Turn it off

I could crawl inside and live in the Internet. There are free downloads, websites, programs and devices that you can use to enhance your writing abilities. If you want to write about an unfamiliar subject, you no longer have to spend months going from library to library, you can google all you need in a few hours.

I'm often heard gushing over podcast. I love it. It is like a gift from the techno gods. Radio programs annoy me, if I do find a channel that plays music I enjoy, it's usually interrupted by call-ins trying to guess the source of an obscure noise, or a lonely/bored soul that wants to talk about...everything. Podcast allows me to download exactly what I want to hear, and lately that's writing episodes.

The other day I drove to work and was out of podcasts on my iPod. Darn. I tried the radio but it just started to irritate - now people try to guess famous laughs - why? So I turned the radio off and faced an hour and a half drive with no noise. I talked to myself (I do and I'm happy to admit it), I thought about the stories I'm having trouble finding the time to write. I thought about my last chapter written. Then... I thought through the next chapter. I got it all sorted, details, visuals, motives. It was my most productive drive ever.

Tomorrow I head out to a farm to meet up with my Drama class who are on a camp. I will stay overnight and there are no phones, computers or iPods allowed. It is the longest I will ever go without technology. I was worried about how much work I have to do. But now I'm excited.

Lots of time with just me, a pen and a notebook - doin' it old school!

So embrace the devices that make your life easier, but remember that your fiction comes from your imagination; you don't need to plug that into anything. Turn everything else off - and you'll hear it.