I have lots of bundles of little concerns and worries to put in my stocking! :P
I have really neglected my blog recently. I'm a pretty bad blogger. Hell, I'm pretty bad at any form of social networking besides talking to friends. My Twitter account (made specifically to go hand in hand with this blog and publicize myself) has also been somewhat neglected. Truth is, I'm not very clever when it comes to gadgets and widgets- it took me the longest time to figure out even the most basic actions on this darn blog. I'm just that rubbish! I sometimes worry that my naff-ness in keeping up to date with blogging and Tweeting will negatively affect me, but a combination of my own technical incompetence, poor temper and ancient PC mean that I find these tasks seriously time-consuming and frustrating...and when I have so many other things to be doing, it ends up right smack down at the bottom of the list of priorities!
(I have completely given up on Tumblr).
Time management is that one that we talk about a lot in IWSG, and to be honest, I don't let it bother me too much...oh sure it bothers me at the time, when I'm trying very hard to multitask and fulfil tasks and failing, but I don't let it make me feel bad...its something that affects all of us. If I were a full-time writer, the problem would probably be less severe (as I wouldn't be trying to juggle with my "real" job), but would also still happen.
And less face it- we're now in December (how did THAT happen?! Wasn't it five minutes ago that I was rushing through my last IWSG post before dashing out with Dad to watch the fireworks?! :P) and December can be a very unforgiving time for time management- between rushing around at work (especially if you work in retail), manic Christmas shopping, Christmas parties and get-toethers, and the odd winter bug thrown in for good measure, your schedule can take a bit of a pounding.
But I need to be fairer on myself. I spent the last month working quite hard on two written peices...one has just been selected to appear in SCP's next eZine (its new title was the subject of the poll I ran yesterday, it is now called "Oiran" :D), and the other will be sent off shortly. In fact, I was very proud of that one- that was the one that had been demanding more work and a longer word count. I have decided I will be re-writing that story at full-novel length, but Kallin and Shaari's story will be submitted in "compact" form anyway. I managed to cut back about 400-500 words, got it dead on the 7000 limit, and a friend who has read over it found it interesting enough that despite the limitations, she enjoyed it and wants to read the "full story". The last couple of weeks, I have spent either drawing for short periods, or online shopping (extremely time consuming for me! :P) so the fact that I haven't done too much, I do realise, I shouldn't feel too badly about.
I do feel a bit naff that I'm still struggling to get things together and keep to a schedule, but I'm sure I'll get round to things. In the meantime, have yourself a merry, stress-free Christmas!
http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/insecure-writers-support-group-ninja.html
December really is unforgiving and especially this year when, for the first time, I have a real family to play Mum to! We're hosting Christmas lunch this year; so glad I'm married to a chef!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a productive last 30 days though! Happy IWSG post day. :) Congrats on your soon to be published piece!
ReplyDeleteHappy IWSG to you too, Candilynn, and thank you. It doesn't look productive on the face of it, but I realise it is when I look back. I've been thinking very hard on some new pieces to write.
ReplyDeleteOh, I also felt so guilty, I met a lovely writer in a Waterstones in Chichester a few weeks ago, and he was very nice, so I added him on Twitter. I was hoping to get to see him again last weekend, and to buy his book, but I wasn't able to, and it made me feel bad! I'm sure he wasn't bothered at all, but I like to support fellow writers, so I felt a bit guilty.
Such silly little things!
I have the biggest bleeding heart when it comes to supporting fellow artists/writers that I meet face to face... and always feel guilty if I don't. It's that mutual understanding of the struggle, ya know?
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the time management thing. I think it comes down to prioritizing and being ok with the fact that writing doesn't ALWAYS come first... or even fortieth... sometimes life takes precedence. But not always :)
Oh god yes, thats exactly it, the mutual understanding. It makes me happy to see someone else becoming successful, especially if they seem like a nice person and have talent. I can be the jealous type, but writing doesn't usually invoke that emotion in me (unlike art, and even then, I have found that has softened with time). I instead get really happy for the person and want them to do well :)
DeleteCongratulations!
ReplyDeleteIt's a balancing act when you throw in the online stuff. I try not to neglect my blogger buddies when I'm writing, but it's a challenge.
The online stuff is definitely the worst thing for me. If I can figure out how to use something, it tends to stop working shortly after...take blogspot even- I've tried to follow a bunch of blogs today and it keeps failing on me. Throw in poor luck, with techno-retardation and a very limited amount of time to do any of that stuff, its not wonder I don't really branch out online as much as other writers. Thank god for Twitter, even Wayne Rooney can use it :P
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