The Curse of the Internet

My name is Vicki and I am an Internet addict. There - I've said it.

I have been thinking lately of the way the Internet has taken control of my life. Sure it is great for following news stories, keeping in touch with my daughters and mother, doing research for books. I wouldn't give it up. But I do find that I almost never get deeply into reading a book anymore. That sense of falling into another world and being transported there for hours on end - gone. I keep hopping up and down to see if anything important has popped into my in-box lately. It's the same with my writing. I am struggling right now with the first draft of Molly Smith #5 - Among the Departed (due date: fall 2011). I'm in the soggy middle where it can be difficult to keep the story interesting while working towards the end. I've had several bad writing days where I spent far more time on the Internet than writing. Somehow my fingers just gravitated towards that e-mail icon.

Today, I decided that serious measures are called for. I switched off the router and took the laptop to another room. It worked. At first my fingers started to move but they soon realized that clicking on facebook would only bring up an error message. I allotted myself 1 1/2 hours and then plugged the router in and checked e-mail. Then off it went again for another 1 1/2 hours.

And I think I had a good writing day.