[My Guest Post] Hunting Down the Value of Social Media at SFWA.org

It’s been almost forty-five days since I turned off social media, and this experiment has taken on a life of its own. One thing that’s happened, which was not what I had expected, is that my hiatus has turned into a period of self-discovery and growth.

Today, I talk about the impact this experiment has had on me and my work. Here’s a quote from the article:

So far, my hiatus has had a profound impact on me in ways I’m still discovering. I feel like I’ve left the schools of fishes swimming in and around one another and have sunk to the bottom of the internet ocean. When I was using the tools, I was more in tune with the world around me and knew what trends were popular and what jokes were not. I knew what books were being released, connected with long-distance authors and friends more easily, and had a lot of fun. Now that I’m not, my focus is on me and my work, which has pushed me into several new directions. — SOURCE: Hunting Down the Value of Social Media at SFWA.org

If you’re curious about my 100 days experiment and want to read an in-depth take on this hiatus, I encourage you to read Hunting Down the Value of Social Media at SFWA.org and share your comments.

May 16, 2011
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Pollen-Filled News from the Writer’s Front

Like the tissues surrounding my wastebasket (for I can never quite toss them in), today’s post is going to be a bit random. An amalgamation of allergies and the flu has hit my sinuses with aplomb. Ergo, drugs. No, the good kind. Sinus drugs. My head may feel clearer but the words aren’t necessarily conjoining in their proper order (or definition) by any stretch of the imagination. Not to mention — I’ve had very little caffeine the past few days and this has put me into withdrawal mode as well.

All whining aside, the reason why I’m telling you this is because the sniffles have caused me to forget about the thirty-day mark of not being on Facebook, Twitter or IM. Which, you know, is funny because it was on my mind but I’d almost forgotten about it.

I’m writing a focused article about my experience for another website, so you’ll be able to read a more coherent angle on that there. At the moment, it reads like “And then this happened… AND THEN…” so I’m going to wait until my head clears before I revise. Probably laugh my arse off in the process. Eesh. The short of it is, the responses from other authors have been far more interesting than what I’ve been going through on my own. The reactions squarely fall into two camps.

Here’s a couple of cool things that happened last week:

  • New Story Accepted! – Not sure if you remember when I talked about a story I submitted called “Tailfeather.” Set in a dystopian future based on our own reality, this story is about a woman who went through months of surgeries to become a bird. More to come on that.
  • It’s Time for Estrogen Time – My best friend moved to Atlanta a month or two ago and I’ve been dying for some sushi therapy ever since. Well, it seems I’ve reached a new nirvana — once again I return to making jewelry. I’ve been meeting a ton of people and have been working on a few designs.
  • Figured out a Better Revision Technique – Taking a page from some of the different software designs that are out there like Liquid StoryBinder and StoryBook, I started summarizing scenes during the revision process in a different color. I’m hoping to apply this technique again in the near future to a longer work, but so far so good.
  • I did not write a fan letter to Jeff VanderMeer – I’m currently reading The Third Bear, published by Tachyon Publications. The difference between the stories is pretty profound because the voices are all different. To read a talented author write multiple genres (or various shades thereof) in the same collection is extraordinarily humbling. Why is not writing a fan letter a good thing? Apparently, you’ve never read my fan letters…
  • Got a Wicked Omi Idea – To help get me in an alchemist’s mindset, I’m creating a grimoire. For the cover, I picked up an Omi. Check out some finished versions. Because one of the surfaces is flat, I can attach it to the front of the book and I already have an idea of what I want to do. Better yet — picked it up during Free Comic Book Day! Whoo-Hoo!

Well, that’s about all I have for today. I’m still writing so I hope you’re still reading! 🙂

May 9, 2011
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Day 25: Face Yourself

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from going dark, is that there’s a lot I can learn by talking to other people about their experiences with social media. This time, that insight comes from Ann Voss Peterson who recently conducted our local writer’s workshop about characterization. Ann and I were talking afterward about social media, in part because she has co-written a thriller novel with J.A. Konrath entitled Flee and I was wondering what she was doing to promote it. We were talking about my 100 days experiment and I mentioned I’ve noticed a positive impact on my writing. She said something to the effect of: Well, of course. Because you wind up facing yourself.

Ever have one of those moments where everything starts swirling and you wind up in a scene from Mortal Kombat?

Yeah, okay. I did.

What does that mean? Face yourself. Shutting out social media means turning the mute button on two types of voices. First, you turn off other people’s voices that sing/yell/whisper across your screen. By doing so, though, you are automatically shutting off a second voice. YOURS. The one you use to interact with people on these tools. Which is not the same as your author’s voice, but a separate one. (And before you ask, I view blogging to be yet another voice.)

