A Need to Know Basis
In Friday’s Finding the Button post, Shiloh said:
So what I did…I made myself focus. (…) I cut my blog-hopping in half (sob).
Over the last several months, I’ve done the same thing. Part of it was necessity; I was working the day job and on deadline and I had no choice but to stay offline. But you know what I discovered while cutting back on the online involvement? I didn’t miss it. Yes, of course, I kept up with my friends, and remained on the few writing loops I participate in - yet even those I set to digest and would only read once a day.
Now that I’m writing at a much more comfortable pace, guess what? I still have those loops on digest, and I don’t visit but a half dozen blogs a day, and the ones I do visit are the ones where discussions are industry related, craft related, inspirational, etc. I rarely visit the sites I once lived for, where comment threads would run into the hundreds. Looking back, I recognize that I used those as distractions, thinking I needed to be on top of what was going on in the online world.
Guess what? I don’t. You don’t. What we need is the focus Shiloh mentioned, and that focus needs to be on our work, our health, our families, our writing, our editors and agents and publishers and what they want from us. We don’t have any need at all to keep up with gossip, or industry disasters. No, there’s nothing wrong with doing so, but look at the time you spend going out and seeking information on everyone else and what they’re doing, and then consider what you could accomplish spending that same time on YOU and YOUR writing. Trust me. You don’t need to know everything happening online. Not unless it has a direct impact on your writing career.
October 29th, 2007 at 12:23 am
Putting all my favorite blogs into a blog reader (I use bloglines, but there are others) was a HUGE time-saver for me! I can see at a glance what blogs have new posts and I can read them from the same site. If I feel a burning need to comment, I can click to the blog from the blog reader, but for most blogs I read, I skim the day’s topic and move on, especially the informtional blogs. This saves me from getting sucked into long drawn-out comment-fests that don’t really add anything to my day except (often) aggravation. But using the blog reader also keeps me from missing potentially useful information and ideas for my stories, so it’s a win-win for me!
October 29th, 2007 at 5:15 am
I’m with bunnygirl - I also use Bloglines and it’s been a timesaver (not least, because if you get caught up in something, all the posts will still be there and I can look at the blogs I like the most and get rid of the other posts without having to visit each site and wade through pages of stuff).
I still have too many blogs on my blogroll. I periodically weed them out, the problem is that I then add new ones - what I need to do is pare things down to the core blogs I *never* get rid of and try and avoid adding new ones just because I came across a single post I like!
October 29th, 2007 at 5:38 am
Well, I definitely don’t have a lot of time to spend online. I work a day job and just finding the time to write is hard enough, much less surfing the Net. I do have a handful of blogs I visit, I do try to keep up with what’s going on industry-wise and I do like to learn new things about the craft but I also know that if I need to know something specific I can always research it.
That’s not to say I haven’t done it; spend more time online than writing but I came to realize that it made me feel like I was doing something with my writing when, in fact, the very thing I needed to do—write—I was not doing. Or doing less of as a result of being online too much.
Speaking of being online, it’s time for me to exit cyperspace and get to writing.
October 29th, 2007 at 5:47 am
I need to be more disciplined in this area… much more disciplined.
October 29th, 2007 at 5:57 am
I lost all my links when the computer crashed and have since narrowed down where I go during the week. Even my writing related groups are digest. The hardest part is giving up some of my reading groups.
Now I need to concentrate that time to MY writing….
….focus, focus, focus….
October 29th, 2007 at 8:36 am
I use Google Reader, but I use the same trick — scan the blogs I want to read and click through only to those I feel a compelling needs to comment on. I’m not participating in message boards anywhere near as much and cutting down on mailing lists. This is especially important because I’ve been elected head of membership for my chapter, so my involvement in that link is going to go up with the first of the year.
It is discipline, getting the thing done. That’s one of the things that’s good about this challenge, and I’m hoping that by Round Three (if we do a Round Three) the new habits will be well and truly set.
October 29th, 2007 at 9:50 am
I hear ya. I’ve cut my blog hopping down to nearly nothing and I’ve seen a big improvement in my ability to focus. There are two blogs that I participate in but for reading, there are only a handful that I visit regularly and they are all, 100% of them, writing related.
October 29th, 2007 at 9:59 am
Oh, I read my blogs in a reader, too. I have several in Bloglines, which I don’t like as much as Netvibes BUT I’m still finding that since I’ve been away from the blogosphere? I’m not even that interested in clicking on any of those links to read! I’m sure I’ll eventually get curious again, LOL, but for now I’m really enjoying not being inundated with the career issues of everyone else, and concentrating on my writing instead. It’s made a huge difference in my mindset.
October 29th, 2007 at 10:43 am
I use Google Reader.
Doesn’t it say a lot for the above mentioned discipline though, that I’m here *again*! LOL
October 29th, 2007 at 11:04 am
Portia, I’m with you. (and I’m probably going to sneak over to your blog) I read a lot of blogs and all of them will have no affect on my writing career if I don’t read them. I tell myself I’m networking, I’m attracting people to my blog who I hope will buy my book when it comes out. When really all I’m doing is procrastinating. Does my writing suffer? I don’t know, because I always make sure I have my writing done regardless how much time I spend on the Net. Could I get more done? Most definitely.
October 29th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Like you and Shi, I also cut out most of my blog hopping. I’d cut out almost all television two years ago and with the near elimination of blog hopping and keeping track of my wordcount (which I didn’t usually do because I found I got an average of 2-3k a day one) I’m more productive.
And, to be honest, it’s better for me and keeps my blood pressure down to stay out of blogdrama and negative stuff. I still have my ranty moments, but as I only read the RWR monthly, that’s down low too, LOL.
I stick to blogs I like and find inspiring or like the voice at, I avoid places that make me mad or I find counter productive and in truth, it makes me happier and keeps me out of trouble (most of the time)
October 29th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
I don’t visit many blogs, I admit. But i manage to distract myself otherwise… under the guise of research.
I do have a rule for myself though… I visit the blog of the person posting above me - if they have one.
You would be amazed what you can find.
October 30th, 2007 at 9:14 am
I have done the same thing. A lot of them were political blogs, and most of the time, that stuff can wait. I use bribes. If I make word count, I get to watch a movie, read a book, or read some of my favorite blogs.
And I am like Lauren. I am much happier avoiding the blogs that are famous for their flaming. It is a waste of energy when I could be writing or editing.