The great enshittification

Posted on February 16, 2024 by robjtriggs

Twitter is dead. X is dying. Social media has fragmented into grubby little pieces and the fallout, for me at least, has left me scampering to my bunker and breathing only properly-scrubbed recycled rarefied air.

I have been part of Twitter for over a decade and, for the most part, I’ve loved it. I’ve made friends, some of whom will (might) be reading this. It has given me direct access to authors, which I have done my best not to abuse, and readers to me. It’s been a chance to spread my whimsical spirit further and wider, and to keep abreast of what’s going on in popular culture.

But times have changed, and so have I. I’m not able to go online as much as I used to (I don’t count doomscrolling on my phone as I only feel I can post on my PC. I’m odd like that) and so my engagement has waned. More importantly, though, the enshittification of Twitter has really hurt me.

Ever since the change of ownership things have been going downhill. I mean, it’s hardly a surprise; dicks gonna dick. But his changes have allowed voices inimical to mine to propagate whilst eliminating more liberal/left-wing voices.

Moreover, the almighty algorithm, which determines what one sees or doesn’t see on one’s feed, keeps pushing profoundly miserable world news in my direction. I mean, it’s not wrong: I am interested in a certain amount of politics and human rights*. But America is a bin-fire right now and I could do without the relentless bombardment of misery.

So why not just leave? Well, like it or not, social media has become an essential part of life for writers and creatives of all bents. Not only is it a place to chat and make contacts/friends, it’s where publishing houses and agents share their news (disseminated, then, by kind and interested humans). Twitter, for a brief time, became the industry noticeboard – one that might even, on occasion, answer questions.

A quick reminder that I am a published author only because I saw and responded to a notice on Twitter.

So leaving is not easy. The big guns – Gaiman, for example – have the power to walk away, and have done, leaving only a ghost presence to put out automated notices and to preserve their ‘names’ from ghouls who might impersonate. Many, such as Gareth L Powell and Jon Scalzi, have done similar.

I am going. I am easing my way out the door. But I still feel the need to leave a presence, to occasionally check in to the Bad Place because so many people, friends, contacts, are still there. There is usually something to learn, even though it’s pretty much morally unjustifiable.

For fun and relaxation, I am slowly making the switch over to BlueSky. I don’t have the energy to spread myself over the whole fragmented social media landscape at the moment, so I’m anchoring there. For now at least. It’s not the answer; there isn’t quite the sense of it as Twitter’s public forum yet.

But at least I’m not being drowned in hate.

*Trans rights are human rights. Just sayin’.

The slow death

Posted on July 7, 2023 by robjtriggs

Life is funny. We have our ebbs and our flows, our ups and our downs, and it is important to treat those imposters the same.

For those that don’t know, I found my publisher on Twitter. A call for submissions came onto my timeline – I forget who or how – but it was close enough, genre-and-wordcount-wise, for me to think ‘hmm, sounds like Night Shift might be up their street’. I sent it off, then nine months later found an acceptance in my inbox.

Now Twitter, like my career, is dying. And I find this hard to take, for I have made some very good friends on the platform, and have been relying on it for some time to keep me abreast of literary and professional news.

The reason for its demise is well documented and cruel. People are leaving; not necessarily abandoning the platform, but withdrawing the personal element that made it such a rich place to visit. It’s become corporate (when not fascist) and cold. Like many others I am not planning on deleting my account, but the fun of the place seems be distinctly lacking.

The problem I have – and many, many others – is that there isn’t a real alternative. Twitter, for all its faults, had become a sort of default forum of news and updates in publishing and literature as a whole, both authoritative and gossip-based. Many people are exodising to other social media sites, such as Mastodon or Bluesky. I myself have set up an account on T2.social (same username, if you happen to be about). The problem is that these sites are fragmentary, selective, and I simply can’t believe that all will survive.

So how will we find our information? And, for small creators like myself, how will we tell people of our products? I mean, I’ve always been rubbish at this anyway; but at least I was rubbish in company.

At least our old print friend, The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook, is still about. In a lot of ways this Twitter debacle is proving the short-sightedness of the internet (and TV streaming services – but that’s a rant for another day). And at least I still have this space, my very own blog (which, incidentally, I pay for – not to grumble about that, but don’t get the wrong impression either).

I just have no way of telling people it exists.

All a little depressing this week, I’m sorry about that. So let me finish by being a little more upbeat. I have finally opening my first reader of Breathing Fire’s email. I have not gone through the detailed notes, but initial response is that it’s not as apocalyptically devastating as might be thought from what is, after all, a very early draft. I mean, there’s still a huge amount of work to do, and some major areas that need retinkerisation, but it’s not all Doom.

And from ‘not all Doom’ the green shoots of optimism emerge.

