We've all done it. We authors promise ourselves that we'll get that novel finished but suddenly, we hear a chime of a Facebook notification and the mystery of who or what it was calls to us. Within moments, we're wrapped up in the latest posts by our friends and our novel becomes an afterthought.
I'm as guilty of this as anyone. In my mind, any time away from social media means I'm missing out on something life-changing when in fact, it's just a trap. After scrolling through the posts on the news feed that have popped up in the five minutes since I checked it, I find myself liking, commenting and sharing until I find that a couple of hours have gone by and my word count hasn't gone up.
I've written seven books romance novels and when I published the first one, I only had Facebook on my computer but now I have it at my fingertips on several different devices. My phone and tablet chime whenever someone posts on my author page, my personal page and also the four other pages that I'm an admin on. I'm constantly juggling pages and have even found myself about to post my book links on a page totally unrelated to me. Thankfully, I double-checked but it almost happened and then I'd have to quickly figure out how to delete it before hundreds of people had it on their news feed.
What can we do about it? Well, we can turn it off but it's easier said than done. Facebook, when it first debuted, was a site to connect with friends and perhaps share pictures of your pets, vacations, etc. Now it's become an advertising medium as well as a network to others with similar interests. I must admit, I've made some amazing friends through it and have been lucky enough to actually meet them in person at book signings and events but a majority of my friends are people I'll probably never meet but feel closer to than some of my "real" friends.
As 2016 began, I vowed to buckle down and finish the two novels I'm working on and now it's March 23rd and I've gotten about 30K words written between them. Why can't I just sit down and write? Because I'm obsessed with my Facebook. I need to know what my Alien name is, what each letter of my name mean, and who my closest friends are since there's a link that will put them into a collage.
I have fans asking when my next book will be ready and I truthfully can't give them a date. I mentally pick a deadline and it passes without any progress. I've decided that this week, when I'm home at my writing desk, I am shutting Facebook down for four hours each night. Four hours of silence to work on my books and finally get them to my editor. Will I make it? Will I cave in to the notifications? Not if my phone is silent and my tablet turned off.
Friday is going to be my accountable day. I will post my word count here and see if I have been able to heed my own advice.
I don't want to fail and I hope my author friends who find themselves in a similar position can encourage each other to buckle down and do what they love to do...write.
I'm as guilty of this as anyone. In my mind, any time away from social media means I'm missing out on something life-changing when in fact, it's just a trap. After scrolling through the posts on the news feed that have popped up in the five minutes since I checked it, I find myself liking, commenting and sharing until I find that a couple of hours have gone by and my word count hasn't gone up.
I've written seven books romance novels and when I published the first one, I only had Facebook on my computer but now I have it at my fingertips on several different devices. My phone and tablet chime whenever someone posts on my author page, my personal page and also the four other pages that I'm an admin on. I'm constantly juggling pages and have even found myself about to post my book links on a page totally unrelated to me. Thankfully, I double-checked but it almost happened and then I'd have to quickly figure out how to delete it before hundreds of people had it on their news feed.
What can we do about it? Well, we can turn it off but it's easier said than done. Facebook, when it first debuted, was a site to connect with friends and perhaps share pictures of your pets, vacations, etc. Now it's become an advertising medium as well as a network to others with similar interests. I must admit, I've made some amazing friends through it and have been lucky enough to actually meet them in person at book signings and events but a majority of my friends are people I'll probably never meet but feel closer to than some of my "real" friends.
As 2016 began, I vowed to buckle down and finish the two novels I'm working on and now it's March 23rd and I've gotten about 30K words written between them. Why can't I just sit down and write? Because I'm obsessed with my Facebook. I need to know what my Alien name is, what each letter of my name mean, and who my closest friends are since there's a link that will put them into a collage.
I have fans asking when my next book will be ready and I truthfully can't give them a date. I mentally pick a deadline and it passes without any progress. I've decided that this week, when I'm home at my writing desk, I am shutting Facebook down for four hours each night. Four hours of silence to work on my books and finally get them to my editor. Will I make it? Will I cave in to the notifications? Not if my phone is silent and my tablet turned off.
Friday is going to be my accountable day. I will post my word count here and see if I have been able to heed my own advice.
I don't want to fail and I hope my author friends who find themselves in a similar position can encourage each other to buckle down and do what they love to do...write.