Living Without TV and Internet....anyone want to try?

[Christine62]

In trying to focus on Mr. King's best writer's advice: read a lot and write a lot. I have come upon a couple of things really getting in the way: the internet and the television. Now luckily, I don't have internet where I live anymore (because AT&T is the Devil in the form of a corporation). Unfortunately my roomate is a television junkie. It's on as soon as he gets home and he watches all manner of stuff from European Soccer, NFL, NBA, MSNBC, Fox News, Jon Stewart, Andy Griffith, Mrs. Doubtfire EVERY SINGLE TIME IT IS ON, and 16 thousand movies he's already watched.

I can pretend like I am superior but am I? I watch PBS, CBS Sunday Morning, Super Soul Sunday, Sherlock!, The Mentalist, Columbo, tons of cooking shows and the history of the hot dog and the X Factor, and American Idol (don't tell Mr. King) Plus tons of movies I've seen before: Remains Of The Day, You've Got Mail, Jaws, The Sand Lot, My Cousin Vinny, Knocked Up, Love Actually,etc, etc.

TV and the internet is a monumental time eater because I watch stuff I've seen or lollygag on my laptop at the library or my daughters, going to facebook, looking random crap on Google and checking the sites where I have my stories posted. Oh and I don't consider this site a waste of time because I actually write on here (and you are all always so nice to respond).

Anyway, I turned off the TV today and was straightening up my apartment and usually I put my current King book on cd on and listen but today I didn't. Didn't turn on the radio either. It was just me and silence. It was very uncomfortable at first. It made me kind of anxious but soon I got comfortable with the nothingness and my mind became less fragmented and I was able to think, and I started to think about something I was writing. I could see if I stayed in silence then the trickle of thoughts might actually flow down to that story stream I used to float on years ago.

So I'm going to give it a shot---anyone game? I'm not talking forever...how about a morning, or afternoon or maybe a weekend or longer who knows we just might get the hang of it---no internet, no T.V. or music...just us and our own thoughts.

If anyone wants to go on the journey with me..please post your experience.

 

[VultureLvr45]

Christine, Love That Idea! Yes, I will take that trip with you. My hubby works from home so the only time I have quiet is if he is 'programming'. He likes noise though. I enjoy walking when the weather is mild. It really does help to have someone say 'let's do this together'. Yes, thanks.

 

[Christine62]

Christine, Love That Idea! Yes, I will take that trip with you. My hubby works from home so the only time I have quiet is if he is 'programming'. He likes noise though. I enjoy walking when the weather is mild. It really does help to have someone say 'let's do this together'. Yes, thanks.

Oh yea! I'll bring the peanut butter and pickle sandwiches!

 

[VultureLvr45]

Oh yea! I'll bring the peanut butter and pickle sandwiches!

That sounds like a pregnancy picnic. B)... I like quiet. It doesn't worry me to be alone without noise, especially if I am doing something creative. So how do you propose we proceed? We both agree to spend 1-3 hours daily writing instead of listening to music, talking books, tv or internet? I am game. Honestly, I don't spend that much time in 1 sitting, more like a bunch of 20 minutes here and there. I'll grind the beans and check in tomorrow. Sound good?

 

[Lina]

Living without TV and Internet is a great idea. I have read a book about ways to be happy, and one of the things said there was to evade TV, all the news and TV shows they just spoil our mood, make us insecure... We really need to try and live without TV! As for me, I do not watch any news, shows... I may watch a couple of TV series or movies, and I think it is right. As for the Internet, I would be glad to spend some time without it. Unfortunately, I have to spend all the time at work at my computer... Anyway, I don't mind the silence, I am never bored when I am alone, I have so many things to think over! Though, I would never refuse of music! That is what I love the most, I can't live without it

 

[Christine62]

That sounds like a pregnancy picnic. B)... I like quiet. It doesn't worry me to be alone without noise, especially if I am doing something creative. So how do you propose we proceed? We both agree to spend 1-3 hours daily writing instead of listening to music, talking books, tv or internet? I am game. Honestly, I don't spend that much time in 1 sitting, more like a bunch of 20 minutes here and there. I'll grind the beans and check in tomorrow. Sound good?

Sounds like a plan! I think sitting and writing for twenty minutes at a pop is very doable.

 

[Christine62]

Living without TV and Internet is a great idea. I have read a book about ways to be happy, and one of the things said there was to evade TV, all the news and TV shows they just spoil our mood, make us insecure... We really need to try and live without TV! As for me, I do not watch any news, shows... I may watch a couple of TV series or movies, and I think it is right. As for the Internet, I would be glad to spend some time without it. Unfortunately, I have to spend all the time at work at my computer... Anyway, I don't mind the silence, I am never bored when I am alone, I have so many things to think over! Though, I would never refuse of music! That is what I love the most, I can't live without it

Once, I sat and ate in total silence. It took me about twenty minutes. I just focused on what I was eating: the texture, the taste, the smell. Best damn tuna sandwich I ever ate!

 

[MadamMack]

It's really not that hard for me to do that.