Leaving home

Posted on November 25, 2022 by robjtriggs

I’ve been toying with the idea of this ever since the Musk took over Twitter. Thing is, will it be of any interest to anyone? Maybe not, and, if you’re not interested, please feel free to pass over this week’s blog untouched. Go with my blessing. Come back next week for more typical ramblings and whimsy.

Twitter has been a home of sorts for me for as long as I’ve been keeping this blog – my account was started because of the same motivations I got at Winchester Writing Festival back in 2013. I’ve not relied on it for sales or anything as crass as that – if I had I’d be very hungry indeed – but it’s provided me community and support and friendship.

And now it’s all being threatened – both on an existential sense of will it survive at all, and on a moral sense – even if it does limp on, is it a community I want to be a part of? I feel homeless, dislocated. At the moment I can’t face setting up new social media profiles elsewhere – I will, surely, but I can’t face it right now. So is my only choice to say goodbye to all my friends?

Make no mistake, the friendships I’ve forged through Twitter are real – I won’t name any names for fear of causing embarrassment, but you know I’m talking about you. I don’t want to lose you.

I should really be using this platform to share the other ways you can get in touch with me, and it’s true I’m on Facebook (@RobinTriggsWrites) – though I barely use it other than for promoting this blog. I’ll have to step up somewhere but, as I said, I can’t face it right now.

This page isn’t the most visited in the entirety of Internetland, but it’s my little corner. It’s nice to know people check in every now and again. This is something else I might lose if Twitter continues to go belly up.

Don’t get me wrong; I’ll continue to keep tapping away. I just hope there’s someone out there to share ‘me’, if that doesn’t sound too hideous and wrong. Nor am I abandoning Twitter just yet. I’ll see how it plays out and maybe I’ll become accustomed to the horrors of Musk. But I ain’t no right-winger; I don’t like what’s going on politically or morally. I don’t want to support him even tacitly.

All the advice for incoming writers is to keep a list of contacts you make; embrace sign-ups and set up a newsletter. Guess which dingus hasn’t done any of that, preferring to promote themselves via Twitter and other privately-owned feeds? I’m just glad I actually own my computer and most of the software and actually own a few DVDs and CDs – just for the important things, you know?

There’s a novel in this somewhere. When all property is leased courtesy of a private enterprise, what happens if that enterprise goes bad?

So: a sober and quite depressing post this week, without even the consolation of a positive resolution. I shall merely wait and see. Maybe I’ve just wasted your time and mine all for nothing.

But the whims of the rich can make a big impact on the lives of us, the little people. Twitter’s never been perfect and a part of me hopes that, if it does collapse, it starves attention from the bigoted and fascistic and life generally gets better.

I love my friends, even those I’ve never met in real life. I guess I’m still in the depression phase of grief-coping. I shall turn this into positive action forthwith, just you watch me.

For the meantime, I’m off to do a little paid editing and maybe also to creep on with OKoB, if only so’s I’ve something to talk about next week.

Adios, mes amis

Reflections on a Twitter anniversary

Posted on June 25, 2021 by robjtriggs

On Wednesday I received my eight-year anniversary notification on Twitter. Ah, what wild-eyed youth first took his tremulous steps onto the world stage… Which is not to say I was a total social media virgin, but certainly I was unprepared for the Bird-Site.

I signed on to the big T because I was advised to at Winchester Writers’ Conference, still the only conference of its type I’ve attended. There I was told that a decent social media presence was expected of an author, and so I went with a definite aim. That aim I’ve almost certainly missed – I have no great following, nor has any agent snapped me up on the back of it. I have garnered almost zero attention for my principled stance on avoiding principles.

So it’s all been a massive failure. And yet still I tweet – 18.6k of them at time of writing. That’s 18 tweets per follower I’ve garnered; over 2,300 per year. Why?

Because I enjoy it. Because it’s a way of expressing myself, my persona allowed to emerge. And because of the friends I’ve made along the way.

Yes, friends, because of you.

I love tweeting because it allows me to connect directly with the human race, and – guess what? – you’re all really nice. I’ve made real, enduring friendships through Twitter, and that’s the best recommendation I can give to the site. So this blog-post is for you, all you who have kept me company through good times and bad. You’re all great.

It’s also nice that I can connect directly to readers. Sadly I’ve not got so many of those – I really remember the one truly complimentary tweet received – but I’m always here if anyone wants to talk.

I’m too shy to start conversations; no good at the networking thing. But I’ve also discovered great authors and found wonderful recommendations for new lines of reading.

So thank you, all you who have kept me company on the Odyssey. Like the hero of Greek legend, I float rudderless from one disaster to the next, but I’m still more or less standing, still with the dream of one day being blown back to safe harbour.

Unlike Odysseus I find my crew growing instead of decreasing.

