I've really gotten into twitter in the past couple of months after having an account for several years and doing nothing with it. Once I started adding people to follow it started to get a lot more interesting and then I found that other writers hang out on there and people blog about writing, how to do it better, how to publish a book, how to find an agent etc. Even some agents blog and twitter and you can learn from them too.
There is also the self-publishing crowd, and there is lots of advice on how to do it and why you should or shouldn't do it. There still seems to be a bit of stigma attached to self-publishing because so much drek is making it on Amazon and other sites for easy download. Some of these are obvious by the crappy book covers or poorly written descriptions, but some of it sneaks under the RADAR and clogs up the path for really good books. I'm still torn about self-publishing. You have a lot more control over timing and price-points and book covers etc. You lose out in marketing and the "Cheese-touch" of self-publishing. All of these things are side issues to actually finishing the novel though.
There is a plethora of information out there, but at some point you have to put it all aside and write! I found that twitter leached a lot of time that I could be spending actually working on my novel instead of reading about how to work on my novel. Same goes for this blog. I enjoy doing it, but I'm closing in on the end of the manuscript for my first novel and I REALLY want to finish it, NOW! I find myself doing less twitter reading and also less blogging as I close in on the finish line. The voice in my head keeps yelling at me to, "Finish the damned thing! Stop screwing around!"
So I'm trying to do that. I did blog some last week but this past week I was busy writing. Sorry, no blogs. I do feel some guilt though. I know I need to work on branding my book and myself, and blogging is part of that. I understand that. I figure I'll have a lot more time to blog while I'm editing. I could be wrong about that too.
Since my last update I've written 7767words for a total of 103,867 words, about 94% finished. Well that's the first draft anyway. That’s more than 460 pages double-spaced 12 font Courier New. That's a lot of editing to do. I made another pass on chapter one this week and revamped the book cover too. I think it's a lot more striking; I'd love to hear your comments!
Clear Ether!
There is a plethora of information out there, but at some point you have to put it all aside and write! I found that twitter leached a lot of time that I could be spending actually working on my novel instead of reading about how to work on my novel. Same goes for this blog. I enjoy doing it, but I'm closing in on the end of the manuscript for my first novel and I REALLY want to finish it, NOW! I find myself doing less twitter reading and also less blogging as I close in on the finish line. The voice in my head keeps yelling at me to, "Finish the damned thing! Stop screwing around!"
So I'm trying to do that. I did blog some last week but this past week I was busy writing. Sorry, no blogs. I do feel some guilt though. I know I need to work on branding my book and myself, and blogging is part of that. I understand that. I figure I'll have a lot more time to blog while I'm editing. I could be wrong about that too.
Since my last update I've written 7767words for a total of 103,867 words, about 94% finished. Well that's the first draft anyway. That’s more than 460 pages double-spaced 12 font Courier New. That's a lot of editing to do. I made another pass on chapter one this week and revamped the book cover too. I think it's a lot more striking; I'd love to hear your comments!
Clear Ether!
Forget Twitter and blogging. Keep writing.
ReplyDeleteI thought I left a comment on here, but it didn't take. I plan to keep writing! Twitter in small doses and blogging when I can work it in. I actually like the blogging thing. I just need to get better at it. I'm so glad you came by Ivy!
ReplyDeleteYou are good at blogging.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ivy!
ReplyDeleteTodd:
ReplyDeleteThis is a great blog post. Twitter is important to build a base, but if writers don't actually spend most of their time writing, what is there to tweet about? It really is a delicate balance and not nearly as easy as some people might think.
Enjoyed this post and others. Great blog.
Thank you so much Lisette! I am really not into selling anything on Twitter, just trying to make contacts with other writers and enjoy the strange link from time to time. It's always nice to connect to real people though. Thank you for taking the time to read the blog. =)
ReplyDelete