Being a writer requires a lot of writing and it takes hours and hours of watching Scooby Doo for any words to actually hit the page. I’d like to say that I am one of those writers who can sit down for 30 minutes and generate ten thousand words that form into a well thought out story. Sadly, I am not one those writers.

I find that electroshock therapy helps to get the juices flowing. Maybe electroshock therapy is a bit strong, but I do use something called trans-cranial direct current stimulation to help me focus. Using TheBrainDriver v2.1, I find that I can at least focus while I use the machine. I attach the electrodes to my left temple and above my right eye, set the current to 2 milliamps, and then set the timer for 30 minutes and away I go.

There’s always a tingling that I can feel when the current is making its way from the machine to my skin. While it’s not unpleasant, it isn’t exactly pleasant either. But the pressure of the electrodes and the current buzzing really does help me to focus during a writing session. It’s like this: even if the actual current isn’t all that strong, the sensation of wearing the electrodes and knowing that I’m under a running clock really do stop me from checking email, looking at football stats, or chasing a cricket that somehow got into my house. Maybe it’s a long history of ADHD, but I do find that tcds is a great tool that helps me write.

Otherwise, I think a lot, although some might argue that daydreaming doesn’t really count as thinking. I mean, if I actually typed as many words as I have thoughts, i’d have written fifty thousand books by now. But the truth is that I find writing to be hard work and mentally as challenging as running a marathon is physically. I do it every day, though. Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment or maybe I just want to use myself as a lab rat and play with electricity. Maybe writing is just an excuse to look for ways to be distracted. I mean, I tend to get a lot of house work done when it’s time to write.

There is no method or training program or magic writing genie that can get words onto a page. It takes as much work as pulling weeds. But I really do think minor electroshock therapy works to keep my fingers pounding away on the keyboard. I have no idea if tcds actually does anything, but if a sugar pill can cure hypochondria, then what I do I have to lose?

The sad fact is that being a writer requires a lot of writing and there’s always something to distr…..