jessiemac.com

A few days ago I checked my blog and was horrified to find that my last post was published back in January. It didn’t seem that long ago. Looking at my blog, what seemed like a home not long ago now looks like graveyard.

One thing that’s a constant on my to-do list is to write a blog post. It’s one thing I’ve not been able to cross off for some time now. It’s on my mind every day yet it’s the one thing that gets pushed to the bottom of the list. Below that would be editing. I haven’t touched my novel ‘Insomniac Foetus’ at all this year.

Is it me or am I the only person I know that cannot hold down an office job, friends, family, kids and juggle a few books at the same time? Add Twitter, Facebook and the anything else you can think of to that. It seems I can only do one thing at a time. What is that? I’m temping so it’s not even full-time – I do get days off. I don’t have kids and still I cannot get my butt into normal human gear. Was I a slug in my other life and didn’t ‘transform’ properly? It sure feels like it. I move slower. I think slower. Everything is in slow motion.

Looking around me, I wonder, what does these people take that I’m not taking? What is it that they do that I’m not doing? Why is it that my first thought in the morning and constant thought throughout the day is ‘I want to sleep’.

I’ve decided to post shorter blog posts hoping that it would encourage me to post more. More than once every two months! The fact that you can read this will mark this a big achievement already.

I’ve been dipping my toes in. Into what you might ask? That simple yet frightening thing calling itself Twitter. And I’m learning, I think, I hope. Not sure what Twitter etiquette is yet – hopefully no one has been offended by my click happy fingers yet or ever. Do people expect you to follow them if they follow you? See, it’s questions like that that bug me as I roam, click and read like mad. See if I was an highly excellent blogger as outlined by Celestine Chua’s 8 Habits of Highly Excellent Bloggers article then I would have all the answers for you on this page. But I don’t. It’s 3.58am and like an unruly child, I know I should be asleep. I’m new at this and I’m learning. Let me be.

Strangers are signing up to follow me and I’m following people as well.  Before you pick up the phone and call 911 (sorry 999) and label me a stalker, let me just say, it’s allowed. To cyber stalk, sorry, I meant follow total strangers who if you pass them on the street wouldn’t know you and vice versa. I admit I got a little, okay a lot, click happy and started following people who seemed remotely interesting.

One of these twitters or tweeters or twits or twats (no, that can’t be right, there would be an uproar if people started calling other people that) I’m following is BubbleCow (@bubblecow) after finding them whilst trawling on the Internet like the Internet junkie I am becoming. I guess stalking Mr Internet won’t get me arrested and no one is going to say ‘he’s just not that into you’ when I tell them about this new obsession with Mr Internet with his large information networks. That’s what Mr Internet does for me, provide me with valuable information, to the point of overload. And I can’t get enough. I should stop this analogy before the Erotica Police hunt me down. Anyway it doesn’t help with sleep either. Probably the opposite. The mind has no excuse to stop.

Anyway, BubbleCow’s website is full of valuable information about the publishing industry and all aspects of the writing process – for aspiring writers like myself. It was only when I read them that I found out they’re a family blog of husband and wife, Gary and Caroline Smailes, both writers. Not only is their website helpful but they twitter often directing you to other useful writing resources.

One particular article of theirs got my attention today – Why (and How) Writers Should Blog Every Day. Why did it? Well, today before reading the article I actually tweeted (@insomniacfoetus) if I should blog or write. This is what Gary Smailes had to say:

The number one priority MUST be to write and get your book written. Without a written book you have nothing to pitch and nothing to sell. If you genuinely have so little free time that it is consumed fully by writing, then forget about trying to build a loud online voice. Instead, focus on making your book amazing, producing a great book pitch and approaching traditional publishers.

And I’m happy to say I chose writing instead of blogging. I’m blogging now because I can’t sleep and my brain is not feeling particularly creative – I haven’t found the switch button yet – to write the novel (114,000 words and counting). This week, I’ve read again and again about how writers should build a platform – online promotion or self promotion. Gary says:

Blogging every day makes a difference. The massive output of content feeds google, attracts visitors (potential readers) and builds your voice.

Yet it is hard work. The key comes down to priorities. If you are serious about building a platform, then it needs to become a job (a way of life). You need to ‘find’ time each day to read blogs, leave comments, play with twitter, update your Facebook and write blog posts.

Having only got into Twitter recently (42 followers) and after creating my new blog in the last few days, I know that all these new avenues and applications are addictive because they’re new but will normally hold my attention only for awhile. Last year, I went crazy on Facebook for a few months but eventually had to force myself back to real life reality. The only difference now is everywhere I read, this is suppose to be a part of my job as aspiring novelist.

I’m going to get fat sitting in front of my computer all day! It can’t be healthy. Not the amount of time I’m stuck to the screen. But then who doesn’t have a job that can make them unhealthy these days?

Initially, I started my blog for myself as a way of making myself accountable to someone and why not an invisible audience that may or may not be there, anyone who was reading. It was to help me feel mentored while I hide away to write. If you look at my previous posts you’ll see motivational quotes and blog entries were like me as student showing the teachers (anyone who could be reading) what I had done that day or my excuses for not doing what I was suppose to be doing – writing. Now I’m told that I must think about the reader and what they get out of reading my blog. So I’ve got the pressure of motivating myself everyday to make my word quota and on top of that the pressure of entertaining or providing value to my readers (if I have any). Ah man. That’s a whole load of pressure.

I guess if more than three people say this, I must at least try. Reminding me of when I was writing English Literature essays at university, that when you can only find one example to back up your argument, then you could be wrong in your assumption but if you can find more than three, you can be pretty sure that you’re on the right track.

[Sources: pic from here and quotes from BubbleCow]

“Keep away from small people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” Mark Twain – Author

STATUS: Going to try and sleep. It’s 5.01. I’m tired.

This is my first – and short – post using this new wordpress blog.

After spending all day on searching for a theme and setting it up, I’m finding I’m suffering from internet fatigue. Usually you get internet fatigue from sitting and waiting for a slow connection but I think it’s possible to be overloaded with too much information.

I think it’s time to interact with the real world again.