 

[Agincourt Concierge]

In trying to focus on Mr. King's best writer's advice: read a lot and write a lot. I have come upon a couple of things really getting in the way: the internet and the television. Now luckily, I don't have internet where I live anymore (because AT&T is the Devil in the form of a corporation). Unfortunately my roomate is a television junkie. It's on as soon as he gets home and he watches all manner of stuff from European Soccer, NFL, NBA, MSNBC, Fox News, Jon Stewart, Andy Griffith, Mrs. Doubtfire EVERY SINGLE TIME IT IS ON, and 16 thousand movies he's already watched.

I can pretend like I am superior but am I? I watch PBS, CBS Sunday Morning, Super Soul Sunday, Sherlock!, The Mentalist, Columbo, tons of cooking shows and the history of the hot dog and the X Factor, and American Idol (don't tell Mr. King) Plus tons of movies I've seen before: Remains Of The Day, You've Got Mail, Jaws, The Sand Lot, My Cousin Vinny, Knocked Up, Love Actually,etc, etc.

TV and the internet is a monumental time eater because I watch stuff I've seen or lollygag on my laptop at the library or my daughters, going to facebook, looking random crap on Google and checking the sites where I have my stories posted. Oh and I don't consider this site a waste of time because I actually write on here (and you are all always so nice to respond).

Anyway, I turned off the TV today and was straightening up my apartment and usually I put my current King book on cd on and listen but today I didn't. Didn't turn on the radio either. It was just me and silence. It was very uncomfortable at first. It made me kind of anxious but soon I got comfortable with the nothingness and my mind became less fragmented and I was able to think, and I started to think about something I was writing. I could see if I stayed in silence then the trickle of thoughts might actually flow down to that story stream I used to float on years ago.

So I'm going to give it a shot---anyone game? I'm not talking forever...how about a morning, or afternoon or maybe a weekend or longer who knows we just might get the hang of it---no internet, no T.V. or music...just us and our own thoughts.

If anyone wants to go on the journey with me..please post your experience.

naw.. I'll just chill here and wait for you all to post your experiences .....

 

[mustangclaire]

I couldn't do without music. Just couldn't. I admire your idea and good for you but after a stressful day at work, I LOVE relaxing after dinner with some music, bobbing on here, or watching my favourite car shows on the tv. I'm no writer, just a reader so perhaps don't have the same motivation to do it. Having said all that, when I get one of my one week in three mid days off, I will often curl up on sofa with a book and silence for a few hours, does that count?

 

[GNTLGNT]

...TV I'd be cool with, though I'd miss my Jeopardy!...Internet?...hells to the no!...

 

[VultureLvr45]

...TV I'd be cool with, though I'd miss my Jeopardy!...Internet?...hells to the no!...

GG, I think what Christine62 is saying is without the distraction of the internet. Being committed to an hour a day Not Surfing or watching kitty videos or porn or whatever, but taking that time to focus and write is all.

 

[GNTLGNT]

....oooooooohhhhhhhhh....NOW I get it....sure I could pull that off-I would spend it reading-I only write at rare times, mostly in the group efforts here...

 

[ZombieDrama]

I can go without TV, I do already. =) As a research writer myself, I use the internet a lot for research though. I don't know how Mr. King got by all those years without it. x.X
Even if I'm writing a short story, I research the setting, the wildlife of the area I use as my setting, the people, the weather etc... I know I could go to the library though... <=)

 

[ZombieDrama]

...TV I'd be cool with, though I'd miss my Jeopardy!...Internet?...hells to the no!...

=P I would miss Days of Our Lives =P but I watch it online lol

 

[Walter Oobleck]

I think the key (to writing and doing so successfully) is to sit your arse down wherever you sit your arse down to write and sit there and either write or simply sit there every day at the same time eight days a week. It would be nice to have that kind of time, at that particular time, all the time. I don't. Or I don't want to stay up till the lights go out in the city or get up before the dawn. Time to make some more yellow snow.

 

[Spideyman]

Meditation= the sound of silence. Must be done at least one hour each day. Serenity!

 

[Mr Nobody]

That's already my day. The TV doesn't go on until 5.30-6 when my gf gets home. I only listen the music on evenings and weekends ('freetime' - though most people seem to think all my time is free just because I'm at home, even those folks who really should know better). I tend to spend too long on the internet - a half-hour lunch break can quickly turn into a marathon mailing session or Massive Google, Wikipedia and YouTube-based Waste of Time - but I've solved that now, first by switching to work on an old laptop that'd fall over at the first sign of a webpage, then by switching again to (actually, properly!) writing first drafts out longhand, using the fountain pen and stack of notebooks my nephew bought me for Christmas, and forcing myself to turn the internet-connected machine off once my allotted breaktime is over.

 

[Christine62]

GG, I think what Christine62 is saying is without the distraction of the internet. Being committed to an hour a day Not Surfing or watching kitty videos or porn or whatever, but taking that time to focus and write is all.

exactly!

 

[Sundrop]

I rarely turn on the TV. There are a few series that I watch, but other than a handful of shows scattered through the week, I don't need it.
The internet is for when chores are done, and there is nothing else to do.....I'm on it more in the winter than any other time.
Can't live without my phone....it keeps me connected to loved ones, and my work kinda depends on appointments....if customers can't call, Sunny starves