(Look for this week’s #WeeklyWriterWisdom questions after the jump.)
habits
On Breaking Habits, Managing Energy, and Extended Absences from Social Media
There’s a lot of discussion in the writerly blogosphere about the importance of social media, regardless of whether a writer is published. Much of the advice is valid: Social media is a great way of publicizing your work (books, blog, etc.), networking within the industry, and developing an audience. Personally, I’ve grown to appreciate Twitter, Goodreads, and Pinterest over the past couple years. They’ve either been instrumental with building the blog’s audience and driving more traffic, or helped me connect with other writers, bookworms, and SF&F fans. (In Twitter’s case, it’s been a blessing for both.)
So, why have I been absent from social media lately, apart from Goodreads? It’s not that I’ve given up on it. Rather, the absence began with an intention, then drew on longer for reasons I couldn’t pin down until recently, thanks to a book I’ve been reading and some recent reflection on the “energetic” toll this year has taken on me.
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Lightening the Load: The Relief of Springtime Decluttering Projects
For many people, spring is an ideal time to catch up on cleaning (hence the term “spring cleaning”). In my case, I don’t necessarily catch up on cleaning and household chores, since I do both year-round (and, well, when I feel like it…). Rather, I’m bitten by a desire to “lighten the load,” better known as the decluttering and organizing bug.
This year, that bug struck big-time. By that, I mean that I’m still getting rid of what I no longer want or need, even though summer is near. And as a result, this extended spring-cleaning has made me consider my personal habits and what it means to feel “lighter.” It might sound like a strange topic to wax philosophical about, but when the decluttering bug sticks around as long as this one has and leaves you refreshed in the process, it really gives you a lot to think about.
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The Mystery Blogger Award
Goodness, this has been sitting in my Drafts box for a while…. (*blushes*)
So Jessica @ Elldimensional graciously nominated me for the Mystery Blogger Award back in January. It’s taken me a while, and for various reasons, but I’ve finally made time to accept and answer her questions. Thank you, Jessica! 🙂 And since I haven’t done an award or blog tag in some time, this should be a fun change of pace.
Some quick details about the Mystery Blogger Award, as described by its creator Okoto Enigma: “The Mystery Blogger Award is an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts. Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there, and they deserve every recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging; and they do it with so much love and passion.”
I’ll save the guidelines for the end of the post. Let’s get to the good stuff first. 😉
The Infinity Dreams Award
It’s award time again! (Yes, I’ve still got more after this one, so I’ll be catching up for a while.) This one comes from Victoria Grace Howell at Stori Tori’s Blog. She’s a fellow speculative fiction writer (currently working on a YA steampunk Red Riding Hood retelling and a YA dystopian sci-fi) who’s also a tea lover and Lord Of The Rings fanatic. If you don’t follow her blog yet, now is a great time to start. Thank you, Tori!
Here are the rules for the Infinity Dreams Award:
- Thank and follow the blog that nominated you.
- Tell us eleven facts about yourself.
- Answer the questions that were set for you to answer.
- Nominate 11 bloggers and set questions for them.
With all these fact-centric tags lately, I’m afraid I’m going to run of ideas for random facts soon! But I think I’ve got a few more I haven’t shared with you yet. 😉
Chronicling The Craft: Draft #2 Revisions – 30% Complete
Six Steps to Saving Your Self-Edits for Later – Plus, a New Worksheet and Another Excerpt from The Keeper’s Curse
“Chronicling The Craft” is an article series where I share my experience with working on my YA fantasy novel THE KEEPER’S CURSE, starting with the first draft and now into revisions. Each article contains a progress update as well as writing / revising tips and excerpts from the updated draft. Today’s installment celebrates 30-percent completion of Draft #2 of THE KEEPER’S CURSE.
Huh? It’s been 2 months since the last Chronicle?? *blinks* I guess that shouldn’t surprise me. Summer tends to be my slowest writing season, since I’m more motivated to get out and enjoy the nice weather. But that’s OK. It prevents me from becoming a hermit, right? 🙂
Originally I was going to post updates for every 20-percent milestone (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%). However, since gaps between those updates might be lengthy, I’m changing the frequency to every 10-percent milestone. Here’s what I’ve done since mid-June:
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D.A.Y. and N.I.G.H.T Reading Tag
I’m still catching up on some recent blog tags and awards, and here’s the next one. Elizabeth Rawls nominated me for the D.A.Y. and N.I.G.H.T. Reading Tag, which asks bloggers questions about their reading habits and overall love of books. Plus, if you pay attention to the first letter of each question, you’ll find that it spells a word or two (or three) from the tag’s title. 😉
So, let’s get started!
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Sara Letourneau 