Isolation, and its intense relation to creativity

It's funny, blogging would be one of the first hobbies I would cut off if I truly wanted to be a pro screenwriter. (In fact, I did cut it out, judging by my last post date) It's usually a meandering exercise, done so that I don't have to dive into my real work, aka my screenplay. However, I've come to find that there are many other practices that cut into my creative juices.

1) The stinking' internet. I find myself searching under the guise of researching, hours at a time. Now, it's necessary to cut myself off from the internet in order to concentrate on the task at hand. Seriously, the internet is a true time sucking vampire which wraps you in like a casino. You never know what time it is, or just how much time you've been in here, and the time flies accordingly.

2) Video games. There's no getting around this, as much as I want to make excuses. I noticed I played Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas a total of 120 hours in about 2 years. I'm quite certain I could have been banging out drafts of many a screenplay in that time. And lets not forget, that's just two games out of about 30 that I own. Red Dead Redemption-25 hours, Mass Effect 2-15 hours ...as you see, this is a major time sucker.

3) Television. Although tv comes in third, it certainly creates enough attention deficit disorder to be on the list. I probably only watch 3 current shows on TV, however it's the reruns of favs, like Seinfeld, that really zone me out. They offer me cold comfort, and I ...you know...vegetate.

4) Android. My rooted Nexus One is my new laptop. I'm constantly manipulating its screen for quick bursts of entertainment. I'm usually on the go when this happens, so it probably doesn't cut into my writing too much. But the availability of internet through my phone is counter productive to my whacking out the internet with purposes of writing. So the phone (and rooted Nook Color) have to be put away under lock and key (like Dokken).

5) People. We all have responsibilities, and with those responsibilities come people. Family, friends, enemies-doesn't matter. They all cause our personality to shift, and any shift is one away from the creative process.

I recently went away for one day, to a house on the beach. Mid winter. No tv, no internet and almost no radio due to really bad reception. No people at the house, and the town was just about empty. I wrote 30 pages in about 6 hours on a script I was having major trouble with. I came home the next day feeling good about myself, renewed in a sense. In the 2 weeks since? 10 pages. Of shit.

So now, to the detriment of my mashed potato brain, I will schedule total media blackouts. I will utilize headphones with my ipod if there's any outside disturbances. Usually will listen to Brian Eno, or late 70's Bowie as I write. But that's it. The project begins today.

Of course, the mere fact that I'm blogging right now should tell you all you need to know about my state of mind.

Time to go!