I recently read an article - no, l'll admit, read part of an article - about the benefits of distraction for writers. The author did say that we need to minimize distractions *while* we're in the act of writing, but distractions in the rest of our lives can lead to discoveries of new ideas or characters or colors or noticing a smell - the list of potentials is long.
Those "distractions" are what help our stories come alive and keep the reader engaged.
Recently I've been having some of those "distractions." And trying to take notes of them when can. Sometimes the notes don't make sense out of context. One recent example I put out into the world as a twitter post; and when looked at it, the punch was gone. So my challenge as a writer, then, when those glimpses and smells and bits of overheard conversation flow into my awareness - distract me- to put them into a story or poem or scene so they have a new context where they make sense.
Yes, distraction isn't always bad.
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