One of the things I have noticed about writers is that we tend to be interested in a bit of everything. Many have held down multiples of jobs, often in varying fields. I think this is because many authors are a touch ADD. Not to say we cannot focus but ….
But, um.
Well, we tend to get distracted. And the internet has made that distraction lots easier. I don’t know about other writers but for me? I am often pulled away from my own thoughts by the wormhole of the world wide web.
I will be writing along and back myself into a corner because I don’t have enough information. As a random example, I might need to know about voodoo veves for a story I am writing*. Somehow, just from that wee research, I am now looking at Halloween cupcakes. Which, of course, leads me on to shrunken apple heads. While I am bopping around there, I see a link for Halloween bathrooms.
It just deteriorates from there. (And that is all on one site.**)
It isn’t just during writing that this sort of thing happens. This morning, as I was going about my normal Facebook/coffee/email routine – I happened across a picture of this amazing sculpture. Which made me recall that Austin has a sculpture garden, Umlauf. I haven’t been in over three years, which is a shame. I really should expose the Girl to more artistic endeavors. Like galleries, museums and such.
I can get sucked into a whirlpool of “OOH!” and “Nifty!” and “Whoa, honey – did you know about?” that lasts for hours. I suppose it isn’t a bad thing. But, thank god I’m not on any sort of deadline.
The Process 