No TV, No Problem
People sometimes look at me like I’ve just confessed to eating soup with a fork when I tell them: I don’t really watch TV. Not in a snobby, “I don’t even own a television” way (I do own one, thank you very much—it sits there like a patient dog waiting for me to throw it a bone). It’s just that, well… I never seem to get around to actually watching it.
I mean to. I have the best of intentions. My Netflix queue is like one of those bottomless pit myths, the kind where every time you toss something in, it echoes endlessly into the void. I’ve got shows saved from, like, three years ago, all bright-eyed and eager for me to hit play. And yet, somehow, I blink and a month has passed. I swear my evenings get eaten by a time gremlin.
The Question Everyone Asks
Whenever I casually drop that I don’t watch much TV, people always give me that look—you know the one—like I just admitted to never having tried pizza. Then comes the inevitable:
“But what do you do all night if you’re not watching TV?”
Cue my awkward shrug. Because apparently, for a lot of folks, TV is the default mode once dinner is over. For me, though, evenings are my playground. I read. I write. I poke around with story ideas, get lost in research tangents (the number of rabbit holes I’ve gone down about 1930s slang would shock no one who knows me). That’s where my hours vanish.
And honestly? I kind of love that. When I was still working full time, people used to ask me all the time how I managed to find hours in the day to write novels. The answer has always been the same: no TV. That little trade-off is my secret sauce.
Not Anti-TV (Promise)
Here’s the thing: I’m not anti-television. I’m not out here waving a banner that says “Down With Streaming.” I actually like TV. I’ll fall down the rabbit hole of a good series just like anyone else. I mean, when I finally sat down and binged Stranger Things, I resurfaced days later looking like I’d been living in the Upside Down myself.
The problem is, for me, TV is too easy to push aside. Reading a book feels urgent because the stack by my bed is taller than me at this point. Writing feels urgent because, well, my characters won’t shut up until I get their stories down. But TV? I tell myself, “I’ll get to it later.” And then later turns into never.
My “Someday Queue”
Here’s the embarrassing confession: my Netflix queue has become more like a graveyard. Shows I swore I’d watch “soon” are now on season six, and I’m still parked at episode one. The longer I wait, the more intimidating it gets. Like, can I really commit to six seasons of something when I can barely manage my laundry?
Still, there are a couple series I’m determined to tackle. At this point, I might need to go full Type-A and actually pencil “watch two episodes” into my planner, right between “buy groceries” and “revise chapter ten.” Imagine scheduling TV like it’s a dentist appointment. But hey, maybe that’s the only way I’ll ever get around to it.
Why I Don’t Feel Guilty
Some people get defensive when I say I don’t watch TV, like I’m silently judging them for enjoying it. I’m not. Honestly, if TV is your thing—amazing. We all need a way to unwind. My way just happens to look like flipping pages or pounding away at a keyboard until my wrists complain.
For me, there’s something ridiculously satisfying about closing my laptop after an evening of writing and knowing I’ve got a chapter more than I had yesterday. Or finishing a book and adding it to my “read” shelf (which, let’s be real, is the only competition I’ll ever win: me vs. my own never-ending TBR). That kind of payoff just feels better to me than catching up on the latest season of whatever’s trending.
That said, I’m not giving up on TV altogether. Maybe one night I’ll actually sit down, remote in hand, and finally watch one of those shows collecting dust in my queue. But until then, I’ll keep doing what I do—filling my evenings with words instead of episodes. And if people still think that’s weird… well, they’re probably not wrong.
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My Ghost Oracle Box Set (Nick Michelson) is now available from your favorite online retailer in ebook format.
Books 1-3: https://books2read.com/u/mBKOAv
Boox 4-6 https://books2read.com/u/mVxr2l
