ISWG: I’d be a Better Writer without the Internet

It seems like I’m always setting goals to curb my internet, i.e. surfing time, so that I can get down to write. Last fall, I read Eat that Frog: 21 Ways to Get More Done in Less Time and following Tracy's suggestions really helped for awhile. I banned the Internet (which was on my not life or death, but fun list, according to the book) until I had eaten a few frogs (did hard stuff, like dishes and writing). It worked for awhile. But now I’m creeping back to my distractible old self.


I’m in a brainstorming stage right now, preparing to draft a new book. I’m doing character bios, brainstorming plot ideas, that sort of thing. But the other night, I couldn’t hardly write for 5 minutes straight without thinking of something else to look up. It’s hard to get a lot of writing done when you keep interrupting yourself.

Once a week, my kids have art with their grandpa (my father-in-law). I sit in the next room with my laptop and a cup of tea. I have no internet access for those couple of hours. It probably helps that it’s the one day a week I can write in the morning, my best time of day, but it also helps that I can’t be distracted. If I get stuck, I don’t get lost in “research” instead of writing.  I have to push through.

It is fertile writing time. I get more done on that day than any day of the week.

So it makes me wonder how much more I would accomplish at home if I could just turn off the internet. I once read an interview with author Marissa Burt. She talked about how she doesn’t have internet at home. She has children younger than mine, so part of it was to keep her focus on her children, but I can imagine how it must help her writing. She goes to the library to log in to check her email and social media.

Alas, I cannot commit to such severe methods. I need the internet for work and my kids’ schooling. But what to do?

Perhaps I need to read Eat That Frog again—and be reminded not to fritter my time away on fruitless web searches. I’m not sure.

What do you do resist the pull of the Internet so you can stay focused on writing?

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