Of course, if it’s my eight-year Twitter anniversary, it’s also my eight-year blogaversary; I started both enterprises around the same time.

But that, dear friends, is another story.

I wanna hold your hand

Posted on May 18, 2018 by robjtriggs

Escher, Drawing Hands, 1948

I do not have an agent. This bothers me.

The whispers have it that it’s easier to get a publishing deal than it is to get representation. I don’t know about that, but I do have a book coming out and I’m finding myself somewhat at a loss.

Agents are great. For a relatively modest fee (that you don’t pay up front) they make sure your work is tip-top and that you’re not getting screwed in negotiations.

You don’t actually need an agent to do these things for you: you can find beta-readers for free or pay an editorial company to review your work for you. Similarly, I got The Society of Authors to check the proffered contract for me (a free service once membership is paid), which gives me a little more confidence that I’m not going to lose out if everything goes pear-shaped.

So why am I bothered by not having an agent? Well, at the moment it’s this: what happens next?

I’m a debut novelist: I have a book coming out. I know that I’m expected (and want) to help promote my book. I don’t know how to do this. Am I responsible for sorting out podcast appearances? Launch events? Press releases?

I know I can ask my publishers this but I’m afraid to hassle them. I don’t want to be that person – the one who’s looking over their shoulders all the time asking ‘are we there yet?’ And yes, I know that says more about me that it does about the world; and yes, I’d probably have the same fear about hassling an agent.

There are other things too, though, like the possibility of getting another book published. My publisher has the right of first refusal on my next work. When the hell am I supposed to broach the issue with them? How do I best present myself to get a career and not be just a one-off?

I guess what I really want is for someone to be there for me. I want reassurance. I want someone there to hold my hand.

An agent is not a therapist and I know that what I’m saying here may make all reputable agents black-ball me forevermore. But I want to be good at what I do. I feel like I’m not doing enough to sell myself; that I’m spending too much time on the whole ‘writing’ thing and not enough of building my brand.

I also feel like I’m trapped: that this ‘rights to the next book’ will act as a disincentive to agents in the future, even though I signed the deal knowing full well what I was getting into.

I am worrying too much. This is almost certainly the case. That doesn’t make it better. What I really need is someone to help me organise this period, to tell me what I should be doing, to act as a guide and a confidante.

Thankfully I’ve got Twitter. And so do you. Never has it been so easy to ask for advice, to go direct to the people who a) know what they’re talking about, and b) are willing to share their time and expertise.

Not for the first time, and certainly not for the last, I find myself dependent on the kindness of strangers. Now I just need to get over my fears of bothering them.

Pitch Wars

Posted on July 28, 2017 by robjtriggs

21033_fantasy_knight_two_kinghts_fighting

‘No, my manuscript is better!” “Pah! You don’t even have multiple narrators.” “At least I don’t have a talking dog as a protagonist!” “You dare mock Wuffles? You must die!” [I’ve no idea who this picture’s by; I stole it from here]

I have decided that what I really need is serious, professional-level input to help me across that final gap; to make my novel ready for publication. And by publication I mean ready for agents. And by professional-level input I mean free professional-level input.

This is why I’m submitting Oneiromancer to this year’s Pitch Wars competition. Full details are here, but in essence it’s an opportunity to work with a mentor – a published author – to develop your novel and your query letter. Which is exactly what I need.

First you have to have a finished novel with at least a modicum of polishing. You also need a query letter, and a synopsis is desirable. Then you choose four potential mentors, and this is where it gets tricky. There are a hundred to choose from – though only 37 of these deal in adult stories, and of those I’ve a longlist of twelve who take urban fantasy.

This is the first time I’ve attempted anything like this. I’m not one for competitions – there aren’t many for full-length novelists and I’m too mean to pay. Or, rather, I’m too cautious for uncertain returns. I’ve spent a lot of my life being poor and such habits run deep.

But social media is gradually winning me over. Slowly I am expanding my circle of influences: gradually I am becoming aware of opportunities, of new writers and – I hope – new perspectives. If there’s one thing I beg you take from my blog it’s this: be open. Even if you just watch from the sidelines and stay silent – as I’ve spent a lot of my life doing – let yourself grow.

Maybe Pitch Wars will be a bomb. Maybe I’ll be eliminated after the first read-through and I’ll just face more rejection. But at least I’ll have re-examined my manuscript and met (virtually) a few more authors. I’ve already learned there’s a difference between US and UK query letters. Really, what have I to lose?

The point of blogging

Posted on July 8, 2016 by robjtriggs

Blogging for Fiction Writers

I’m curious what fiction writers have found works or doesn’t work in using blogs as part of their platform. It seems far easier for nonfiction writers, especially those who focus on particular subject areas, since they can provide a lot of added value for readers of their books by blogging on their subjects. But what about fiction writers? Thanks in advance for your input!

