The Sound of Silence

"*Hiccup!*"
"In breaking news..."
"*Beep!  Beep!  Beep!*"
"Oh geez, look at the cat..."
"What are you a trick?  A trap?"
"*Maaaah!*"
"Today on..."

Five hours later...

"Oh geez!  All I've got is three sentences of CRAP!"

We've all been there.  We've all done that.  We've all thought:  "Oh, I'm great at multitasking!  I can write this scene, eat my lunch, find cool YouTube videos, listen to my music, and catch up on my Netflix all at the same time!"  At least that's what I think is going to happen.  But what really happens is that I end up with a couple of paragraphs of trash involving Romana II as Daenerys ordering the crew of the Enterprise D to harness the power of friendship to the soundtrack of Wicked and a cold bowel of instant noodles.  All of which adds up to two things:  1)  I'm involved in way too many geekdoms for my own good and 2)  I'm really terrible at multitasking.

It turns out I'm not alone in being awful at doing more than one thing at a time:
Why Multitasking Doesn't Work
People Who Multitask Are Often Bad At It

Now, some people will tell you that they need background noise in order to get things done.  They need the television to be going, or music to be playing, or something to fill the silence.  For all of those people, good for you!  Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people.  I used to think that I was, but I'm really not.  If the television is on, then I get caught up in whatever narrative is playing--whether it's the news or a movie or even reality television--instead of continuing my own.  I can't watch YouTube videos for the same reason.  As for music, it's really sort of hit or miss.  Sometimes music can help me keep the rhythm of my narrative, but most of the time it just makes me want to find more music.

So if I want to write anything substantive, I need it to be quiet.  Really quiet.  No Netflix.  No iTunes.  No YouTube.  Which actually makes sense, now that I think about it.  Nature abhors a vacuum.  And what greater vacuum of creativity is there than silence and a blank page.  And really, if my mind is filled with other voices, whether it's Jon Stewart or Matt Smith or Kristen Chenowith, how can I hear the voices of the characters in my head?

So now, it's time to mute the computer, turn off the television, and get to writing.