You can try it if you like, but I don't think you can mudcat, research, listen to music, eat lunch and pet your cats and at the same timee maintain that you are trying to write. The carrel suggestion is best, by if you are going to write, no matter how you control the environment, discipline comes first.

I liken it to quitting smoking. Five years ago I decided to quit ater almost sixty years of two plus packs a day. Nicotine patches, hypnotism, group therapy and all those other emotional crutches didn't stop me from smoking, but DETERMINATION did. And determination is what it takes to write successfully. I frittered away a lot of time before I really understood that.

Thirty years ago my wife was going to be gone for a couple of months. We were living in Montana at the time where there are NEVER any distractins and our rented house was practically unfurnished except for bare necessities. Remote, stark, it was the perfect hermitage. I could hardly wait to get Mrs. Murphy out of the house and on her way. Never was there a better place to distill the experiences of a fruitful life into a manifest for the ages. I thought "Aha! Now, in this peaceful and idyllic getaway, I can finally WRITE!"

But wait! That ugly cord to my portable Underwood. (No PC's then). Here, this small throw rug will cover that! I stand back and survey the room. The small table, exactly in the geometric center of this simple world, the just visible edges of a colorful runner on which the sleek blue typewriter rests. The Webster's dictionarry and a dog-eared Roget's beside. And a cup of coffee on the small bit of table top remaining. And the straight-back chair I brought from the kitchen to place in regal proximity to this simplest of paradises. Now!!!

But wait, this is worth a picture. Get the Exacta. Oh, Oh! Not enough light. Need that flood and the extenion cord, too. Well actually, I should take one with me sitting on the chair. Better get the tripod.

I never wrote a word in those two months. I did get some pretty good pictures, though, and what the hell, don't they always say a picture's worth a thousand words?

Spud