Just how profound is this? Well, I feel understanding what this means is crucial to self-promotion, time-management and good storytelling. After all, if you don’t have any words on the page, then you have nothing to revise. If you have nothing to rewrite, you have no manuscripts to polish. If you don’t have any finished manuscripts, then you don’t have any stories to submit or hand in for your deadline.

Sure, every writer is different. Some can write fast; others not so much. Still others have no problem pounding out the words, connecting with people, and making it all work. For me, though, I need to have a foundation. I have to figure out what time I need to process my work, to wrap my head around my story, article, etc. I need to listen to “the Monica voice.” To do that, to listen to that crazy girl, I had to tone down the number of voices and have a care to what she’s saying. The more voices I jam into my head, the less I can hear my gut instincts. My inner girl o’ awesome.

Is there some truth to this? That in order to be a better writer you need to face yourself?

For me? Yes, yes it is. Many other things have changed for me during this lights out period, because I wanted that silence to work on other goals. I feel like this simple phrase (“Face Yourself”) sums up not only why I needed to do this, but also solidifies what is happening all around me as well. More on that later!

About 100 Days: From April 4th to July 13th I’m turning the lights off on Facebook, Twitter and IMs for personal use. Read 100 Days: Turning off the Lights on Social Media for more information. You can also read the 100 Days post archive.

April 29, 2011
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Day 22: A Video about the Value of Time Off

Today I’d like to share with you a video Wil Upchurch (Thank you, Wil!) had sent me in an e-mail. This talk was given by Stefan Sagmeister and discusses the value of time off. Every seven years he takes a one-year sabbatical to refresh and rejuvenate his creativity.

I really enjoyed the video not only because it resonates with my social media experiment now, but because there’s a lot of truth to what he’s saying. Constant production — whether it be words or art or whatever — takes its toll. Add deadlines on top of that or some other kind of pressure (e.g. marketing, promotion, social media, other people, etc.) and the quality can (and will) suffer.

Sometimes it’s hard to recognize when that quality takes a dive. Sometimes it’s difficult to understand why or to catch it before it does. In a way, this video reminds me of a mantra I’ve once heard: Americans live to work; Europeans work to live. Here, Stefan shows how the work can be more fulfilling if you take time off to pursue personal projects. Powerful stuff, because he’s not advocating that you stop doing whatever it is you love, but to redirect your talent into a different direction to help your baseline grow.

In my case, I’ve removed social media because I perceived its effects on me. Have I learned anything from this? On that “deep” personal level? I’m starting to. The reason why I am didn’t come from me, though. That insight came from another author and I’ll be writing about that later this week.

Take a minute and check out this video of Stefan Sagmeister: The Power of Time Off at TED.

April 26, 2011
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Day 21 of 100: What I Miss about Social Media

The other day I ran into a friend at a coffee shop and, in an effort to schedule lunch, she had mentioned to catch her on Facebook. I mentioned to her my experiment, and we worked around it, but the interesting thing was that this led to a discussion about what social media meant to her.

Paper Chain in the Dark by hoefi at sxc.huBoth of us are authors and both of us are tired of people who use social media to heavily promote themselves. She uses Facebook primarily for the community-related aspects. Facebook has allowed her to connect with similar-minded authors. Since she’s of the same mind I am (e.g. meet people rather than opportunities) she gets a lot out of Facebook because the people there motivate and support her.

When I got offline initially, I talked about how I was inundated with noise and updates. What I’ve missed, though, is the community-related aspects. It’s strange, though, because I don’t really feel I have been using the tools to interact with a community. I used to. Back in the day I was on message boards, forums, LiveJournal, etc. But now? I’ve been using them to interact with individuals I already know, within the gaming and publishing communities, and meet new people. Is that the same thing? Not sure. Add a new element–readers or personal friends–on top of that, and the community gets a bit stranger, doesn’t it? Now there’s multiple communities as opposed to just one.

I don’t miss the noise, but I miss the people. Not sure if that makes any sense to you or not. To me, it’s telling me that some people get online to foster a community around themselves or their own work. I’m not that kind of an author and right now, that doesn’t make any sense. I’d rather take my cue from my readers as opposed to acting like author deity. (Although, I would make a rather smashing literary goddess. Wouldn’t you say? Hah, hah!) When I do get back online, I’m wondering if I should take a look at new opportunities to connect with a community as opposed to looking for new ways to share my thoughts or simply promote.

April 25, 2011
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