I’ve run across a few articles that permit writers to not tackle social media, well, at all really, and it’s given me a bit of breathing room. For years, all the advice was about building an audience and having a mailing list, and while I think we can all agree that those things can help you become financially successful as an author, I’m not sure how much help they can be for the actual writing.
A writing community, one that offers encouragement and support, is really useful, even for an introvert like myself. I have a few writer friends who I share pain and problems with, particularly the problem of getting started. We all seem to have great advice for each other, but then never seem to get around to taking it ourselves.
However, the draw of finding or creating an online community through social media has always felt daunting. In my real life, I started on Twitter while I was still heavily involved in the tech world and was able to build a bit of a community around that area. But, over the years, as my job and focus changed, I found it challenging to start over (with my pen name) and build a similar group of like-minded people. Starting from nothing was a lot of work (adding a second pen name into the mix and I was overwhelmed).
Won’t someone like me?
I also tried engaging in conversations, but found crickets most time, even when I felt like my take was, if not hot then at least kind of warm. This isn’t sour grapes, but more of a lack of desire to always be online. The persistent performance was unattractive to me, and, most importantly, the lack of interaction left me unmotivated to write.
If I couldn’t get followers on Instagram, who would ever read my stories?
I even entered February intending to post on Instagram every single day to see if being consistent would help me increase engagement. When I missed yesterday, I was disappointed. It ruined my morning when I realized my mistake.
But why? I hadn’t announced it. No one was looking for my posts. The only promise I broke was one to myself and one made without much seriousness, to be honest. I know me better than anyone else.
Rejecting rejection
So this morning I came to my task list, the one that breaks my projects down into bite-sized pieces and makes it appear manageable. I highlighted “29 days of social media” and hit DELETE. Buh-Bye.
I immediately started writing this blog post. Not because I needed to vent frustration, but because that simple click released any negative feelings I had about the trial and failure of it all. I am writing this to give you permission to just write.
Write a 500-word blog post and quickly, shortly, with little time investment, promote that instead. The blog post will be much more useful to you than a social media post done for marketing purposes. The blog post can help you tell yourself more about who you are as a writer.
And, more importantly, will help others give themselves permission to just write.
*swish* (⊃。•́‿•̀。)⊃━⭑・゚゚・*:༅。.。༅:*゚:*:✼✿
Image by 29458918 from Pixabay