BEWARE of Growling Author!

Alert! I've been without Internet service for almost a week now, and I'm getting grumbly. I'm actually sitting in my local library writing this, and that's not all bad (thank goodness for libraries!), but I'm having a difficult time adjusting to this inconvenience while I wait for the return of my "in home" connection.

It's amazing how dependent I am on the Worldwide Web! What did authors do in the "old days" when all they had were pencil and paper, trusty typewriters, and "books" for research? I'm shocked at how often throughout my writing day I click on Dictionary(dot)com or quickly type something into my search engine so I can have important information delivered to me in an instant. We live in an "INSTANT" society, don't we, and while there's nothing particularly wrong with that, I do think it's important to "take the long way home sometimes". That's what I've been doing lately. Instead of surfing the web for immediate info I've had to search my bookshelf for answers and, woe is me, haul out my trusty hard copy dictionary! (Can you imagine?)

I'm learning patience in the process and discovering what it must have been like for early writers who didn't have this instant information at their fingertips. I wonder if they pondered for longer periods. I do know they weren't spitting out three and four books a year like so many of today's authors.

Although I'm missing my Internet and, yes, grumbling and growling at the inconvenience, I want to take advantage of this slower pace. I need to gaze out my office window more and pause to gather my thoughts. I'm too quick to search for answers and ideas on the Internet when often that inspiration lies right within my own built-in "computer".

And now--back to my work-in-progress!