Writers: avoid distraction with this triumvirate of handy-dandy tips
Do you have all the concentration of a golden retriever? This troika of ideas will keep you focused, guaranteed.
Writers: are you easily distracted? My troika of friendly tips will improve your concentration. Away we go!
TIP THE FIRST: GO OLD SCHOOL WRITING WITH A TYPEWRITER
Typewriters are the weapon of choice for all my first drafts. Those beautiful machines don’t have the distractions nor diversions of a computer screen. Just you and the words at one, working with a tool designed solely for your mission: to write. One you get started on a typewriter--or go back to a typewriter, like I did--you'll be hooked, and wonder "how did I ever get anything done without this contraption?"
It’s easy to turn your typed sheets into a digital document:
First, scan your typewritten sheets into a PDF
Upload the PDF to Google Drive
Open the PDF with Google Docs
Select “All” and clear formatting
Double space for easy reading
Do a spellcheck / grammar check. You may have some strange words as a result of your transfer from PDF to Google Doc
Remove paragraph marks at the end of each line (if need be)
Either download to your favorite program, like MS Word or LibreOffice or keep it in Google Docs for editing and rewriting
Writing first drafts on typewriters is my version of Hemingway’s dictum:
Write drunk. Edit sober.
TIP THE SECOND: GO GRAY
If you can't use a typewriter, try turning your computer screen to grayscale. The gray is easier on your eyes (major plus there), and you're less distracted by colors or other bells and whistles of a computer screen.
TIP THE THIRD: GO AWAY AND LEAVE ME ALONE! I’M WRITING, DAMMIT!
I love Norman Mailer's advice on the writing process. When in heavy-duty creative mode, he would tell his wife (Number 6 and last spouse): "Act like I've gone to South America and you can't get in touch with me." I've adapted Mailer’s dictum to "Pretend I'm in Siberia." Trust me, people will get the message and quick.
So there’s my triad of tips to avoid distraction. Your writing process will thank you. Take it from me, who, like Mailer, is a writer and ex-amatuer boxer.1
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What are your tips for writing or avoiding knock-outs in the ring (or both)? You know the drill. The Comment Section awaits your wisdom.
Story Links:
The best writing advice you’ll ever find awaits you in The Elements of Style, at Project Guttenburg
All things Golden Retriever at DogTime
All things typewriters at the wonderful resource OzTypewriter
The advantages of gray screens, as presented by my previous Substack post “Let’s Go Gray”
Are you interested becoming a practitioner of the sweet science of bruising? Everything you need to know at USA Boxing
And just because you made it this far, here’s your bonus content:
Norman Mailer dukes it out with Gore Vidal on The Dick Cavett Show, December 1st, 1971.
My record in the ring? Zero and uhhhh…I don’t remember……..
Great ideas. I have a 1920's Underwood typer that now needs some attention. And it will. I am old school as I Write using a fountain pen and Write in notebooks longhand.