Due to an odd set of circumstances (in short, our home-based business took over our living room space), we had to disconnect our TV set – and I have been living without television.
Yes, that’s right. Without televison. Nada. For months.
Weird things have been happening to me.
1.Time has telescoped. Even though it’s the dead of winter, my days are longer than everyone else’s because I actually have a few free hours in the evening.
2. I am becoming baffled by the conversations I read on the internet, as if they were in a different language. What is House? Lost? Yes, I am.
3. There have been conversations happening in my house. Real ones, long ones, about stuff other than “is there any milk left?” Really, it turns out I live with an interesting guy.
4. No commercials!
5. I’ve been writing in the evenings – and my writing is getting better.
Of course, I miss TV. I miss Judge Judy, I miss American Justice, and I miss stumbling across a vintage Chris Noth/Jerry Orbach Law and Order at 11:00 on a Saturday night. But despite the alien-ness of my current, television-free life, I can’t bring myself to really regret it, and the main reason is #5. Really – my writing has never been as good as it is now, and I think it has to do with mental space.
It’s like a brain diet, or more accurately, one of those huge, awesome, once-every-few years garage cleanouts, only with mental clutter. It’s amazing how much useless information is stored in the average person’s head. Now, I don’t know what parties Lindsay Lohan went to this week, but I know how my characters are going to overcome their obstacles. I didn’t see Martha Stewart’s show, but I can see my novel’s setting in my mind’s eye. Suddenly, I have all this extra space in my head. The walls are clear, the shelves are tidy and neat, the floor has been swept, the closets cleared of junk. Now, it’s up to me to fill the space with whatever I want.
Have you ever gone without television – or something else that was cluttering your mind? And how did it affect your writing?
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*sigh* If only! It’s still here.
It’s still on & making inane noises. Even though I don’t sit in front of it, it’s still annoying. I put on my headphones to get away from it, and in the process also (unfortunately) drown out the rest of my family. During the weekday, when spouse is at work and kids are at school, I never — NEVER — turn it on. When they’re home, it’s almost ALWAYS on. *sigh*
We did without TV for about two years. It was wonderful and I think we might get rid of it again soon. The kids stopped watching TV, now they only really watch movies and some educational stuff. My husband and I don’t watch too much anymore, but we probably could do without it again. Our family connected and we learned how to do stuff like go to the park and play games. I no longer have shows that I’m addicted to. It was wonderful and I wonder how much longer we will keep it this time.
We don’t have a TV, but I still manage to ‘clutter my mind’. There’s the internet, and there are books to read. But it’s true, I’d do even less other stuff if we did have a TV.
I’ve never been a big TV watcher, not even during my childhood.
Books were always my preferred entertainment, and if not for the fact I didn’t watch TV, I’d have a much taller TBR pile.
Now the internet is a different matter altogether. I have to stop bloghopping now!
Never watched much television.
It can have value, as someone mentioned in an earlier post, if one analyzes the suspense techniques, etc., rather than as pure entertainment and relaxation.
Housework cluttered up my mind.
Getting rid of the time spent and then guilt over that tends to free up disk space for me.
I actually don’t watch TV at all. It doesn’t interest me in the least. I’d rather write or read! I do like an occassional DVD or going out for a movie.
A few years ago we moved to Belgium. All the TV was in French or Flemish with the exception of one BBC channel that always seemed to be showing a show on the History of Cheese. I learned to, gasp, entertain myself. Even now that we’ve moved back I schedule in to watch shows I enjoy- but otherwise I don’t turn it on at all. Big difference and way more time to write.
I don’t really watch a lot of TV. CSI once in a while, a DVD, occasionally with my family. But, my dh and kids all watch TV. When they’re home, there are usually two TVs going. Ugh! It’s loud, but I’ve really gotten to where I can’t handle total silence. It makes me feel “lonely” and affects my writing thus.
I’d love to put away the TV for a few weeks to see what would happen, but I’m not sure it’d affect my mental clutter so much. I have dozens of other ways to clutter up my brain!
It’s like a brain diet, or more accurately, one of those huge, awesome, once-every-few years garage cleanouts, only with mental clutter.
I don’t unplug from television because my shows spark so many ideas, and I include a lot of pop culture references in my work.
But I do unplug from the ‘net and especially from the blogosphere. As much as keeping up with the industry is important, I tend to get caught up in conversations that keep me thinking when I need to be using my brain for writing!
I haven’t had my TV hooked up to my cable for the last three years so I only watch the occassional DVD. With TV shows coming out on DVD I’ve caught up that way but when I started working crazy hours and trying to write something had to go and that’s why no TV. I watched plenty when I was younger.
I have a televison set, but it doesn’t get any reception. We use it to watch DVDs. I *love* it! I never want TV again. The only times I’ve missed it are when I want to catch a little sports coverage, or perhaps the Olympics. For that, I can go to a friend’s house or a sports bar, etc. I don’t miss TV *at all*. With Netflix, I figure if there’s a good show on, they’ll make a DVD of it and I can watch it at my leisure. And all of the cool history channel or discovery channel shows are available on DVD as well.
