Writing, Juggling, Reading and Staying Afloat.
The Internet has brought previously unheard-of opportunities for writers to engage with the wider world without even having to emerge from their burrows. However finding time for all the ancillary jobs a writer must do these days to attract public attention – reviews for Goodreads, blogs, chats, keeping up with Facebook, connecting with writers’ groups, taking workshops about whether to e-book or not to be e-book – there no longer seem to be enough hours in the day to sit down and write.
Of course busying oneself with all of the above-mentioned interesting, challenging tasks creates marvellous opportunities for self-delusion. I am working aren’t I? Even if my new novel is advancing at less than snail’s pace?
Promotion is a necessary part of being a writer. Yet I begin to sense it is more about the kind of public profile a writer can create, rather than the words she or he writes, that determine whether an author is recognised – or not.
As an older ‘emerging’ writer, I guess I no longer worry too much about public opinion and try to get on with what I want to do, put down in words. Using six decades of life’s experiences, not only up and down the eastern seaboard of Australia but also in the mountains and on the beaches of France, has given me a rich resource to draw upon in both fiction and non fiction. Not commercial and not fashionable? So what.
So… resolution for 2014 - after the Christmas festivities. WRITE something every day. ALLOCATE some time for engaging with all the wonderful possibilities on the Internet but WRITE!