I'm also bothered by motions as well, which is why I absolutely have to be alone when I'm writing anything. That, or near a person who's extremely talented at sitting perfectly still. A Buddhist monk mid meditation, if you will. People stomping through the house even tends to keep me from working. The second anything comes into my mind that isn't one hundred percent related to the task at hand, it might as well be gone for good. Imagine how much I hated using Microsoft Word when that stupid little paperclip was still there. People who didn't even have any problems with concentrating hated it.
I'm beginning to think that writers just don't have these problems. That, or that they all live alone. Every single writer who ever talks about their process seems to be living completely by themselves in a little cabin on another planet. I'm waiting to see if there are any real people out there who have to lay their heads down on their desks until their mother stops screaming about who won on America's Got Talent.
If any of you happen to be reading this post, I have a bit of a solution. By 'bit of a solution', I mean that it sometimes helps me, but not always. Listening to music, for example, can't do a thing to stop my brain from emptying itself out ever time the entire house vibrates from someone stomping through it. For all of your auditory and visual distractions, however, I believe I have found what may be a step toward a solution.
Music.
I've actually offended quite a few other writers by saying that I listen to music while I write. You just...just can't do that! Oh my God! How do you concentrate?
Well, how do you concentrate with a screaming baby in the background?
Forget I said that. Before you get lost in the world of your headphones, you should probably make sure that Little Timmy hasn't stuck his finger in a light socket.
But I digress...sometimes it's your choice of music that works best. I have an entire writing playlist composed (see what I did there?) of nothing but songs that make me zone out, i.e., I hear the music but am not really paying attention to it. If it's a song I really like or one that's too catchy, I'll find myself focusing on the words or tune and zoning out from the writing. The real goal here is to make sure that you sort of zone out of the music and let it play in the background of your mind, letting the words that you're writing come to the forefront. Slower songs usually work best, as well as songs you could imagine playing while you talk with a friend. Anything that can drown out noise, but at he same time take a backseat to your thoughts. For some reason songs with lower pitches work best for me than higher ones. It's also a good idea to throw in a few songs that remind you of your story in case you're running out of things to say and need to mull over the idea that you first had when you started to write. I also like to make my "Story Soundtrack" into a playlist for when I go on walks by myself. It's pretty much the only way I can brainstorm.
Distraction Free Writing
Hear me out on this. I thought it was only for programmers at first. Not to mention, of course, that it's not exactly aesthetically pleasing. That is, of course, the goal. Felt sort of 'derp' after that one.
DFW programs provide a very basic interface for writing. I didn't think I needed one until I tried one out. I was amazed at how things as minuscule as the task bar and the temptation to check Facebook were hindering me.
Creawriter is one of my favorites. You can choose whatever background image you want, and the ambient sound is a great addition. For some people (myself included), the noise and image gets to be too much sometimes. In that case I would recommend Dark Room or Writemonkey.
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