Silent Writing

I joined a writing group. Once a day, we get on Zoom, chat for ten minutes (sometimes about our projects, usually about something off-topic), then silence our microphones and turn off our videos, and write. Someone is the time keeper, and when their alarm goes off, they turn back on their microphone and video and tell us to return. We chat for five more minutes, and then hop off the Zoom.

I write about one to two pages each time.

I didn’t think I would enjoy it or stick with it as long as I have. I’m a solitary person; I like working alone and in silence.

But there is something about knowing that everyone else is a microphone click away that makes me focus and stick with the task. I won’t lie and say I never go down a rabbit hole of Googling elementary school classmates to see where they ended up (favourite time waster), but I do it less knowing that I’m going to have to get back on at the end and admit how much I accomplished.