Is it television? Or something else?
tbh, idk.
Photo by @possessedphotography from Unsplash.
“...if you’re just starting out as a writer, you could do worse than strip your television’s electric plug-wire, wrap a spike around it, and then stick it back into the wall. See what blows, and how far. Just an idea.”
Am I pretentious fuck? Maybe.
But isn’t Stephen King as well? Also potentially maybe, but also maybe he has good reason to be.
The point of this post, though? Is what Stephen King, Groucho Marx, and other countless writers say true? Is television the worst thing you can do for your writing?
I wanna say yes. But I also wanna say no.
My boyfriend says we currently live in the golden age of television. What, with all the competing streaming services, there’s no shortage of shows. While a lot of shows are not ✨quality✨, there are plenty of enthralling ones — dare I say, works of art. So why would this inhibit our writing? Is it simply because of the time you must dedicate to watching? Is there not enough time to read, write, and watch television? I’d wager that’s incorrect. I certainly do all those things. But something else I do that may be inhibiting my writing?
Well, you guessed it. My phone.
Ah yes, there’s always something, isn’t there? TV, video games, social media. We’ll always be distracted by something that prevents us from working on our craft or that, as King would assert, damages it.
If we’re going to make an argument about it, as it seems we must, I would say that television isn’t damaging. If anything, since we’ve moved past the mindless sitcom and reality shows (which may not even be that detrimental - don’t we all need a break, after all?), a lot of television shows these days provide compelling storylines, evolved characters, and excellent dialogue that can provoke an emotional response from the viewer. All of these things are applicable to writing, and, at least for me, motivate me to write better stories. In this way, King’s assertion may be outdated, or worse, narrowminded.
But what about social media and the increasing addiction to technology and our cell phones. Even now, I’m writing to you from the safe confines of my living room, into an endless void of blog posts that will likely never be read or only skimmed briefly. But something else I’m doing? Taking a break every few minutes to grab my phone and open a distracting app that provides no utility to this post except to maybe prove my point.
Photo by @neonbrand from Unsplash.
Simply, our phones and social media — not so great for our writing. Definitely, some people read off their phones and I would argue that a lot of the webcomics people consume from various apps are actually really great for writing. But social media? TikTok, Instagram, Facebook for us older folks. Nope. Nope nope nope.
Instagram has increasingly dissuaded me from writing, actually. With the plethora of content, often not so great, it can be discouraging. How are you ever going to get tens of thousands of followers if you don’t write, you know, Rupi Kaur-flavored poetry? And why does it matter at all if you do (unless you’re trying to be a published author — but that’s a different story entirely.)?
All I’m saying is the best thing you can do for your writing is not turning off the television. Rather, it may be powering down your phone. Or even deleting those apps that distract you or setting a time limit of your usage on them. We shouldn’t completely cut out the things that give us mindless pleasure. But we surely, as artists, can’t dedicate hours to them every day.
Trust me, I’m still trying to perfect this balance. So if you’re still struggling with this, you’re not alone. And I’m grateful to have a buddy along for the ride.
Wanna read something to improve your writing? Consider preordering my book, Just Us, or signing up for my Patreon, where you’ll receive a monthly short story or serial piece, a letter, and a sneak peek at my WIP.
