Keeping Personal Things Private

There's a challenge in our modern life that's been building since the moment the internet was created. How do we keep our private lives--things we don't want to share with the world at large--from bleeding into the public world? Some people go the route of not creating a virtual identity at all, but for writers, that's not a choice.

It's been drilled into my head for the last two years that in order to promote my book, I need to be accessible online. I need to blog, I need to be on Twitter, I need...

But sometimes, we have to draw a line in the sand. Even an author needs a place where she can be a person, where she can just be herself, not accountable to the general reading public.

For me, Facebook is that place online. My Twitter account is public, my Facebook account is private. On Twitter, I'll follow pretty much anyone if they interest me. On Facebook, I'm far, far more selective.

This makes Facebook the one place I talk about work, or ramble about Doctor Who, or share my plans for the weekend. Some of that bleeds into Twitter, but only selective things. Very little of it bleeds onto my blog, which I try to keep mostly professional.

So you understand why I've struggled the last few months with the idea of creating a Facebook page for me as an author. Even though it would be completely separate from my personal account, it would still be business intruding in my home life, and that was a line I wasn't sure I wanted to cross.

I finally decided to do it. After all, I'm launching a new website next month (Have I mentioned that? keep an eye out for awesome giveaways!), and that's just a good time to get everything out of the way. Do it all at once, like ripping off a Band-aid.

That little analogy should tell you how I felt about the idea. Finally, Saturday night I realized that I just couldn't do it. It would be so easy to accidentally muddy the waters between the private account and the public page. Post something from the wrong account or... Who knows? I would just rather not go there.

This is me, drawing the line.

Why Twitter Is Your Friend

Or, Why Twitter Friends Are Amazing.

I'm finally down to minor tweaks to my MS for His Good Opinion. My crit partners have the last few chapters now, and my beta readers are halfway through. Meanwhile, I'm going through, meticulously analyzing every word and style choice I've made--because of course, I want the copyeditor to receive as clean a draft as possible.

One thing I noticed recently was an over-use of italics. I use italics to indicate internal dialogue, and that will remain. However, Jane used italics frequently to indicate emphasis. While I have decided against removing every exclamation point from her dialogue, I do believe I can rid myself of most of the italics without raising a fuss.

However, the thought of scrolling through the document looking for italics made my eyes cross--and this is where Twitter comes in. Over a year ago, author Gary Corby wrote an amazingly detailed and helpful blog post on using Word's search function. You can make it do things I'd never even dreamed of!

I follow Gary on Twitter, so who else would I turn to with my question? I sent him a quick @ reply, and before the day was over, I got this answer:

Yes! In search dialog, click More--Format--Font--Italic. RT @Nancy_Kelley: Gary, is there a way to search Word for all italicized text?

Bingo!! Now I can let my computer do the eye-crossing work for me, rather than staring at the screen for hours on end.

Maybe you don't need to know everything there is to know about the find and replace feature in Word (though that is very helpful). However, in your writing you will come across things that stump you. Twitter puts you in touch with people from dozens of backgrounds who know more collectively than you could ever hope to learn in your lifetime. It's the Hive Mind, and it's one of the greatest things about Twitter.

Have you been assimilated into the Collective? What kinds of questions has Twitter or the blogosphere answered for you?

PS: If you like mysteries and Ancient Greece, I highly recommend Gary's novel, The Pericles Commission.  It's funny, the characters are well-drawn, and his attention to detail makes historical research look absolutely effortless.

Writing Roadblocks

I'm a writer. In a good week, I spend 20-30 hours a week working on my novel, blogging, and connecting with writers and friends on Twitter. Editing is done by hand, but everything else is computer work.

For my day job, I work at a library. I spend 40 hours a week handling heavy books and (yet again) working on a computer.

There's little wonder that I've developed Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI) in my right hand. It's not carpal tunnel, if you're wondering--but it's very similar. Some weeks my wrist hardly bothers me at all, and others... Well, Aspercreme is one of my favorite inventions ever.

My RSI has flared up since I returned from England. I can't avoid the computer work at the library, and I have to keep working on my edits. That means the only place I can really cut back is with blogging and tweeting. I'm scheduling blog posts out through the end of May, and starting next week I'll be very circumspect with the time I spend on Twitter.

I'll still be replying to comments here and checking my email daily. I can't cut myself off from the world completely, and I don't know if I would even want to. However, I know that if I want to get my book out on time I need to take care of myself now.

Does anyone else have something similar that gets in the way of their writing plans? It would be nice to know I'm not alone.

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

I have had this song stuck in my head for two days now, and it is driving me a little crazy. For one thing, it's a catchy tune that just will not go away. For another... I don't want to look on the bright side!! What bright side??

Yep, I'm in the middle of edits again. For three days, my twitter hashtag of choice was #chapterelevenorbust, which had a certain delicious irony to it. This is the chapter of the Netherfield Ball--the moment Darcy realizes he loves Elizabeth, and then circumstances make him choose to leave Hertfordshire, and her, behind. It's the first major turning point of the novel, and I needed to nail it.

I thought once I finished Chapter 11 I could move on to easier things, but alas it was not meant to be. I spent two hours last night rewriting Chapter 12, which I now get to go over with my purple pen. When I'm done with that, Chapter 13 awaits. Oh joy.

But you know what? All this editing is there to make my story stronger, hence my new hashtag: #strongerstoryyadayada. I wince when I cut large sections of my novel, and spending long hours on the computer rewriting is actually physically painful. If I can just remember though that all the hard work serves a greater purpose, I'll be able to look on the bright side.

So, to paraphrase:

Some things I write are bad,
And that really makes me mad--
Then other parts I find are even worse!
When I'm reading all this gristle
I grumble (I can't whistle)
But I get a stronger story, yada yada...

 

And I'll leave you with the video, just in case the song isn't already stuck in your heads. Are you editing, friends? Cheer up, you know what they say!

I request a Cone of Silence!

But please, not the discount model--I only want the government standard Cone that actually works.

I can see you now, scratching your head and wondering, "What is she on about?" After all, random Get Smart references seem a little out of place on a blog about writing and Jane Austen. Bear with me, it will all make sense in a minute.

Confession time: I am addicted to conversation. In college, I'd hang out in the lounge until everyone else had gone to bed, just chatting away. Dorm life killed my sleep schedule. After college, I discovered instant messaging, and I'd be on AIM or Yahoo for all hours of the night.

Now, it's Twitter. I open it up intending to just scan through my feed and post something about writing, and suddenly I'm in the middle of a conversation. I do manage to get to bed earlier than I did when I was younger, but not before I've killed my writing time for the evening.

So here's my plan: Every night at 8:00, the Cone of Silence will fall over me and my novel. I will not be able to "hear" Twitter, and (hopefully), Twitter will not hear from me. At 10:00, the Cone will be lifted back to the ceiling and communication will resume.

I need your help, friends. If I start talking to you between 8:00 and 10:00 Pacific time, tell me to get offline and back to my writing. I'll probably whine, but I'll do it.

Meanwhile, does anyone know how I hang up my shoe?