Monday, March 14, 2011

Wynter's Addiction


My name is Wynter and I'm a Scrabble-aholic.

They say the first step is denial. I did deny the power for a while—the power a word game held over my life. But I came to realize that the addiction had a life of its own. Not only had become a fun way to procrastinate instead of writing certain difficult scenes in whatever WIP I happened to be struggling with, but I started playing even when I wasn't in a writing quagmire.

I usually stuck to the safe and convenient computer version, but when my parents arrived one year for their annual snowbird stay, the disease took hold. Since I work with words all day long in my writing, my skills as a Scrabble player had skyrocketed. My mother was no longer a shoe-in for the three-way board game version in which we jointly partook. Only a few years into my journey as a full time writer, I was winning at least seventy percent of the time. My folks regularly gasp when I go out with words like couture, ruinous and plethora.

The extent of my addiction became clear when my tech guru took my recently deceased desktop with my Scrabble CD stuck in the CD drive. He had the machine for weeks. I started searching for online word games and yes—I even bought a brand new game CD because I couldn't live without my old friend.

I'm trying a new approach now. I limit myself to three games a day. So far, it's been keeping the monster at bay. What about you? What addictions keep you from working or doing things you should?

11 comments:

Michelle Polaris said...

Web surfacing and obsessive emal checking keep me from writing. Not quite as good for your mind as scrabble. But I'm also addicted to TED videos now.

Wynter said...

TED?
I have that web surfing and email problem, too! I'm doomed.

Hot Ash Romance Novels said...

Fabulous addiction, Wynter. It's good to keep the brain cells functioning.

I'm not much for games. But I keep my mind sharp by trying to figure out if I can afford my on-line shopping addiction. LOL

Hot Ash Romance Novels said...

Fabulous addiction, Wynter. It's good to keep the brain cells functioning.

I'm not much for games. But I keep my mind sharp by trying to figure out if I can afford my on-line shopping addiction. LOL

Wynter said...

Now that's a dangerous pursuit, Ash! I must admit - I do a little of that myself.

Katie Reus said...

Your addiction is better than mine! If I'm bored or stuck on a scene I usually check out hulu.com to see if there's a new show out...Scrabble seems like a better idea :)

Wynter said...

Well, that's true, Katie. Honestly, I don't like watching TV on my computer - thankfully!

Dalton Diaz said...

Web surfing and email. I killed my Spyder addiction when I switched to a Mac, thank God!

Wynter said...

I heard Spyder is fun - I'd better steer clear!

Terry Odell said...

I've got a 500 variations of Solitaire on my computer and have a handful of games I can lose myself in if I'm not careful. On the flip side, they seem to help clear my brain. But for a total time-waster, I play Snoods.

Terry
Terry's Place
Romance with a Twist--of Mystery

Wynter said...

Snoods? I'll have to look that one up. More time-wasters - oy!