Author María J. Estrada
  • Home
  • Mi Biografía
  • Un Blog de Writing Musings
  • Author Interviews
    • Eric Allen Yankee
    • Mehreen Ahmed
    • Steve Carr
    • Martin Eastland
    • P.S. Malcolm
    • P.C. Darkcliff
  • The Harvested Draft
  • Books
  • Poetry
  • My Patreon Page
  • Useful Bits
  • Contact

Un Blog de Writing Musings

Gap Time and Boredom

24/1/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
As much as I use technology, I wasn't really familiar with the term gap time.  I haven't read The Shallows, but now I want to read it, after the long list of books I want to get through.  Well, I was listening to one of my spiritual CD's, and the author (whose name eludes me now) said that boredom leads to creativity.

Obviously that was, and continues, to be true for me.  I have my longest escapades when I am bored, and that is when I create the best characters.

The claim made me realize that perhaps part of the reason people aren't writing long articles is because they don't give themselves time to be bored.  We have so many gadgets, apps, live streaming, that if we're bored, something is wrong.  People just can't seem to sit with themselves and their thoughts. 

I was becoming the same way. 

In fact, when I was younger, I was a T.V. addict, then a VHS addict, and now a Netlfix/Amazon/Twitter/Facebook addict.  I still love to binge watch; yes, every now and then I put on the breaks, but when I binge.  Whoo.  Does any of it make me a better writer or human being?  Not necessarily.

I was also recently introduced to Reddit, which many of my students mentioned.  I asked them what they read, and they said Reddit, so I checked it out.  There was just a bunch of random posts and videos, none of them lengthy, as far as I could see.  But there were thousands of comments in some of the weirdest sections.  People were engaging with these random ideas, some of them nonsensical.  (No, I am not joining Reddit.)

That is just another indicator that when we write, it really has to capture the imagination of people.   

So, my writing goal for this week is to spend more time making human contact (that requires talking to people in their face or on the old school phone) and writing, than being on social media.  If I post, I want to at least make one good point.   
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Become a Patron!
    Picture

    Jesú Estrada
    Pen Name: 
    María J. Estrada
    Chicago, IL

    You follow me everywhere @drmariajestrada, except Twitter.
    Subscribe to my YouTube channel, Radical Books and Activists.

    *********************
    MARIA J. ESTRADA is an English college professor of Composition, Literature, and her favorite, Creative Writing. She grew up in the desert outside of Yuma, Arizona in the real Barrio de Los Locos, a barrio comprised of new Mexican immigrants and first-generation Chicanos. Drawing from this setting and experiences, she writes like a loca every minute she can—all while magically balancing her work and family obligations. She lives in Chicago’s south side with her wonderfully supportive husband, two remarkable children, and a menagerie of animals.

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    November 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    December 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014

    Categories

    All

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from shixart1985, Phuketian.S, yourbestdigs, yourbestdigs, Brett Jordan
  • Home
  • Mi Biografía
  • Un Blog de Writing Musings
  • Author Interviews
    • Eric Allen Yankee
    • Mehreen Ahmed
    • Steve Carr
    • Martin Eastland
    • P.S. Malcolm
    • P.C. Darkcliff
  • The Harvested Draft
  • Books
  • Poetry
  • My Patreon Page
  • Useful Bits
  • Contact