A Curmudgeon on Caffeine

Here in the trenches of NaNoWriMo, I'm a little busy trying to figure out a couple of things, like why a secondary character has suddenly decided she'd like to be the antagonist (I mean, seriously?!) and how many cups of coffee can I drink before I start acting like Kramer from Seinfeld.

So, as you can see, my mind is not very focused on marketing or social media at the moment. But when I saw this quote in Writer's Digest (Nov/Dec 2017), I chuckled - okay, so it was more like caffeine-tinged-maniacal laughter - because not only is it an excellent strategy for social media but also for life in general.

"EVEN IF YOU ARE A NATURALLY CRANKY,

SNARKY, SOUR-TEMPERED PAIN IN THE ASS,

FOR GOD'S SAKE,  SHARE THAT 

WITH YOUR THERAPIST OR PRIEST. 

WHEN YOU GO ONLINE TO PROMOTE YOURSELF

AND THEREFORE YOUR PRODUCTS,

TRY NOT TO ACTUALLY SCARE

PEOPLE OFF YOUR LAWN."

(Jonathan Maberry)

As someone who, in real life, straddles the line between pleasantly polite yet keeps-to-herself and curmudgeonly crazy lady who peers through the blinds absolutely certain those kids on tricycles are up to no good, I really hope I'm at least keeping my digital lawn welcoming and well-tended.

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Are you running on caffeine right about now? Is your digital lawn full of weeds? How about your real lawn? Do you chase kids off your property or do you join them in a rousing game of hide-n-seek?

Brains? Yum!

For January's IWSG post, I talked about potentially expanding my social media presence, and you all were so helpful in sharing what you do and how you use social media. I noticed many of you mentioned being on lots of different platforms but feeling badly about not really utilizing them to their fullest. Then blogging buddy Patricia Stoltey mentioned this great post by James Scott Bell, where he asks about social media, "Are you using it, or is it using you?"

My biggest takeaway from Bell's Social Media is Eating Your Brain? I'm not crazy. 

"Here's the truth: social media is eating your brain, affecting your ability to concentrate and work deeply, and sabotaging the quality of your fiction - which is the one thing you cannot afford to have sabotaged if you want a long-term career!"

I've noticed over the last few years that my ability to concentrate has deteriorated. I thought it was just a fact of getting older or something like that. I used to write and/or read a book for hours. Now I'm lucky if I get through half an hour before becoming fidgety and reaching for my computer, my phone. 

"I noticed that I'd only get through a few pages in a book before I'd feel like checking Twitter or Feedly or some news sites. I was losing the ability to "get lost" in a book, one of the main pleasures of reading."

If I'm already struggling to concentrate on my writing and my reading, do I really want to add another social media platform? I don't think so. Bell recommends going with the one platform you really enjoy. So I'll be sticking with blogging and just stretching myself a bit over on Goodreads. Hmm, writing about writing and talking about books? Those are two social media outlets I can totally get into.  

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Are you rethinking how you use social media? Have you been using it more, really getting into it and enjoying it, or have you been dragging your feet, like a kid going to the dentist? Have you read James Scott Bell's article in full? I recommend it!

Midweek Miscellanea - Monotasking, Poets, and Minions

I recently read two excellent - and somewhat related - posts over at Writer Unboxed: 

Liz Michalski's "That Crazy Friend" discusses the distraction of social media -"Shortly thereafter I realized that if the Internet took human form, I could arrest it for stalking."

Therese Walsh's "Monotasking: The Forgotten Skill You (and I) Need to Re-claim, ASAP" talks about our struggle to focus - "Our minds have become fragmented because we are living fragmented lives."

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And speaking of being distracted and not focusing. . . have you ever wondered "Which Famous Poet Are You?" Me neither. But I still took this fun quiz and found out I am most like Emily Dickinson.  

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And more distractions . . . a whole YouTube channel of Minions! Swing those pants, baby!