Category: blogging

Posted on in blogging, social media, writers, writing

No time for social media because I’m writing

I hear it all the time: to sell books writers must be online marketing themselves. We need blogs updated four times a week. Active Twitter accounts and Facebook pages. Pinterest clip boards filled with images of scenery from our books. And now Instagram because people under 40 want to see us writing, not just read our Tweets.

How exactly are we supposed to get any writing done?

If I spend all that time looking for interesting things to post on my “page”, when will I finish writing a page in my book?

I’m sorry, but my life is not so interesting I think I should fill up the net with images of my toenails or what I ate for dinner. No one’s life is. But we writers will make things up to have something to share online. If only I could come up with that one clever Tweet that goes viral and suddenly I’m a star on line for a day. That one clever comment everyone will repost. My blog will get a bump and I’ll sell more books. It’s like winning the lottery.

If I spend creative energy thinking up funny sayings or hunting for inspirational quotes (which I do, I hate to say) then that is creative energy not spent writing.

Where is the balance? How do we write and still find someone to read it. Writing for yourself is no fun. Writing for thousands is thrilling. Or so I hear. Maybe if people like what I’ve written here in this blog they’ll share it and my blog will be featured all over Facebook. It’s worth a try.

Time to work on my book.

Posted on in blogging, life

Can 100 Happy Days really make you happier?

Last year, I gave the meme #100HappyDays a try. I actively looked for something that made me feel happier and then posted it on Facebook for my friends to see. The last two years have been extremely challenging so I had to do something different to force me to remember the positive.

Did it work?

Surprisingly, yes. At first I felt silly. I rarely pay attention to meme’s and I’m allergic to doing anything just because “everyone is doing it.” But when you reach the emotional bottom you have to try something outside your comfort zone. And I’m so glad I did.

I’ve decided to continue posting 100 Happy Days, but this time I’m stepping it up by posting on my blog, rather than only on my personal Facebook page. Blogging encourages me to look deeper at happiness. On Facebook I can just write “I love how warm my coffee is in the morning.” On a blog, I need to write a little more; why does the warmth of coffee make me so happy in the morning?

Since I began the #100HappyDays on Facebook, many of my friends decided to try it too. They report the meme has helped them find the positive in every day as well. So give it a try. Who cares if everyone is doing it; there’s a reason people are copying each other. 100 Happy Days seems to work.