tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4693401219959272564.post277550967969652235..comments2024-03-25T05:49:46.932-04:00Comments on My Name Is Not Bob: Floundering (Stevie Libra guest post)Robert Lee Brewerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03733003865003484352noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4693401219959272564.post-83202273798722100752013-04-22T18:02:30.508-04:002013-04-22T18:02:30.508-04:00Thanks you guys! I actually wax poetic a few times...Thanks you guys! I actually wax poetic a few times a month in something that is blogable, though not writerly. Hence the gardening category on my website. :-) Steviehttp://stevielibra.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4693401219959272564.post-23224249638860579572013-04-11T17:39:45.200-04:002013-04-11T17:39:45.200-04:00Yay! I'm not alone with my time management str...Yay! I'm not alone with my time management struggles! Stevie, I'm right there with you. I love how you've addressed how overwhelming it can be to manage a platform. Trying to fit in everything I want to do in a day AND write is impossible. I love how you've simplified everything to what works for you. Great job!Muddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18335145703925880059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4693401219959272564.post-45440676299236765152013-04-07T14:21:13.494-04:002013-04-07T14:21:13.494-04:00Stevie, you may have just given me the courage to...Stevie, you may have just given me the courage to back off from the blog (and everything else platform), at least for a while, without feeling quite so guilty. Everybody who commented has expressed the issues and frustrations so well, too, that I won't repeat. Thanks so much for this post. And good luck with the fiction! Gerryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11956363982769429474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4693401219959272564.post-48577186585639920592013-04-07T12:38:25.116-04:002013-04-07T12:38:25.116-04:00Stevie, It is easy for me, too, to let social medi...Stevie, It is easy for me, too, to let social media control my schedule. I have certain writing goals each day and can't be online if I haven't met them. I like the idea of scheduling it in like the rest of the work I have to do, but I haven't done that yet. <br />Anyway, I enjoyed reading your post. Good luck in your writing endeavors. Linda G. Hattonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14378994713184881963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4693401219959272564.post-36464475733294992412013-04-07T04:37:50.645-04:002013-04-07T04:37:50.645-04:00Learning how to write fiction is a past time that ...<br /><br />Learning how to write fiction is a past time that borders on obsession – a very intimate experience that teaches us a lot about life and how we stand in it as storytellers. <br /><br />Is it even possible to develop skills as a fiction writer while keeping up a massive on line platform for non fiction? <br /><br />Thinking about your fiction platform while starting/learning to write fiction is like building the roads before you know how to drive, let alone designed your vehicle to use on those roads. <br /><br />Personally I don't trust fiction writers with a huge, chatty on-line presence to write engrossing fiction because how can the reader be totally involved in the story if the author was not a 100% drawn into it while writing it ?<br /><br />See, now I've missed out on a good few words of writing on a sunday morning by commenting here... xxDC Gallinhttp://dcgallin.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4693401219959272564.post-68396105696003756122013-04-06T21:16:42.758-04:002013-04-06T21:16:42.758-04:00A great post, Stevie.
A great response, Melanie.
...A great post, Stevie. <br />A great response, Melanie.<br />I write short fiction, essays, and poetry. I've worked at this for a few years, am becoming more polished with every passing day, and as you know that takes time––the writing/revising/simmering/revising again. Then there's the commitment to getting my work "out there."<br />I've attended writers' conferences, and belong to a writing group. More time. At conferences, there's always the push for platforms. I said no to Twitter for now, butI beefed up my Facebook content. It took time and continues to take time. <br />I also created a blog, Flying Pages.<br />I posted twice a week with a healthy editorial calendar worked out. I enjoy what I write for my blog, and I learn from what I write for my blog. But it still took time.<br />Who's following me, what are my stats, am I commenting enough on other blogs, why aren't more people following me, are my posts diverse yet succinct enough––and the merry-go-round picked up speed. I was hyperventilating.<br />In the end, I found I had to cut back posting to once a week. I also stepped back a few paces with Facebook. I had to, because I wasn't doing what I should be doing––writing. <br />I've reprioritized. Like Melanie commented, I'm "breaking a pencil" with fresh writing and polishing the old. <br />Writing is isolation enough w/o having to feel constricted by additional have-to's, should'ves, and could'ves.<br />I'm still tweaking the platform process. What is most important, though, is having the freedom to enjoy what brought me to all of this in the first place––creative writing.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15123676447865226668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4693401219959272564.post-26489936384033425332013-04-06T14:42:37.261-04:002013-04-06T14:42:37.261-04:00Stevie, I think your post is great. One of the th...Stevie, I think your post is great. One of the things that I've learned over the past year is that platform isn't for everyone. You really have to see how it will work best for you, not the other way around.<br />There are those that will tell you that unless you're uncomfortable, that you're not growing, but you have to assess where you need to feel uncomfortable. If it's not helping you to develop in the ways that you want, focus your efforts elsewhere. <br />Writing can be enough of a stretch into the discomfort zone and if that's where you need to focus your efforts, I say go for it. <br />Try not to feel that you have to platform to write. Several experts suggest that you focus on writing first, then, when you have a product to support, dive back in as a means of promotion and community building.<br />I've cut my blogging down to weekends. With a full time job, it's really hard to balance everything. Right now, it's working, but I find that I'm still behind on some things. I just can't make enough time for everything. So I prioritize and steel myself not to feel guilty. <br />Break a pencil in your writing endeavours. Find a place for your online life that fits with what you want to do and accomplish. there really is no wrong way, there is only the way that works best for you.<br />MelMelanie Marttilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15802169149532376716noreply@blogger.com