Of the three panels I went to at the San Jose Book Group Expo, which I attended with Marcia, I got the most out of the one titled “Exploring the Writer’s Imagination,” with ZZ Packer, Sara Gruen, and Andrew Sean Greer.

Along with describing how they got their ideas and how ideas evolve, the writers also discussed choosing the details that make up a piece of writing. When researching his novel The Confessions of Max Tivoli, Greer went through old newspapers picking out vivid items, like an advertisement for gloves with embroidered birds on the palms (Get it? Bird in the hand?), some of which he used in the novel. “Writers have to have a kind of magpie’s eyes that picks out all the glittering things,” he said. Very true. The crafting part of writing depends on what details you pick, and how you arrange them on the page. The more the details catch the mind’s eye, the more interesting the writing becomes.

The writers also talked about procrastination. Sara Gruen’s case of procrastination was so bad, she had repainted her living room five times and organized her rubber band collection according to size. Finally, she decided to move her desk into the walk-in closet. She covered the window, shut off the phone, bought noise-reducing headphones, and went in there every day with nothing but her manuscript and her tea. She figured that if she stayed in there long enough, something would happen with her book. And, of course, it did.

I have actually tried writing in a closet. I have also tried driving to the beach, sitting in freezing libraries, and writing in coffee shops. Here is what I have learned: you can take away everything from me but a piece of paper and a writing implement and I will still find a way to procrastinate. Concentrating for me is a choice–if I don’t decide to do it, I won’t.

But Gruen’s determination did inspire me to simply sit with the novel I’m writing and not allow myself to be distracted. So every morning this week, Kyle has been turning off the Internet and I’ve been forcing myself to focus on the novel alone. So far, I have seen some progress. Let’s hope it continues.