Taking Care of Me

Before I forget…HAPPY EASTER! Hope the Bunny brought you all sorts of numnums to nosh.

I’m in What-A-Writer-Should-Do overwhelm and I was forced to give myself an intervention before I turned into George Jetson on his treadmill. Remember that old, Old, OLD cartoon? “Jane, how do I get off this crazy thing?” Yeah…I’ve got the Jane-How-Do-I-Get-Off-This-Crazy-Thing Syndrome.

Just too much, so I’m chilling back a notch and looking at what isn’t working for me in hopes of discovering what is.

1) Crit group—not working for me.

I joined a crit group. Only problem is, I feel so guilty when I don’t have time to read what a member of the group has posted. I’m trying to get my first draft out and for me, it’s a distraction to read so many different manuscripts because you have to really read them. It’s not pleasure reading. Perhaps if I were someone who totally plots out her books, it’d be okay. But I don’t. So when I break from my WIP and focus on another’s, I totally lose my momentum and need to begin all over again. Maybe I joined too soon, or maybe I need just one crit partner. I’m heading that way. I feel a one-on-one will work better for lil’ ol’ Pantser me. Yeah, think I’ll advertise for a crit partner.

2) Posting for the sake of posting—not working for me.

In the latest social marketing how-to, it’s recommended you post stuff constantly and 11:00 at night is the magic hour. But no posting about you. FaceBook wants your money so no self-advertising.  Which is fine, but how many cute kitty pictures can FaceBook contain without going into insulin shock? And the magic hour? Well…I’m usually asleep at that magic hour. And all the other hours? I’m writing, y’know? And living a life. And I’m just not that type of person who can schedule their day 24/7. It’s too confining. I’ve no idea what is going to happen from this moment to the next and I don’t mind that. Therefore, FaceBook and Twitter will get what they get when they get it and if I’m lost in an algorithmic junk file, then so be it. Speaking of which…

3) Trying to guess the algorithm de jour—not working for me.

Who really knows how those things work? And I guarantee they’ll change. Again, FaceBook wants your advertising dollars.

4) So what is working for me?

Writing is working for me. My amazing editor is working for me. So is my amazing author assistant who also is my proofreader and formatter. And Mr. Al with his lovely book designs. That’s working. My stories come in the prettiest packages.

And I’ve other places to explore…develop my Amazon and Goodreads pages. I’ve really not explored Goodreads at all, save finally figuring out how to post my current read. Oh…and my Goodreads author page?  I found out there’s another C.B. Williams…a British gentleman who wrote a huge tome on butterflies. Still haven’t figured out how to get that off my book list. Alas, I’m just not that scholarly.

The other pieces will come into place eventually. I’m still pretty new with all this. Lots of ways to approach the writing game. I just need to apply what works for me.

Speaking of which, I need to work for me.

Back to the keyboard. Books don’t write themselves, after all.

I leave you with a half-finished painting. It’s fitting, don’t you think? This current adventure here, is half-finished. It’s a self-portrait from a picture Mr. Al took of me with my morning coffee on a cruise ship a few years back. I pulled it out so I could remember the feeling of that day. And who knows? I may even finish it while it’s out there.

Have a great week, Peeps!  (and no, I never EVER think of you as Easter Peeps.)