Are you spread too thin?

Balancing writing with blogging and building your online platform.

Building an author platform is a must these days. Especially before you finish your novel – once it’s published, it’s too late. The momentum has gone. But with all the time it takes to create, grow, and maintain your online platform mainly with social media posts and content creation – will there be enough time to complete your novel?

Previously I’ve blogged about time management, but when it comes to final edits where you need huge chunks of time to remain in the headspace of your WIP, the author platform can get in the way.

Maybe you can avoid this ahead of time by scheduling posts well in advance. But some social media sites do not allow you to schedule unless you pay for a management program (like hootsuite.) The idea is nice, but I don’t want to fork out money for website and application subscriptions if I don’t actually have a product to market. So I still do things manually, schedule on most sites, but only ever a week or two in advance.

So when it came time for the copy edit, or final draft of my latest novel, it meant taking a break from blogging for a while. I usually spend 1-2 hours on content creation, and 1-2 hours interacting with my social network a day when I’m in my writing phase, which I take 4-5 hours to indulge in. But that is not sustainable for the final draft. I need full concentration to track plot points, continuity, flow, pacing; and leaving the narrative for too long means losing the headspace I need in order to keep the project moving forward.

Am I alone in this? Does anyone else out there need to block out consecutive clumps of time to do that final tweak and read-through?

I’m fine writing multiple projects, but when it comes to the last edit before sending it out to and editor or publisher, I practically lock myself in a sensory deprivation chamber to focus. Only because other things like eating, sleeping, getting chores done, shopping also steal my time, so I cherish every moment I get to work my novel.

So if any of you who read my blog regularly have noticed my absence, well, that’s why. I’m wrapping up a few projects and needed the time to dot my i’s and cross my t’s. And ideally I’d love to schedule posts months in advance to avoid this in the future, but the amount of time to achieve this also steals away my writing time. I’ve made a deal with myself that I need to spend at least double the amount of time on writing as I do on social media. It helps to stop falling down the k-hole of status updates and scrolling through feeds if you have a time limit. Stick to the priorities. Set an alarm. Achieve something every day.

Do you track how much time you spend on your author platform vs. writing? Or marketing activity vs. creating your novel?

Maybe my activities will change once I start to earn more money from my writing and can afford to employ a team, or outsource certain tasks… but until then, it’s going to mean I disappear from the internet for a while every now and then. But that’s good news. I’m not ignoring you, I’m finishing up a novel that will hopefully provide you with hours of entertainment and enrich your reading life.

#amwriting  #amediting  #ampublishing

© Casey Carlisle 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Just Get On With It Already

Mental anguish at the writing process… be gone!

Sometimes I feel like I am talking about my writing more than actually getting the activity done in reality. Everyone knows I’m a writer, and are always asking how things are going, what I’m working on. And lately I’ve found my answers are restricted to one or two sentences.

Mainly because I’m getting frustrated at the repetition of answers, the time it takes to explain everything, and some frustration at my progress. Now I understand how actors feel when they are going the promotional interviews for their latest project. I need to channel some of their enthusiasm and inject some quirky charisma into the conversation… but I’m so socially awkward at times I’m worried I’ll start farting from butterflies in my tummy.

In my head I should be able to churn out amazing prose at an inexorbitant rate, novels shooting from the printer, little editing needed, before charging on to the next adventure.

What a lovely deluded little dream.

Hitting that creative stride comes in intervals. Content editing is exhausting having to track so many concepts at once. The beta reading and drafting process is gruelling and lengthy. Yet I love it all. The creative process of taking black viscous oily substance and adding the pressure of each step, increasingly until a diamond is formed at the other end. I still get amazed at what is produced. It has usually morphed into an entirely different creature.

I just wish the time it took was substantially less. And yes, I could push things along at a faster rate, but fear of an inferior novel getting published – and my name attached to it – resound loudly like a Chinese dinner gong. I’ve read too many self-published novels with spelling errors, ill-though-out concepts and an obvious skipped thorough editing process. They make me cringe, angry even. I would never want a reader to feel that way about my writing.

So I have my charts and spreadsheets to track my progress. It’s almost like I’m back in Grade School, placing a star in my column after each achievement. As juvenile as it is – it works for me.

I have been reviewing 2017 as it is coming to a close. Feeling out if I am satisfied with the achievements. Am I impressed? The short answer is – sort of. I guess I will never really reach those lofty goals I set for myself: but that’s the point. I like to push myself. But these schedules never allow for a social life, a visit to the dentist, taking time to play with the dog, or that time you got so sick with the flu and weren’t even able to look at a computer because the digital glare was like stabbing knives into your eyes.

I shouldn’t feel disappointed in myself because life gets in the way. It’s those little adventures that make it interesting. That provide inspiration to continue with your craft.

So I guess this post is all about giving myself a break. Feeling proud in the amount I have achieved. And a letter to anyone out there who goes through the same angst-ridden self-depreciation. It will take as long as it takes. Don’t cut corners and represent yourself in the best light. The work will speak for itself. Yes, these are all clichés – but they at common for a reason – they are time tested.

The next time you get stuck, or frustrated at the meagre number of words on your screen, remember you’ll get there in the end. Take a deep breath and pat yourself on the back for even getting this far. So many give up because there is no instant gratification. Why are you writing in the first place? Tap back into that feeling.

Stay Calm and Write On.

© Casey Carlisle 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.