When my life was emptier—sepia tones, eating out of the skillet, conspiring by the black currant bush, going for walks out of boredom etc.—my mind naturally perched on my current writing shebang and did all that between-the-session work. This demanded no effort on my part. Now with a mortgage, ceramic plates, and podcasts galore, I have to intentionally choose to think about my writing these days. I guess it's a long way of saying "Internet/busy brain no boredom, but boredom good, now must use discipline to be bored?" Does anyone else experience this? Do you find yourself having to choose to think about your writing when before your mind went there naturally? Or perhaps your writing still dominates your mind in spite of distractions?
Well, as a short story writer, my mind only gets taken over when I am in the process of actually writing a story. Between stories, I do not really think about writing. I've just returned from an 11-day vacation and did not think about writing at all while I was gone. But when I do start a story, I go all in. I'll have a hundred related thoughts and maybe one or two of them will translate to something in the story. I'm not sure if writing a story is more like digging or climbing or building. Maybe all three?
It'll be interesting to hear the thoughts of others on subject. I think about stories on a daily basis. I'll think of scenes at completely random times and think about how I could get them down on paper. This phenomenon exists both when I'm actively and not actively writing. It does get much stronger when I'm actively writing though. I get caught up in my own reveries, sometimes very deeply. I'll see the sun rays rippling across the sea waves and think about how I could describe that scene. How I can effectively transmit what I'm feeling. I had a project with a heroine that couldn't feasibly do something incredible because she was just not cut out for it. I spent days and days thinking about how I could get her to do it, but nothing seemed feasible or realistic. The answer came to me randomly in a math class (and yes, before you say anything, I was paying attention!). I literally stared into space and thought... what if she does manage it, but at the same time not? What if it's all a fantasy? What if it's all a dream? And yeah, that's not advisable... but I like to think that I executed it in an interesting way. It transformed the work completely! Another time, I was in a restaurant with family and friends. I picked up an apple and thought, in my native language, μηλο... (mylo, the word for apple). That sure would make a nice name. And then a character was born for a project. Atypical? Yes, but it kind of worked. These random inspirations happen almost daily. It's the hyperfocus, a little something ASD brings into my life. I have the ability to completely fixate on my interests. The problem is that it doesn't really happen at will. I can't just "stop" or "start" it whenever I want to... which is one of the main challenges of having it. This is why I can get so immersed in my own reveries. I just loose myself in fantasy, and it's honestly great... when it happens at a good time. If it happens when I'm working on just about anything, it just gets in the way, and I tend to finish my work much slower than I normally can. This means less story-writing time, which is ironic if you think about it. Hyperfocus is a double-edged sword. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it. Maybe I'll learn to wield it better in the future, who knows. In the old days, by the way, this would characterized as "laziness". I don't really like the modern times but the recognition of such things is a big plus.
Interesting. It sounds like neither of you are having your subconscious progress diminished by tempting distractions or otherwise full stimuli.
My first response to the question in the title was "I try not to." but I'm a chronic overthinker. It's a gift. My actual response to the questions above are a bit of both. More of a "writing dominates my mind" aspect, as I struggle to take breaks from writing projects. My breaks from my current project is to work on a different project. I don't feel correct when I'm not writing. And then there are moments like earlier today when I said to a friend, "I could probably do away with all of the streaming services so I could actually make a dent in my TBR shelf." It has been easier to shut off the TV at a certain time of day and go do other things, but there are still days when, because of overwhelming anxiety for whatever is going on, I'll become part of the couch and not move for hours upon hours. I think it's an important thing to check-in with myself now and then and find out if I'm okay or if I'm using "easy distraction" or "mind white noise" to keep myself from getting lost. The good news is, writing usually means I'm not lost.
If I'm not thinking about my stories on a daily basis, there is something wrong with me. Even when I caught COVID in 2023, I still found my brain working on stories. In fact, I spent way too long writing a fanfic chapter. Like, I think about scenes and stuff all the time. If there is nothing going on in my head, I am truly unwell. More thoughts: I think about my books like they are movies. I am going to sleep every night plotting them. Thinking about them when I wake up. When I'm bored. When I am doing the dishes. Might be different stories, but how I write is basically translating a movie onto paper. It's so entertaining.
I haven't written in ages. I also stopped taking my morning hour-long walks. Walking back home from town (1 mile, 1.6km, 20 minutes) I suddenly sorted out a problem in my novel. I need to get walking again, that's the empty mind time when I can work.
I find that, the more distracted and overwhelmed I am, the more i want to write (i guess my way of disassociating). my issue is that, when i finally have a dedicated time to write, i'm too exhausted and mentally drained to do it and end up watching tv or going to bed. So i find myself writing THE MOST while i'm at work (sssshhhhhh!). plus, when I'm home, and actually do have the capacity to sit and write, i have other distractions like my dogs. my one dog with push my hand off of the keyboard multiple times before i yell at him.... and he's my baby, so i feel bad about yelling at him and then feel guilty because it feels like i'm neglecting him. so then i take him out for a walk or play tug-o-war with him and what not. and when i put him in another room he sits in front of the door and cries..... So i get more peace writing at work than i do at home.
Yeah, gosh. I feel very "seen" with this. I'm pretty busy a lot - work, evening activities, family - and reasonably content so now that you mention it, my mind hasn't defaulted to stories for a while. I need a long task where I cannot be distracted - driving, walking, DIY. Those are best for me, on the rare occasions I have time for them.
I no fink. I zombie. TV ... good. Man ... fall down. Funny. *stares into the middle distance* Seriously, I write long historical fiction (think 50-60K words at least), so I don't think about story-writing all the time. When I start a new one, I write an outline and a beat sheet, start researching the period, and submit my outline etc. to be critiqued. When I get them back, I revise, redraft, redo. As Sir Humphrey would say: "Exactly! Months of fruitful work ... resulting in mature and responsible decisions."
