Writers: How to Avoid Constantly Being Interrupted—And When to Embrace It

Illustration by Molly Fairhurst/Narratively archive You’ve done what feels like the hardest part of writing: You’ve sat down to actually do the thing, gotten through those first sticky words and finally your writing is flowing. Then your phone buzzes, the leaf blower next door starts up, you remember you need to make that doctor’s appointment. Or an interruption takes even more of your focus: a sick family member, a move, even something wonderful like a wedding or a promotion. If you’re a writer of any kind, you’re probably familiar with this pattern. I’ve been there myself many times, only to come back to the page minutes or months later, unable to remember how to get started, what I was working on and sometimes even why I was writing in the first place. Over the years, I’ve tried many things to ward off the interruptions I can prevent. I’ve worn construction headphones to muffle street noise; other times, I’ve used internet-blocking productivity apps like Freedom and Pomodoro timers to keep me on track. I even ordered a time-sensitive lockbox for my cell phone once, but I hardly used it: Locking my phone away entirely felt too extreme. As I put the lockbox in a bag for the thrift store, I started wondering whether it was worthwhile to go to such lengths to avoid interruptions. Is it really possible to do, and if yes, what are some of the best practices and tools you can use to stay focused? (For me, turning off text alerts and those headphones do work… sometimes.) On the other hand, do some writers find ways to accept interruptions, and even incorporate them into their writing and their lives? With these questions in mind, I asked four authors how their writing lives have been shaped by interruptions big and small, how they guard against them and how they’ve moved forward despite — and sometimes, because of — something that’s paused their writing practice. Bruna Dantas Lobato Book: Blue Light Hours To avoid interruptions, I tend to write late at night, when I know no one else will […]

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