On the topic of interacting with complete strangers, I would probably give my mother an aneurysm if she knew how frequently I converse with total strangers about games I’ve enjoyed. I’ve wasted hours in stores discussing that stuff with people.

#9

Yeah, there’s storylines too. Oh my goodness Dear Esther is like my spirit story. Planescape Torment’s script is 900,000 words. LIMBO has no words but a fantastic story. Mass Effect is of course amazing, with some of the best characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of interacting with. The World Ends With You’s story is impossible to encapsulate in words but is fantastic. Braid is… as good as Copenhagen. I could go on for hours. It’s great. I’ve learned so much from video games.

#10

Video games do have some excellent plots and such, and more than once I’ve been riveted to a game a roommate or two has been playing. And I recognize that they do create a sense of accomplishment in the player. However, you really are not accomplishing anything tangible. You beat a game. Congrats. You feel good. Congrats. You could have written a short story or novel and gotten the same thing AND would have something you can actually show the world. That’s the point I am going for.
(which is why MMOs are worse, as there is no true ‘ending’ so you never actually achieve anything. Yes, you got Epic gear. Have fun when the next expansion comes out and it become obsolete the next night)

Again, this is my own personal opinion and I do welcome debate.
I loved video games, and played them in moderation until I realized that I could be spending that time with my girlfriend or writing. Once I cut them out, my writing time multiplied drastically, and I got a lot more written and published.

#11

The same could be said of watching movies – or of a lot of hobbies, really, assuming the goal of the hobby isn’t getting you closer to food or clothing or shelter. At any rate, though, I think there’s something of a false dichotomy growing here – to my mind, it’s not about choosing between video games (or anything else) and writing; it’s just about finding a balance where you get to accomplish things you want to accomplish while still living the life you want to live (which includes downtime spent relaxing, whether that’s time spent with another person or playing a game or doing sudoku or whatever else quiets your mind and/or gives you pleasure). We all have other things we like to do besides writing, and a lot of them might qualify as time sinks depending on one’s perspective – so I hesitate to judge and say that some of them are necessarily better or worse than others.

For myself, I find that deadlines can work wonders, though they have to be external – I suck at trying to give myself deadlines. Beyond that, though, I’m getting to a point where I try to take a longer view and go a little easier on myself, with less guilt than I’ve had in the past about not accomplishing more. I tend to go in cycles – write for a while, read for a while, edit, etc. I haven’t written much of anything for the past month and a half, but August was wall-to-wall “Huntress,” day in and day out, so I didn’t worry about having to take some time to let the well refill, and I’ve been using the time to catch up on my to-read pile.

I think a lot of it is figuring out what works best for you creatively – times of day, atmosphere you have control over, things that trigger your mind to feel like, okay, it’s time to get to work now. And then you find the places in your schedule that work for that, and prioritize that time for writing. So, for example, if your boyfriend doesn’t get home until 10, then find some writing time before then, and then when he’s home you spend time with him.

I know one exercise they’ve always recommended for NaNoWriMo is to keep a journal for a week where you write down what you did every hour of every day, and then take a close look at that and see what you can give up and turn into writing time. For myself, I strongly prefer writing in solitude (can’t do the cafe thing; I wind up feeling too self-conscious), so obviously I’m aware of wanting to make the most of that available alone time, and not to expect as much of myself when there are going to be others around. I never actually schedule writing time, formally, but I’m aware of the times of the day and the week where I know I’ll be able to work on things uninterrupted, so I try to take advantage of it.

#12

I read a really good tip recently:

Every time you procrastinate by playing games/surfing the internet/whatever instead of writing, write your future self a letter explaining why you didn’t get anything done that day. Repeat every time. Read them 2 weeks after the event. You’ll get so furious with yourself you get stuff done.

#13

Hey, I like that. That’s pretty good. 'Course, what’s to stop me from neglecting the letter as well? XP

#14

On the panel for writer’s block at RF2013, I mentioned a book called “Around the Writer’s Block”.
In it, they list a number of ways to help deal with distractions, as well as the mind’s barriers towards doing creative things, such as writing.


Might be worth checking out.

#15

On the topic of video games and writing, found this post and the comments interesting:

#16

I’ve always found a good video game to be a very helpful way to unwind and let my mind wander – Tetris, Jezzball, Sonic 3/Sonic & Knuckles, Diablo 1-3, and World of Warcraft, and Dolphin Olympics are all games that I’ve played mindlessly while planning out stories. In fact, I’ve found that the lack of a good video game is detrimental to my writing.

#17

That was an interesting article, and the comments made it for me. Lots of good points back and forth there.

In the end, everyone has their own opinions when it comes to things that take up time away from writing. Much like how one can lose themselves in research online and never get down to writing, the same can happen easily with video games, movies, reading, etc… It really does come down to restraint and the ability to form a habitual writing routine.