With all the social networks that have arisen–particularly those for writers and readers–I wonder how much membership and spending time and developing connections at these sites actually benefits the writer versus blogging.
And if so what is the most productive balance of time an author can spend seeking out and making friends at a social space such as Facebook, Myspace, goodreads and/or shelfari vs. blogging at her/his website.
I’m finding that I’m spending more and more time at my website writing and crafting blogs on subjects that reveal who I am as a writer and a person.
The first reason has to do with practicality. I just don’t have the time required for responding to e-mails on questions connections and potential friends at the various sites often pose–the answers of which they can read on my website if they care to click over to.
I will say that I do answer each person who asks to be my friend with a nice e-mail that says, “Thanks for being my friend,” and then I ask them what they have just read–if they are from a literary social space.
If they are from facebook of Myspace I then go to say as I do with connections from the literary networks, “Please visit my website when you get a chance.” I invite them to leave comments if they find helpful an article or musing on a topic about which I’ve written.
By the time I do that I have to move on.
But even with that I am finding that I’m no longer asking people to be my friends on these social spaces unless I see where they might show a particular interest in what I’m writing on my blog and can or will benefit from reading my blogs.
Why do I do this?
As I said, I have to use my time wisely. As an author I first and foremost need to write–my stories and novels.
Secondly, and just as importantly, I don’t want to become a nuisance. People are getting inundated with horrible amounts of spam, or what we might term digital trash mail.
It’s becoming harder and more difficult for individuals to separate out what they like and would benefit from reading as distinct from that which they have no interest in.
Yet and still I don’t have the desire to run the race of trying to connect with everyone when what I have to offer isn’t what everyone needs nor desires.
Many of us, myself included, remain stuck in the mode of interruption advertising that so dominated the consumer culture until recently. With the advent of the internet we much become specialists at not only developing and defining our niche, but also subtly identifying those who desire and would benefit from the niche products we offer–which for fiction writers is the genre of novel or short stories we write and the target audience seeking what we deliver.
There’s an art to this I am learning.
First and foremost is to identify and refine who you are in the writing world and what you write about. My blog is a direct reflection of that.
I am finding that the more I write/blog, the clearer I grow on not simply who I am as a writer, my loves and passions, but also why I write the stories I do. Hopefully those who visit my site will see this too and if I’m lucky they’ll purchase a copy and after reading it will encourage another person to do the same.
Where are you spending your time on the internet as a writer–or as a reader?
I totally agree with what you have written here. When I joined MYSpace I was immediately at a loss. The whole how many friends you have and contests, took my focus off writing. With some reluctance I joined Facebook a few weeks ago, and while different in many aspects I still find myseld inundated with contests and the like. As for my blog, it is how I communicate with my readers, potential readers and myself.
angeia
Thanks so much for your comments.
It’s so easy to begin feeling not only inundated with all that goes on within the various social networks, but also that you are alone in experiencing your overwhelm. I wrote this blog feeling that somehow I was out of kilter and wanting to say to any others who were dizzied by the mayhem, “You’re not strange.”
As the universe always does when we offer ourselves free and without pretense, you’ve returned to me four-fold of what what I sought to share.
Again, thanks so much.
dear,
I like your site very much.
i am also a writer of a book named “The Unfathomable Vastness of God”.
regards, khan
Anjuelle,
I am also finding it hard to keep up my writing while participating in social networking. However, I am a people person, so it’s nice to chat with friends or see what they’ve written now and then. I just need to find a happy balance between the two and limit my time online to take care of emails, Facebook, Goodreads, and the like. When I find that balance, then I feel I’ll have my writing under control again.
Again, my heart is warmed as you so freely share your struggles of finding balance. I knew I wasn’t alone, but to read someone’s description of being torn and lost and wrestling with how much time to give to their passion while needing to be with their family–thanks so much. I really appreciate your honesty. I hope you find my blogs a place you’ll keep revisiting.
Thanks so much. I’m glad you find the site helpful.
I so enjoyed the post. The greatest benefit to me as an emerging yet to be published writer is the connection to those who live the writers life. Writing for me and for what I can tell from more seasoned writers can be a very solitary lonely space. The social networks and blogs create a space and opportunity to break some of the solitude and to know that you are not along on the journey. Not to mention lost cost marketing.
I agree. The writing life is solitary, fraught with what can become deep and intense pockets of loneliness.
We must be careful, as writers to strike a balance–between our work and our play.
Unfortunately for some of us writers the distinctions between play and work become confused. The time we spend crafting our stories often appears as play. Our words and characters reveal so much of our passions. The challenge becomes getting up from the computer and embracing those and the world around us.
Connecting with each other and sharing our stories via the internet allows us the space to remind one another that however solitary an art writing is, it is the world and our energy and actions in it that provide the fodder for our writing.
Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment.