Shove your rat race...

Apologies for the unannounced hiatus. To be honest, I was on the precipice of giving up blogging altogether.

As much as I enjoy blogging, I was starting to feel it could potentially overshadow my whole reason for blogging in the first place: Writing.

I have no plans to ever give up my writing dream, but I believe I’ll be putting that dream in jeopardy if I allow myself to succumb to the PR fiasco that has become the minimum requirement, apparently, for “building an author platform”.

It gives me the boak to see poorly written novels with countless 5 star reviews on Amazon. You can't help but wonder if they're borne of some kind of reciprocal obligation from other bloggers/book reviewers. I’d rather have one fair and honest review, over a thousand copy & pasted efforts from frazzled (but well-meaning, I’m sure) participants in this whole circus.

The appeal of being a writer was once about escaping the rat race. Now it hosts a rat race all of its own!

If “Author” was advertised in a recruitment website these days (humour me), I believe it’d probably state the following requirements:

·          Daily liaisons through social media

·          Relationship building with others in the industry

·          Networking and sourcing new clients (readers/other bloggers)

·          Attend writer’s conferences and workshops

·          Organise, manage and distribute press releases on blog tours

·          Promote your brand through blog hops and guest interviews

·          Host giveaways

·          Oh… and write a book.

Am I the only person who is pissed off with this priority list? I'd genuinely prefer to write for the love of it and remain unpublished, than adhere to the above expectations in that order.

I've been bitten once by this. Someone sent me lots of friendly emails, then asked me to post a guest blog for them (with no offer to read any of their stuff). Intimidated, I obliged and never heard from them again. If I ever do a blog tour, please don't accept my request unless you believe in me and/or my writing. I promise to do likewise from now on. 

Do you want to know what's prevented me throwing in the bloggy towel, though? Reading some lovely, honest writer’s blogs, such as Is Anyone There, Mothers of Brothers and First Draft Cafe. In fact, the majority of bloggers I interact with don't succumb to these daft priorities. And that makes me feel optimistic once more.

I’ve decided to move my goal posts once more (and I’ll go ahead and keep changing them till I figure out what works for me). I won’t be blogging every Friday anymore. I may post more frequently, or less. If you'd like to keep up with my erratic behaviour, please subscribe or join my lovely 59 followers via Google Friend Connect. 

It feels liberating to break away from these unfair expectations of new writers. “But the industry demands it” some might say? Well, the industry changes constantly. New boundaries are being made with each new technological advancement. With the ability to self-publish, writers aren’t dictated by traditional publishers anymore (quality of work is another issue altogether. Lets not go there today...).

Nobody knows what’s going to happen in the future, but I do know one thing: my books will still be there at the end of it all, so I’d better bloody well give them the love and attention they deserve, instead of rushing out three books a year whilst simultaneously trying to promote my previous three, etc. Fair play if you're into all that, but it's not my idea of a fulfilling life.

I’ll continue to participate in events like A-Z Blogging Challenge and NaNoWriMo, as I enjoy them and they’re fun. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how interactive we’re all pressured into being: writing is a personal, lone journey. So I’m going to do it my way and I continue to wish you all the best with your own journey. :)  

If you want to have a gab about writing, feel free to email me, or if you're in the Glasgow area I'd happily meet up for a coffee. We can despair over the lack of publishers knocking down doors to meet us, or have a good old jealous-bitch session about those more successful than us, whether they deserve it or not.

P.S. If you read my last post... I didn't win the Euromillions. Huff! I've also scrapped the "chapter a day" redrafting idea I had. It's coming along well at its own pace. :) x 

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Shove your rat race...

A - Z Blogging Challenge 2012

Since starting this blog, I've failed to maintain any kind of consistency.

I read about bloggers who spend blocks of time compiling posts, to sprinkle throughout the week, and I'm green with envy!

The only thing that's stopped me from doing the same (apart from conviction), is the question: What do I blog about?

As much as I love organisation and structure in my life, I feel weird with the idea of writing just for the sake of it. My blog posts have been somewhat *maybe too* impulsive, written on an impassioned whim.

But I want to blog more frequently, get disciplined and interact with other bloggers.

Where does that leave me?

Well... I've found a nice little challenge, to fix my wee problem. It's the A to Z April Challenge, 2012. The magic words on their website...

"This is a great opportunity to discipline yourself, grow as a blogger, and make new friends – come join us!"

The gist of the challenge is to write every day for 26 days (excluding the last 4 Sundays of the month. Yes, there are 5 Sundays in April this year.), with an alphabetised theme. To quote the website again:

"Using this premise, you would start beginning April First with a topic themed on something with the letterA, then on April second another topic with the letter B as the theme, and so on until you finish on April thirtieth with the theme based on the letter Z. It doesn't even have to be a word--it can be a proper noun, the letter used as a symbol, or the letter itself. The theme of the day is the letter scheduled for that day."

I don't mind telling you, I've spent a ridiculous amount of time poring over the last years entries, gleaming inspiration.

I now have a word document splattered with letters, and ideas for each letter. I hope to get as much as possible done before April, so I can spend the month browsing other blog's entries (famous last words... we both know there's a good chance I'll be posting the letter each day in a panic. I'll try not to though).

I don't think it will make me blog every day after that. What I hope to gain from the experience, is the practice of finding subjects to blog about, and the excitement of writing the posts.

It first started in 2010 with 100 bloggers. The next year, there were 1300 bloggers :o I predict a massive turnout this year! Come join me in the challenge! The sign up list is now open. :)

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A - Z Blogging Challenge 2012