a quieter life

It’s no secret that writing is a solitary profession. But it takes more than alone-time, of which I actually have an abundance. It takes dedication and discipline and d… I can’t think of another d-word, but you get the point.

I’ve been online daily since September of 2004. It started with blogging. Then came the FB, which I got on, got off, got back on, and then off, again, I think, and then on. Twitter too, though it just feels like a job I have to do that I rather hate.

Because my job is writing books, and for various reasons, not the least Facebook, I don’t write as quickly or as much as I used to. I want to write more but I find myself flipping onto the FB rather than doing the really fun work I’m lucky to get paid for. For now, I need to be putting much more of my time and undivided concentration into House of the Hanged Man. I’m so excited about this book, you guys. And I want to write it! But I find myself wandering back to the FB over and over every day. It’s a crutch, one that’s broken and keeps me limping rather than supporting me on my way back to a run.

But yeah, writers have to have a platform, yada yada (which makes me some friends but so far as I can tell does shit for gaining me readers). And I love the Highland pictures and also the room pictures. So I’m not leaving the FB entirely. But I’m going to make a concerted effort to be on it much less, and to keep my posts more entertaining and of less importance. When I want to explore something significant, I need to relearn how to discuss it with myself in my books. That’s the best way I know how to communicate anyway.

And honestly, I have friends all around the world, and close to home. I have folks who I talk to pretty often. It’s not like I’ll be more lonely. The FB doesn’t assuage my loneliness.

Walks do. Friends and family do. My dogs do. And writing my books does it best of all.

So the deal: the FB and Twitter will only live on my phone, which is a stupidly easy thing to set aside or turn off but stupidly difficult to write long, drawn-out, time- consuming posts on. They’re off the iPad (which I broke; did I mention I broke it? and now it won’t hold a charge much and is dying, oh well) and I mostly stay logged out of both on my PC.

Anyway, that’s my less-than-exciting news. I’ll try to be more scintillating next time. 🙂