Writing Tips: Stephen King & Virginia Woolf Give Advice

[muskndusk]

I'd regard the computer as optional during the process of creation. Access to the internet? You must be joking! When I'm serious about writing, I unplug the modem. It doesn't become functional until I've written all I need to that day. The internet is the most time-draining form of procrastination I can think of!

[LifenProse]

You repeatedly mention that a computer is necessary if you want to write a novel, but fail to say why. So why is it so important to have a computer? I feel like your focusing too much on specific things, its as though your saying if you have a computer and an empty room; you can write a story. Any person who has attempted writing something knows that this is not true. Just ask JK Rowling who scribbled her first version of Harry Potter on a notepad in a public cafe.

[LifenProse]

@LifenProse Writing has nothing to do with your physical surroundings, though being in a private place can help avoid interruptions and procrastination; if you want to write, you need to pursue your story doggedly, no matter where you are, or what materials you have. There's no point trying if you're just going to sit around waiting for inspiration to come up and whack you over the head, because that sure as hell isn't going to happen. You need to chase inspiration down and drain it dry.

[101Witch101]

You definitely don't need a computer to write a book. You definitely don't become an instant best-seller by locking yourself in a room with a computer.