The Curse of Time

No, I'm not talking about lack thereof. That happens to us all.

I'm talking about how we measure time, according to our planet's circadian cycle, and the fact that we've colonised all 360º of it.

Recently I've been hanging out on Twitter for pitch parties and the such. Alas, most of the fun on Twitter happens when the US is awake. That's my middle of the night.

Eastern Standard Time is diametrically opposite Western Australian Standard Time.  Also, WA does not have Daylight Savings Time, because we're smart. See, we have a greater awareness of how time zones can affect others. Perth is the only major city within our time zone. When we need to conduct business with Adelaide, Sydney, Auckland, London or New York, we've got to deal with different time zones. Daylight Savings Time, that leftover dinosaur from a time when most people did not have electric lights and the Internet, is useless in the 21st Century. Spring Forward and Fall Back does no one any favours, and causes more problems than it solves.

But I'm not here to rant about DST. It's your own bad luck if you live in a DST Zone. DST can change. It can be legislated out of existence. Really.

I'm talking about things that governments can't change: science. Planet is round. You are on one side, I am on the other. If you're a diurnal creature like me, chances are we won't be awake at the same time. This bums me out.

This affects my professional life.  As an author, I spend half my time writing and the other half marketing/networking. My ideal work day would be to get up early, get about four hours' writing time done, then spend the warm afternoon in promo and socialising.

But I can't, because most of my audience is asleep during my afternoon. If I am to be social and interact with everyone, I've got to do it first thing, before everyone goes to bed.  Scheduling tweets and blogposts doesn't do me any good, because I'm not there to interact.

This is not an ideal schedule, as I'd much rather spend my more brain-awake hours working on great novels, not marvelling at the witty sayings of social media. Going nocturnal for the sake of my career isn't an option at this point, as I still have children at home.

I see lots of authors having great networking success because of Twitter. It's a shame I can't take full advantage of its power simply because I'm on the wrong side of the planet.

__________________________
Her Grace, in spite of geographical isolation, prefers the lifestyle of Perth and Australia. She gets paid a living wage and does not need to fear that one little medical issue could send her bankrupt.

The Silent Times

There are times in a writer's career when it is silent.

Very silent.

Too silent.

The only sound is the clacking of keyboards or the scratching of pens.  No other noise is heard.

It is the quiet while you wait to hear back from beta-readers, agents, editors.  It is the waiting for feedback or reviews.  It is the checking of one's email to reveal no new messages. It is the lack of comments on one's blog, the dearth of replies on Twitter, the absence of pingbacks on Pinterest.

If an author sits really still, one can completely believe that there is no other soul out there. It is an overwhelming sense of isolation.

Even today, the lonely garret still exists.

Do a writer a favour and go tell them something--anything--positive about their career.  Sometimes we need to know we're not working in complete solitude.

___________________________________
Her Grace can't hear crickets. How odd. One would expect at least the creaking of the glacier that is publishing.

Motivated by Other Peoples' Success

State of the Union: so, currently I have one novella out for your reading pleasure. (Please leave an honest review, if you've read it.)   I've got another one with my editor (a tale for another time).  I'm editing a full-length Regency Romance novel at the moment and have a full-blow Fantasy Trilogy out with beta-readers.

Love letters from my Guilty Conscience.

I've got a lot of work to do.

Yet what have I done this morning? Perused Facebook and Twitter.  My flists and feeds are full of other professionals, sharing their professional successes and pictures of their cats.

Every time I read social media before I've done Proper Work for the day, I get a good dose of Guilty Conscience.  I shut down the social media and I dig in to whatever project I'm scheduled to work on that day. (Today: editing my WIP.)  Yes, this happens Every. Time.

I guess it's good that I don't get too sucked in to the glittering world of social media, and I am getting some work done.  After all, isn't that how all my successful peeps out there got successful?

Okay, sometimes I do get too sucked in. I read more, and more.  This peer has this book out, that peer has a cover reveal, the other peer just got a starred Kirkus review...  Then I look at my own efforts and heave a great big sigh. It can be depressing seeing so much success out there, and so little happening in here.

Then I realise that I'll never have that sort of success if I don't go Do Something.

And that thought alone is enough to drive me to close down those open tabs and get yWriter up. Works every time.

What pricks your Guilty Conscience?


__________________________
Her Grace sometimes wishes she could tap into her motivation more often without relying on social networking. Still, it's good to keep up with the industry.  Meanwhile, here is a picture of her cat, lasers fully charged:

Wherein Her Grace Gets All Twittery

By Hdepot (Own work)
[CC-BY-SA-3.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons
Attribution length: 107 characters.

Okay, I'm trying to wrap my head around this Twitter thing. Along with Facebook and Tumblr and a whole slew of social networking sites, it's one of the It Things, apparently.

I'm not so sure how I can make it work effectively for me.  Especially professionally.

No, I don't have my own Twitter account. I'm not game. Reasons why:

• It's rather short.  Rawther.  I'm not confident I can squish significant meaning into 140 characters every tweet, and I have no wish to sound trite the rest of the time.
• I'm not impressed with its signal-to-noise ratio.  Many tweets seem to be vague three word replies stuck to multiple hashtag conversations. Kind of hard to follow, really.
• The tweets that are interesting usually consist of a tiny url leading to something that is, actually, fascinating (and definitely more than 140 characters).  Almost makes Twitter little more than a redirection service.  Maybe that's its best use.
• I don't have the timely time to participate in a meaningful conversation.  My internet usage is sporadic. By the time I get around to reading Twitter, I'll be woefully out of date. Alas.
• Not convinced it's usefully more than a time-waster and another incarnation of gossip-around-the-watercooler.  (On the other hand, word-of-mouth networking (aka "gossip") is useful in the writerly community.  Especially if it uses the words "nice deal".)

Though I confess, I sometimes follow a couple of interesting people, sorting through their LOLs and other bits of lopsided conversations to find some really fascinating things.  Platform aside, they're charming no matter what social networking medium I read them on.

Also, some people claim it has value. As they have more experience than I with Twitter, I'd love to know how they make it work for them.

Things I would say, if I was tweeting:

• Humour for writers.  Ya gotta laugh.  http://www.epublishabook.com/?cat=10#axzz2cIpoGNEn
• Nobody with Internet access has any excuse not to research.  Go work on your Google Fu.
• Being a writer means that you are giving permission for someone to misunderstand you.

Everything else I say is long-winded.