Author Journey: October 15, 2021 - NaNoWriMo & #Preptober

 This month is affectionately referred to as Preptober since many authors are preparing to write new novels or edit existing ones during the month of November. I'm also prepping for the upcoming NaNoWriMo Event. Please keep me in prayer as I do not have a warm fuzzy about this round. I really miss my writing connections which I've lost by opting out of the more popular social media sites. So in this post, I'll be talking more about these two things.

#Preptober: NaNoWriMo is Coming Soon!

I'm doing everything I can to pull myself up out of the Pit of the Dontwannas so I can write a decent rough draft for the upcoming Nano event. I have a rough idea for the fifth story in my Children of Y'Dahnndrya series. I love the title and have an idea of how the cover needs to look. I know how I want to portray my MCs. So right now, I'm trying to tack the outline I want to use to jump-start my thought process for each day of writing. 

During one or two of the camp events next year, if I'm able, I already have an idea to try writing some flash fiction collections. It seemed like a good idea last night when it occurred to me at 11:00 or midnight...whichever. I've been super exhausted lately but still managing to get stuff done. I'm just struggling with writing. 

I love my book world. I love my characters. I want to do my best to share them with the world. And that's where I am today. 

How Abstaining From Social Media Has Affected Me

When all the bickering started up once again during the presidential election, I decided I'd had enough of all the negativity so prevalent on most social media platforms. Then when certain platforms started censoring people's opinions just because the owner of the site disagreed with them, I really  threw my hands up. There are enough negative things with which I have to deal on a daily basis. I don't need those extra ones. 

The most regrettable thing is how this has separated me from many of the awesome writers I connected with through those social media platforms. I miss all my lovely author friends and writing groups. I miss being able to hop into Nano camp groups since I no longer get the notifications from my friends who form them. I also miss the writing challenges which kept me doing something when it came to my books. 

Now, it's a toss up whether I'll work on my books on any given day. I certainly don't write every day, but I wish I did. Sometimes that makes me feel like a failure...but I recognize that for the lie it is. Still, it's a struggle. Having those connections through social media really helped motivate me to keep going, I think. It was great when I could share the progress I was making and how my thought process seemed to be going at the time. I was able to get some feedback. And now it's...almost the complete opposite. I feel like I'm far away from them. 

I won't be returning to those sites. The pros for staying off far outweigh the cons. Still, if you're considering getting away from social media, I thought I'd share what it's been like for me so you can see one person's experience. Who knows? Maybe my perspective will help others make a more informed decision. 

The positives are that I've had tons more time for reading, puzzles, and other hobbies I like to pursue. I've also had tons more time to spend with my family, though we are a pretty quiet bunch when left to our own devices. Since I know my target audience is niche, and I know I won't ever make a ton of money with my books, I made my peace with that early on. I just want to write and write well.

More than anything else, I've had better focus when it comes to getting work done. I feel more like I'm the one controlling what I watch and who I listen to  and when I do that rather than having FB, IG, or Twitter telling me what they think I should be watching or who I should be listening to. I've never been one to follow the crowd or be pushed into doing something. That was a horrible move on their part if they wanted me to stay. :/ 

I've set up some accounts on Rumble and Reddit, but I'm not super active. That's mainly because I'd rather spend my time on other activities. The sad thing is, on Reddit, you have some severe limitations unless you're super active and build up your credits quickly. On Rumble, there just isn't a large presence of authors. I have a feeling that even if there was, they wouldn't write in my genre. That always seems to be the case no matter where I look. 

 

I think I'll stop here for today. My post is already late because I ended up having to run an errand sooner than expected. I need to get back to working on those character sheets and the outline for the new draft. 

How's your #preptober2021 going this year? Would you ever consider cutting ties with social media? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.