McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

rules on watching telivision for writers

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pcpoet:
this week I made the rule in my house that the television only is allowed on after 7pm during the week because I found having it as an option was making it hard to sit down an write I was wondering if other authors or wanabes like me have special rules about television in there home.

LizW65:
No rules per se, but I need solitude and silence to write; no TV, music, or other media in the room. If need be, I put in earplugs.

Paynesgrey:
I do a lot of writing with the telly on.  I'll pause it if I'm really busting stuff out, but it doesn't "keep me from writing."  Of course, I'm usually running something like a documentary that somehow applies to the WiP.

When I don't feel like writing, sick, tired, general meh... I'll watch heaps of stuff.  With my laptop on, and the WiP open.  Often as not, I'll start typing during a commercial... and keep going.

In any case, I've found myself incapable of watching anything without examining the storytelling on the screen.  Playing "Oh, I see what you did there, Mr. Whedon.  You magnificent bastard, you."  Studying what works for me in a show, and figuring out why a scene resonated with me.  And looking for mistakes NOT to make.  "Oh, that was just tooooo convenient... cheap and lazy writing... you should have given the knife to the monkey...."

Griffyn612:
I prefer to have the television on when I'm writing, but on mute.  That way I can distract myself every once and a while, and allow my thoughts to reset.

If my wife is home and watching, she turns the volume down a bit, since she's got great hearing and I don't.  As long as she isn't watching anything I'm interested in, it's fine.

Farmerbob1:
I haven't had a TV of my own that has been used as a TV since 1989, so I don't need writer's tools for TV.  While I do have a small digital TV that is used as a monitor, it's never been tuned into any input but the video card of the computer.  I do watch TV when I'm outside the house at times, and every now and then I will Hulu something like Numb3rs or Dresden Files, but I lost patience with TV as a whole in 1989, and reality TV finished killing any interest I had in watching TV regularly.  With the exception of a couple educational channels, everything on TV is crap (IMHO).

That being said, I do have to be careful about MMO's and Youtube.  I spent about two hours the other day researching differences between friction-carved stone and knapped flint tools.  I had no idea so much time had passed until the alarm I had set to make sure I wouldn't be late to work went off.

Oh, and forums.  I spend too much time on forums if I'm not careful.  Err.  I have to go.

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