The Perils of Being Connected

Over at Murderati  Toni McGee Causey asks writers how they internet - twitter? Facebook? Myspace?

It got me thinking...  I've got pages everywhere but I've found that the more social networking I do the more my writing suffers...so now  I don't do hardly any social networking.  Being inside the net is bad for my writing.

It makes it harder for me to be imaginative. It's constricting.  Ttaking its toll creatively. Dreaming time is disappearing.

The more I cut back the happier I am and the better I'm working. Anything is better for me than being online- taking a walk, going to museums, reading a book on paper, listening to music...

I also have a love/hate relationship with my iPhone for the same reason. I used to stand on line in the bank/supermarket/starbucks and stare at people and make up stories... now I pull out the phone and check email that I don't need to check and find its making me so much less imaginative... so I'm fighting that too.

Comments

[Anne R. Allen]

You are so right! I think it should be re-named "Fritter". I've just mis-spent the last two days reading minute by minute reports from Iran. Does Iran need me to do this instead of writing?

[Alan Orloff]

I started a new WIP a few weeks ago, and my progress has been much slower than for projects in the past. I'm pretty sure it's due to my increased "social networking."

Maybe the Internet will go down and we can all get some writing done.

[Stephen D. Rogers]

And then you see people walking around always plugged into their mp3 players. Why would people want to read about the internal lives of others when they don't have an internal life of their own?

[David J. Montgomery]

It's so true. Writing is hard. Hitting refresh is easy.

So I'll sit there like a lump staring at Twitter or Facebook or a blog. It's not interesting or thought-provoking, but it's easy.

I think these sites must be destroying the productivity of workers all over the world.

[Susan McBride]

Amen, M.J.! My agents advised me a few years ago to stay home and write. Not Twitter, not MySpace, not Facebook. Just write. So I'm really focusing hard on that and keep a pretty low profile online. Although my husband just got a BlackBerry from his work, and now it seems like he's on the damned thing every five minutes. Ah, well, he can be the plugged-in one. I'll keep writing books.

[C.M. Mayo]

But this can be a seasonal thing--- when it's time to promote a book well, for heavensakes, promote your book! It's not all about you--- it's about your readers, and also all the hardworking people who make it happen--- your editor, publisher, marketing director, the bookstores. Your cooperation and efforts help them help your book find its readers--- and help readers find your book. Then, after a while of that, rest a bit, why not? The world won't come to an end if you forget to twitter (and if it is coming to an end, reading about it twitter isn't going to make a whit of difference.) But I like twitter! Hey, follow me @madammayo! I think it's all about establishing clear intentions; learning to calm that wanna-be-connected mammalian brain; how to set limits; and how to switch gears quickly and smoothly. Not easy to do, I know. It will be interesting to see how this develops. Final note: if it's super odious, hire a VA (virtual assistant).