Writing a novel

I subscribe to "The Writer" magazine, and find them full of valuable tips in relation to writing. I have finally started to write a book which is more autobiographical in nature. They say that one needs to write one's own story first in order to get personal issues out of the way to enable one to focus o writing novels.
I need to begin to discipline myself and my time in order to achieve this. I am thinking of moving to an Island in the pacific where there are no distractions. There are about 1500 people on the Island- so it is not totally isolated.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

Today in The Age newspaper, I read about Joumana Haddad and was very impressed with her background and the first poem of hers that I read has left me thinking about the content.
Nativebee3