Comments on: The Internet, Your Brain, Your Writerly Self

By: Natasha Fondren » Stretching the Attention Span

Natasha Fondren » Stretching the Attention Span — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 06:18:39 +0000

[...] a blog at Writer Unboxed, “The Internet, Your Brain, Your Writerly Self,” I discovered an article from a recent NPR show, “This Is Your Brain Online.” In it, [...]

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By: Therese Walsh

Therese Walsh — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:45:32 +0000

Thank you, Hallie! I’m glad you found it helpful.

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By: Hallie Sawyer

Hallie Sawyer — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:57:19 +0000

Thanks for sharing this! What a great wake-up call for me! I try to write first thing in the morning while the kids are sleeping or at least still in their groggy, unneedy state. Then I catch myself checking Twitter, (Oh, who else is writing right now?), then I will post that I am writing. There goes fifteen minutes with my open manuscript and no words written. I DO save a lot of tweets and their links on Instapaper so I can go back and read when I have more time. At night, after kids go to bed, I try to wrap up my writing and use that time to read blog posts. Then I will read a couple of chapters before my eyes surrender. I dream about long days of doing nothing but writing and reading. I think I will try to make it more of a reality. Thanks again for sharing!

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By: Edie Ramer

Edie Ramer — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 20:18:06 +0000

Thank you for this post. I thought it was me, losing my concentration! I am going to set limits on my computer time instead of being on and off it all day.

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By: Barbara O'Neal

Barbara O'Neal — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 02:28:48 +0000

For me, being productive means leaving giant vats of time to wander through my own mind, through six or seven books all on the same subject, sitting in my backyard, letting things brew.

It means staying away from the Internet until after lunch, and I’m trying hard to give up my iPhone habit (“I’ll just take a quick look”) because it does disturb the deep flow of book stuff. I really cannot let the world in before I work. I need to be as close as possible to the subconscious, unguarded, dream state, and I really don’t want to think about business or publishing or other opinions before I tackle my work.

It’s hard, but for me, it’s worth it to keep the Internet and all that implies to a very, very small part of my day. Life is where the material is, so the more I’m living, the more I have to write about.

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By: Barbara

Barbara — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:41:05 +0000

Although I haven’t read Carr’s book yet, I absolutely agree with what I have learned of his ideas and with the points made in Therese’s post. Yes, the Internet is a useful tool, but like all tools, it’s only helpful if used purposefully. Writers have always struggled with procrastination, but when we procrastinate by doing something physical (washing the dishes, petting the cat) our minds are free to mull over whatever we’re working on. The Internet claims the same verbal parts of our brains that we need for our writing, often exhausting them so that we no longer have the energy and focus we need in order to write. Setting limits to Internet use is key for anyone who wants to do creative work.

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By: Melissa Marsh

Melissa Marsh — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:31:32 +0000

Holy hot cakes. I REALLY needed to read this. My attention span has become truly horrific lately. I think it’s because when it’s slow at work, I just mindlessly surf. GAH.

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By: Spencer

Spencer — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:25:13 +0000

While I absolutely agree that our current brain connections grow more spastic and unfocused and I myself will lose certain threads that I am working on as I click from tab to tab, I do think that worry that our brains are changing for the worst is misguided and the doom and gloom from Nicholas Carr is silly. Yes, our brains are changing as we learn how to quickly filter a horde of internet trash to find the useful bits, but our Brains are incredibly powerful organs and adaptable, which is why our evolution as humans make us such an oddity as a creature.

Children today will learn much faster than we did (if we ever do completely) how to turn it on and off, how to be creative with the constant flow of information still coming at them, how to be relaxed and focused while the white noise grows louder. These are skills they will learn.

Do you know that most parents/teachers/mentors can’t actually prepare children for the jobs that will be available in the future. We have no idea what those will be, because they don’t exist yet. All we can do is teach them what we know and then support them as the learn more and more quickly than we ever will.

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By: Sarah Woodbury

Sarah Woodbury — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:28:54 +0000

I think if I can think about the internet as a tool (and as a writer of historical fiction, I use it A LOT while I’m writing) rather than a social outlet or something to do, things go a lot better.

I write with five kids in the house or not at all, so ‘Multi-tasking R Us’, but at the same time, I don’t have to check my email every 10 minutes on top of everything else. The days go better when I fire up the manuscript first thing and tell myself to check email later. Unlike today, when I allowed myself one small peek and look what happened . . .

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By: Therese Walsh

Therese Walsh — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:31:23 +0000

Thanks for the great comments, everyone.

Juliet, Christina and Jan, you tapped into something I’ve been thinking about too: We have to set ourselves up for success. Unplug the Internet ahead of time, refuse to carry the phone that beeps us whenever someone sends us an email or a Tweet, work on the computer that doesn’t have Internet access, etc… I apply this rule to my life all of the time when it comes to grocery shopping. I am smart at the store, because if I have a bag of chips on the kitchen counter, I will eat them. I think this situation is a little like that, too.

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