Plugging In & Out
December 13th, 2009
Oh, I have neglected this blog. Friends and readers, I apologize.
I have really enjoyed keeping this blog for the past few months, tossing up a variety of fiction, worldbuilding/critterbuilding, meta-writing, and slice-of-life posts. I have no intention of letting myself linger into infinite idleness. I confess, however, I have a bit of a quandary. You may have even tackled this one before, or you might be in the process of doing so now.
As a totally unknown author who’s trying to build a community of readers and creative folk, I can’t afford to walk away from the computer for weeks at a time. Networking via blogs, forums, Twitter, and other virtual gathering-places is vital to getting my name out and meeting great people. I’m a certified internet marketer, to boot – I know the ins and outs of self-marketing and social media, even if I happen to shun certain venues (like MySpace). If I want any kind of online community, I need to be interactive, dynamic, genuine, and present.
However, I want to unplug.
I’m finding myself feeling a little ungrounded these days. I’d love little more than to acquire an old electric typewriter – the new ones are too computer-like for my tastes – and an mp3 player that can hold some 20,000 songs, and simply turn the computers off for a week. The typewriter will let me continue to write, journal, and worldbuild, and the mp3 player will let me have all my music outside of my overloaded harddrives. My cell phone can keep me in touch with my good friends and family. I want, and need, a break from the overwhelming virtual side of my life.
I want to go outside, bundled up, and walk through the falling snow at dusk. I want to pick up the training sword that’s leaning against my bo in the corner of the room and practice until my arms want to fall off. I want to have hard copy of my creative works, and I want to hear the solid click-click-thud of a typewriter again. (I started on a manual typewriter, later got an electric, and got my first computer in 2000.) I want to play my guitar until my calluses are tough again. I want to sprawl in a pile of sleeping cats and read new books.
Ultimately, I just want to feel a little more real.
I’m not sure how to balance my authorly, internet-based goals with this desire to unplug and step away. This blog will not be abandoned, and I’ll return to my neglected Twitter account soon. But I need to live in order to write about living, and if I feel like I’m drifting, that’s only going to handicap my ability to create.
A healthy compromise must be found.
How have you managed to balance your internet activity with the rest of your hobbies and responsibilities? I’d be happy to hear about any tips or tricks you’ve found to be helpful.
Related posts:
Posted in From The Heart, Writing About Writing | 
Tags: all about me, personal experiences, rambling
Double arse! I don’t believe I forgot to fill in the name & email bit twice and lost everything I typed. It was quite eloquent as well, if not particularly constructive to your situation.
Mostly along the lines of my online/offline balance is only a balance on a macro timescale. On a more granular timescale, I pendulum between bursts of online activity and days avoiding the computer as though the weight of all those words was too much of a burden. I consider myself lucky to have such understanding friends. I guess I could be content with the ‘balance’ but I’m not happy with it.
But my online activities are social, not trying to build anything in particular, I’m motivated to ‘not be alone’ and to explore my own creativity – but under that there’s avoiding rejection and finding a voice. For my survival I only have the energy to do one or the other ‘properly’ at a time. But survival isn’t living. At least I don’t use eating to express myself so much any more!
Maybe if you get to the motives under the motives – why do you want to be published, to see your book on a shelf, for example, or for recognition – then perhaps new paths and activities or ways of combining things will be available to discover. And a balance will present itself, combining the things you do do with the things you want.
Hear, hear! Totally understand. You are not alone. And the biggest problem is that if you build a following, without content you are farther from your goal (in my mind), than the reverse. I think having a following is good, but having a book is better. Finding that perfect balance is not going to be easy. I know I don’t have it yet either.
Best of luck and Happy New Year!