I haven't written one of these for awhile. There are a lot of reasons for that...I've been focusing on my other blog, and I never get to post on Wednesdays on that blog. Then I was working on a novel, and then I was figuring out how to market said novel, and somewhere in the middle of all of that I was wallowing in apathy from all the editing. But I love this idea, and I love this group, and so every month, as I visit my favorite blogs and read their IWSG posts, I've really wanted to join. But something else was holding me back. More on that later.
Being a writer is a weird, weird thing. First of all you spend so much time trying to keep yourself off the internet while you write a book, and then, when the book is written, you suddenly have to force yourself back on to the internet to do this thing called marketing. The potentially most fulfilling way to market is unfortunately the most time-consuming. It works though, at least that's what I'm told. That is to find a group of like-minded bloggers and help each other out.
At least from the outside, that's exactly what IWSG is.It's a group of people who found each other at the right stage of their lives and who have bonded tightly. They are the first ones to post comments on each other's blogs, they critique each other's manuscripts and promote each other's works and participate in each other's cool blog events. And then there are the rest of us--the ones who came a little late to the party. We still gain from being part of the group, and with a little luck, maybe we'll bond the way those first members bonded.
It's the same with some of the huge blog challenges and hops I see. They've gotten too big to be as useful as they were for the original participants. And yet somewhere, out there, I know members of my tightly bonded group are waiting. Will I find them at IWSG? Only if I actually participate.
Welcome (back) to IWSG!
ReplyDeleteYou know I'm looking forward to all the internet networking and stuff, but I feel that Blogspot doesn't have the best set-up for networking. If you compare it to the ease of say, LiveJournal, I find it to be lacking. I think the various ways of signing for someone's blog are frustrating and difficult and even a lot of the bloggers don't know what to add to the site so people can sign up. Google + seems equally confusing and pointless and I have difficulty tracking the blogs I'd like to go back and read since some of them let me track through blogger, google plus, email, wordpress etc. It's frustrating. I'd like one location to see all the blogs I want to follow and I'd like my own blog to offer the same. Sometimes lots of choices are too many choices.
Anyway, off my soapbox and onto your post :) I just joined IWSG last year and I've made a small but supportive circle of friends out of the deal. But for me, I found the best way to find that group who supports you, critiques and promotes is to go out in the 3-D world and create or find a good writing group. It's a lot like kissing frogs. You'll get a lot of frog spit before you get a prince but once you find the right one (or in my case, create one) you will be amazed. Despite the solitary nature of writing, a social circle that supports your art is the best thing you can do for yourself. Go to writing conferences, join groups and scope them out and network out there and then you bring those people (and the readers they've amassed on their blogs and twitters and whatnot) back to your corner of the web.
Good luck (sorry this is so long)!
That's a writer's life in a nutshell, Melanie. Yes, you nailed it. Ain't IWSG grande!
ReplyDeleteNice post, great blog, following :)
ReplyDeleteGood Luck :)
Writing is a strange business. I think many writers (or at least me) are by nature introverts. So writing makes sense. But publishing and marketing are really hard for me--why can't I just sit in the corner and write? But that's not the way it is anymore, so I'm not going to gripe about it. Still, it's really odd when I'm talking to someone and they say, "Oh, yeah, I read about that on your blog." Gulp...um, I'd really like to go hide in a corner and just write. ;)
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