It’s nothing new that it’s hard to get started on creative work in the morning, when you have a morning to work. But for a writer who uses a computer, the call of the Internet is a serious Siren’s hiss. I have been aware of this all along– the danger of using the same environment, the same machine, for writing and other activities. So easy to check email, to look on Facebook to see what random people you know who also happen to be on Facebook are doing. To work on a project other than creative work.
I tried hard– I went for years avoiding the Internet (I started using a computer more than twenty years ago), insisted on a black and white (or actually bronze and tan) screen monitor instead of color. But email was too convenient. Having links to my work available online was too wonderful. Experimenting with giving free writing exercises was too empowering.
And, I tell myself, back in the day, there were distractiuons, too, weren’t there? Pencils to sharpen? Coffee to make? And, especially, angst to experience– the high drama of writers’ block! Now, instead of suffering, I answer email.
Or blog.