The Required Amount of Slacking Off

Writing requires discipline. Staring at a blank Word document just letting random scenes flit about my head is not productive. Looking at a half-written page, closing it, and running off to play Neopets is not any better. Trying to write the next chapter of a fan fiction while checking email, forums, and deviantArt every few seconds isn't the best idea, either.

At the same time, forcing myself to stare at the blinking cursor for forty minutes when The Muse is hiding behind the lamp and laughing at my foolishness isn't the greatest way to write, either. Discipline by itself can put words on a page, but a story should be more than just that. What's the point of writing for enjoyment if, well, I'm not enjoying it? Writing isn't necessarily a romantic enterprise 100% of the time, but the words should start flowing once I get started. If not, I can't guarantee the slightest bit of quality in the story, and that's not going to help me get back into the swing of things.

I'm still trying to find the balance between putting my rear to the chair to write and taking enough breaks. I need some taste of life to write about it (or some strange, alternate version of it, anyway), but I didn't exactly get loads of writing done while I was running about Japan and China in May. (Additionally, I'm too much of an introvert to want to experience too much on a daily basis.) Managing NaNoWriMo alongside a full school/social schedule really helped, I think, but it's a totally different balance to strike in the middle of summer with nothing but church and some hospital volunteering as my face-to-face social interaction.

How do you manage writing at a good pace for you? Do you have any recommendations for disciplined writing (other than my favourite, Write or Die)? How about for break time?