Writing Off-the-Grid

Some of the traits that make us good writers are also some of the traits that make us good not-writers.  Let me explain.

We are writers.  By nature, we are susceptible to wandering thoughts, we are victims of sparks of creativity that hit completely unannounced and sometimes at the most inopportune times (which is why I sometimes dictate while driving or scribble during meetings when I’m supposed to be on my best behavior).  We are perfectionists about weird things (What is that word?  Four hours later….What is that word?), but inexplicably also feel free to pay no attention to other details or rules (What comma splice? I’ll put that extra comma in, thank you very much, and force my editor to remind me to remove it).  But in between the coffee, the snacks, the misplaced modifiers and our day-long quest for exactly the right phrasing, something prevents us from putting those sparks down to scribbles as often as we want to.

And, the culprit is exactly the same mechanism that enables us to be writers.  How many of us start out on an internet research quest to get a few details for a chapter and then, an hour later, discover that we have added seven books to the “to read” list on our GoodReads page, dabbled in social media, checked out our online reviews, and totally lost track of what we were supposed to be doing? And, to top it off, drank all of our coffee.  And someone ate all of our snacks.  The snacks that were supposed to sustain while we furiously typed out the demise of a supporting character.

That same tendency for wandering thoughts that helps us to outline chapter after chapter in our brains, come up with scene transitions while running, or outline character descriptions while refereeing a dispute between a child and a cat that is trying to sit too close also lures us to follow links on social media and chase rabbits down holes all across the internet.

The same creativity that sparks a three-hour write-a-thon also sparks a three-hour jaunt into the depths of Pinterest, where we’ve pinned thirty-two make-your-own bookshelf ideas for rustic cabins in New England.  Rustic cabins that we don’t yet own.

Sometimes the biggest killers of creativity are exactly those things that make us successful when we can manage to avoid the distractions.  Unless I have a solid idea of what I want to accomplish before I sit down to write, I am susceptible to these distractions.  Big time.  So what do I do?  What do I recommend you do?

Write off-the-grid.  Some of my most successful writing sessions have involved no internet.  No research, no breaks, no peeking at social media or sales stats.  If I can’t get on an airplane (one of my favorites places to write) I put my iPad on airplane mode.  No texts.  No emails.  Sometimes I even abandon technology altogether and outline chapters by hand.  I write by hand.  I draw lines between my structural outline and milestone outline (the thematic things I want to accomplish in a book)—all with a pencil and paper.  And ideas begin to flow again.

It’s a little ironic because the internet is the biggest enabler of an Indie writer.  We need the platform, we need the exposure, we need to be able to make ourselves look a little bigger than we are.  We need people just like us who are going to spend hours looking for interesting books on the internet.  Who are going to read our blogs when they should be doing someone else.  We need the internet… just not always while we’re trying to write.

More than just making progress, writing off-the-grid helps me to return to my roots.  It feels good to write with pencil and paper sometimes.  It also helps me to manage my time.  If I have ten minutes here or there, I can easily fall into the trap of sending a few texts, reading a few news articles.  But absent internet, what would I otherwise do with that time?  I would probably scribble.  And scribbling is the first step to finding some type of inspiration for that next idea that is going to move my story along, that is going to promote a book I’ve already got out there looking for a reader, that is going to be my next big project.

It’s easy to spend ten minutes on social media.  It requires no brain power.  But it requires energy to do something else with that time.  However, because we are those types of people who are victims of sparks of creativity, sometimes just a few minutes of scribbling can lead to something unexpected in our writing.  Writing off-the-grid helps me to capture more of those moments.

If you haven’t done it in a while, I encourage you to try writing off-the-grid.  No internet, maybe no electricity.  Pencil and paper.  Write as if you were in that rustic New England cabin you found on Pinterest and had to fill one of those ridiculously elaborate (but awesome) bookshelves you just pinned.  And let me know how it goes.

Until next time,  keep scribbling.