Connected

I cannot believe the social networking success I've had in the past few days. This has been something of a shocking week for me.

How do you stay connected?

I try to pimp out my blog and get more readers - even though I know what I have to say isn't all that interesting to other people (or so it would seem) - and I have used the social networks to do that. I'm on Facebook, and I use Twitter (@chambernaut). I also try to network with other blogs on Blogger, following them and posting links to them on my blog to let other people get to them - because I like those blogs! They're neat!

Recently I found a blog, www.jamigold.com, run by paranormal author Jami Gold. She has some really great posts, talking about writing and building strong characters and other really great information. I have to admit, I was recently attracted to her blog because of my geekiness - she posted about the flaws concerning the recent Green Lantern movie. This post went viral and, apparently, got her blog LOTS of attention. Well, I started following her and reading her blog posts, even going so far as to get involved and comment. In one of my comments, I provided a link to a HubPages.com article I wrote a while back about beating writer's block.

Looks like Jami liked that article because she then tweeted that article with a mention of my Twitter name.

That was yesterday. In the last two days my Twitter following has jumped up by about 20. Unbelievable! This Jami's got some pull! :D Well, as I received more followers on Twitter - who are writers as well - I started checking out their own blogs and linking to them here on my blog (see the right-hand side for that list of recommended blogs). I really believe in networking and showcasing other talent where it's deserved. And trust me - these other blogs deserve recognition, most definitely more than mine! ...Just...don't stop coming here too.

Anyway, I cannot believe how networked I am becoming...it's such a treat. I'm really having fun reading these other blogs and learning from other people. I do hope this trend continues. I want to be more noticed, I suppose, and have those interactions that help me grow as a creator - and hopefully I can help others grow as well! That's the teacher/helper part of me! A super-huge thank you to Jami Gold and to all of my new Twitter followers!

One last thing. I want to just mention how proud of myself I am. It used to be I would post on this blog once every couple of weeks or so. Look at the numbers over on the other months in the archive to the right there. Pretty pathetic, huh? The only month with as many posts is May (6)...and that's throughout the whole month. Now, I am so happy to be able to say that August is only HALF over and I already have SEVEN posts! Talk about destroying my old bad habits and perpetual giving up on things. That's done. I am so happy to blog now and just really get my thoughts out. It's so therapeutic.

What have you found to be the key to your success in committing to something that threatens to be time-consuming? Or key to completing your writing projects? How often do you find you're more willing to write, as opposed to when you feel like you're forcing yourself?

Thanks for reading!