Then again, I was never a fan of the reality TV thing except for Project Runway, or the nightly news, so I find I don’t miss any of those shows in the “only relevant once” category.
I don’t watch much TV (we have only 4 channels in NZ which may play a part in that!).
I’ve noticed the exact same effect of telescoping days and bonus free time and creativity though. For me it was quitting online gaming. I played Everquest and then quit to have more time to write. So I wrote my first novel. And then I quit Warcraft, and edited it. Now I’m still cold turkey on Warcraft and I’m busily writing novel #2.
Any massive (voluntary!) change to daily habits that frees up a chunk of time is a bonus for a writer.
TV … or not TV, that is the question.
But I’ve been able to fairly prolific, and I’ve also found that I can keep plugged in to current events via NPR during the morning/evening commute and a quick scan of the Washington Post on the ‘net. And the times that I do take for television are quality … it’s a conscious choice, so I make it count.
being a teenager, i have to say that it would be insanely hard to go without tv. however, due to the poopiness of my father, i have never had cable, so i guess i’m better than some of my friends. as it is, i watch only House, NCIS, the OC, Grey’s Anatomy, and occasionally American Idol or Las Vegas with my parents. and the olympics, i watched those. because not only do all those shows give me stuff to talk about with my friends, sometimes they give me the same escape i normally seek in books–a doorway to another place/time where i can forget about the real stuff going on in my life. an insight into the lives of others. and GREAT entertainment! the only reason i would want cable is to watch some of the shows my friends talk about…but for the average 18-year-old, i think i do pretty darned well at not being sucked in by an electronic device at all hours of the day. most of the time, i’d rather be reading or singing.
We moved to Europe 8 years ago and the one channel that was in English we couldn’t get because we were in a valley that didn’t get the signal. We used the TV for movies only and, like you said, found a LOT more time in our lives for other things.
When we moved to Hawaii 2 years ago, we resisted the urge to get cable. We still only watch DVDs and the occasional news and Letterman. Our TV goes for DAYS without being turned on. I LOVE it. I do waste time on the internet, I must admit, but I still have more time than if I had the TV on. I like the quiet too.
Sometimes, I miss the Home & Garden channel or the Food Network. But if I had them, I’d watch them, so I’m glad I don’t. I do understand how someone could get ideas and pop-culture references from TV though. I still don’t know who Lindsey Lohan is, really. I’ve only seen Lost because my husband was an extra on a recent episode.
Home-based business. *sigh* Been there, done that, have the t-shirt and glad I’m out. Was far more time-consuming than profitable and a money sponge.
I watch a little, but never during the day. I enjoy a few crime shows, Monk (how can you NOT love him?), and Survivor. But you’re right about it being nice to have conversations and time at night to do stuff. Since I write during the day, not watching TV at night doesn’t really impact my writing, but it does have a nice positive impact on my marriage.
We still have a TV. There are only 5 channels here, and our reception for 3 of them is quite snowy. For the last few years, I’ve really only watched one or two shows a week, if that. We used to get great British crime series on Friday night, so that was our watching-TV-together time. We watch the occasional DVD, but that’s also mostly so that the DH and I do something together. The rest of the time, he’s in his study, I’m in mine
We still have a TV. There are only 5 channels here, and our reception for 3 of them is quite snowy. For the last few years, I’ve really only watched one or two shows a week, if that. We used to get great British crime series on Friday night, so that was our watching-TV-together time. We watch the occasional DVD, but that’s also mostly so that the DH and I do something together. The rest of the time, he’s in his study, I’m in mine
We have one channel that comes in “okay”. Never felt the need to get cable or anything. We listen to NPR for news and read it from the Internet.
We’re quite happy with the situation.
I guess I’m in the minority here but I love good TV
I’m not into any of the reality shows but I love to watch CSI:NY and Law and Order: SVU for the drama, the dialogue and the characterizations.
The best advance in technology in decades is the Tivo/DVR thingie. I can’t live without my DVR now! Skip over the commercials, pause live TV, rewind to hear the dialogue I missed, set it to record the few shows I watch regularly to watch them when I want. I adore it!
I must admit I don’t have lots of time to watch much TV since I write in the evening after my kiddos are in bed. Still, there’s nothing I enjoy more than snuggling with my husband on Sunday nights (my night off!) and watching The Office and My Name is Earl.
I think I like it for the same reason that’s been cited on here about *not* liking TV, because I desperately need those times when I can turn my brain off for awhile and just relax.
I guess I’m shallow
RaeAnne
don’t much care for the boob-tube myself. Will watch once in a long while, usually some home improvement show or something interesting like Mythbusters. But on the whole I much prefer to be reading and writing.
But I had to comment on your once a year garage clean out quip–ever see a show called Clean Sweep?
No t.v. at my house. My daughter watches movies and I’ll watch one if I’m completely wiped out. But it amazing how much more time I have now. I only have a precious few hours in the evening before I have to go to bed and get up and do the day job all over again. I can’t justify watching t.v. and wasting those hours.