This is something I've been thinking about as of late when running across newer writers. I'm curious about how the environment you surround yourself with can change your ability to write or even impede it. If you spend most of your time on the internet (social media, forums, blogs) are you limiting your ability to write? Is me even writing this post taking time away that I could be spending writing?
I suppose there are lots of distractions built into our lives that pull us away from things we may rather be doing. I was thinking about something I heard Brian Stavely say about writing his first book. He said he lived in Laos and Mongolia and basically all he did was go on walks and write. Since he knew no one else and had very little access to technology, it allowed him to completely immerse himself in his writing. This was (I believe) after saving up money from his day job and deciding to just live off the grid for a bit. Also being outside of his comfort zone allowed him to explore and actually gain inspiration from his surroundings. Not to say the internet doesn't have a wealth of information. It does. It's invaluable. But hearing from someone "I got inspired by this" and actually saying from experience "I got inspired by this" are certainly two different things.
I understand with family, bills, money, etc. that it's not always easy to just go off and be somewhere "away from it all." But wouldn't the occasional writer's retreat allow you to just get away from all the noise and just write? How about just checking into cheap motel for the weekend and writing? Or would the pressure that "I should be writing right now" be too much?
I wonder about these things sometimes because I feel like I'm a (pretty?) productive writer for the most part. Sometimes I wonder the amount of work I'd get done if I just lived somewhere with no technology for one month.
It's hard to say I guess because there have been writers in the past that were very well off (one way or another) and had all the time in the world to write and did so. But there are others who lived in squalor that struggled every day and pinched pennies to make it. I sometimes wonder what the better option for me would be.
Anyway, just thinking.
I suppose there are lots of distractions built into our lives that pull us away from things we may rather be doing. I was thinking about something I heard Brian Stavely say about writing his first book. He said he lived in Laos and Mongolia and basically all he did was go on walks and write. Since he knew no one else and had very little access to technology, it allowed him to completely immerse himself in his writing. This was (I believe) after saving up money from his day job and deciding to just live off the grid for a bit. Also being outside of his comfort zone allowed him to explore and actually gain inspiration from his surroundings. Not to say the internet doesn't have a wealth of information. It does. It's invaluable. But hearing from someone "I got inspired by this" and actually saying from experience "I got inspired by this" are certainly two different things.
I understand with family, bills, money, etc. that it's not always easy to just go off and be somewhere "away from it all." But wouldn't the occasional writer's retreat allow you to just get away from all the noise and just write? How about just checking into cheap motel for the weekend and writing? Or would the pressure that "I should be writing right now" be too much?
I wonder about these things sometimes because I feel like I'm a (pretty?) productive writer for the most part. Sometimes I wonder the amount of work I'd get done if I just lived somewhere with no technology for one month.
It's hard to say I guess because there have been writers in the past that were very well off (one way or another) and had all the time in the world to write and did so. But there are others who lived in squalor that struggled every day and pinched pennies to make it. I sometimes wonder what the better option for me would be.
Anyway, just thinking.