See what? "What's going on," of course. There's always something to learn, to laugh at, to mope about. Online, there's always a reason to marvel.
Plus, I write very, very slowly.
It's always taken me a long time to write. I fret about what I want to say, how I want to say it. I audition words, rearrange phrases, cross out, tear up, start over. Part of my attention to minutiae comes from "training" as a poet; I think poets worry more about commas than novelists do about chapters. I was attracted to poetry because poetry buys you time. No one rushes a poet.
After considering a makeover of my online life, I've decided I don't want to stop dividing and subdividing my attention. I know there are times when focus is mandatory, and I recognize when I need to "unplug." These time-outs come and go as my need for outside stimulation waxes and wanes.
After all, I spend most of my time alone.
Sometimes I think I should stop being this way. It must be wrong, an addiction. Why do I worry? Because "people" might find my behavior unhealthy. Because it's important to stay focused. Because divided attention means poorer attention. Because there's a world out there!
The truth? I get bored thinking about one thing. If, day in and day out, I sat and wrote without distraction, I'd go insane. Throughout history, writers have needed "external entertainments." I know somewhere there is a cave painting of a caveman's empty writing spot -- big slab of rock, clumsy chisel, buzzing flies.
And I know where he was -- off gossiping about the mastodon hunt.
Hmm...what if I Google "mastodon hunt"?