A question posted on LinkedIn ‘Books & Readers’

In the best traditions of stealing ideas from other people, the above question got me thinking. And what I was thinking was that the questioner has missed the point.

A lot of you out there are writers. A lot of you are on Twitter, or have blogs of your own, or Facebook pages. How many of you are doing it to raise your profile? To sell books? For some similar purpose?

I’m doing the same myself. No point lying: I started this blog because I was advised that a successful author needs to be on social media, to have a groundswell of interest before publication, whether self- or traditional. To have presence.

Three years in and I can confidently say that hasn’t worked. Not that it’s been a failure either: I have followers, both of this blog (hi!) and on Twitter, that I wouldn’t have had before. But I’ve hardly got the legions of regular contributors that I’d happily dreamt of when I first committed text to internet. By any objective measure it’s been a failure. So why do I keep doing it?

Simple. Because I enjoy it.

And that’s the point. Even though some weeks I struggle to find anything interesting to write about, and some weeks I don’t feel like I’m publishing really quality or insightful posts: sometimes I wish I’d chosen fortnightly updates rather than weekly. But I enjoy it. I like the challenge. I like to have fun with words. I like to think of new angles upon which to focus. It’s one reason I gave myself a broad remit (‘A Writers’ Life’, rather than ‘This Particular Novel’, say).

And I think – although I can give no evidence – that this is truly the answer to the original poster’s question. The best way to ‘build a platform’ is to find something they enjoy and keep at it. I love Twitter. I have nothing to sell or to promote save vague promises for the future, but enough people seem to like my rambly tweets that I’ve a respectable number of followers. I’d like more because ego – and because soon enough I will have something to promote – but at the moment I’m happy with my slow progress.

Similarly this blog. I enjoy doing it. It’s good practice, and when eventually I do self-publish Night Shift and start sending out Oneiromancer to agents I will have that fabled ‘platform’ upon which to fall.

And, in the meantime, I’ve been opened up to other bloggers and writers and artists and I’ve expanded my own tiny perspective into a wider community.

So, Mr Original Poster, my advice to you – should you actually want it – is to relax and have fun. The benefits may come later. But for now, lay back and enjoy the process.

And, if you’re really, really interested, here’s a link to my (considerably longer) post on book promotion.

The propaganda war: how to sell your masterwork

Posted on October 23, 2015 by robjtriggs

Okay, here’s how it works: if you’ve just released a book – self-pubbed or trad – and you’re wondering how to promote it then you’ve already got it wrong. Sorry if that’s a harsh message, but it’s true. In order to successfully promote your work then you have to have been building a presence on the internet (because what else matters?) for months – if not years – prior to your first release.

It’s a rare thing that anyone will buy a book simply on the basis of its cover or its glowing Amazon reviews or on the endorsement of people they’ve never heard of. Studies (that I can’t quote, sorry) show that you have to have heard an author’s name (or a band, or an artist) at least five times before you’ll consider buying one of their works. I’m proof of this. I’m on Twitter. Some names I come across with regularity. Those people – whose comments I appreciate and enjoy – are the ones I’m going to take a punt on. The one-note shouters will never see my money, thank you very much.

Selling books is not an overnight thing. You are fighting the long war, deep in the longue duree. That’s why I’m writing this blog. That’s why I’m on Twitter and LinkedIn. I have no product to sell – yet. One day I will have. And I’ll have a body of work – more than that, I’ll have a personality. I’m (hopefully) not just another barker shouting on the street corner. I’m a human being and people are much more impressed with humans than they are replicants.

That’s what I think, anyway.

With that in mind, here’s my incomplete list of methods of promoting your book and a few thoughts thrown in, just for good measure.

• Social media

o Twitter

Twitter is my favourite method of social-mediaising but one that is magnificently and amusingly misused. Anyone whose tweets consist of nothing but self-promotion will soon find themselves followerless. There is a rough guide or rule known as the 50-30-20 breakdown: 50% of your tweets should be other people’s posts retweeted; 30% should be your own thoughts/comments; and only 20% should be promoting your own work. Personally I’d say it should be more 45-45-10

o Facebook

I’m not quite sure why authors use Facebook other than to separate their personal and professional lives – which is not an insignificant thing and is something I intend to get round to doing at some point. I’d say that the same rule applies here as given for Twitter. Don’t just use it as a selling-point. The best thing you can do with all thee things is to get people looking at your blog/website, on which more later

o LinkedIn

LinkedIn isn’t a selling platform and shouldn’t be used as such. It is, however, a good way of communicating with other authors and building up networks, as well as finding interesting debates and learning more about other people’s perspectives/experiences

o YouTube

I’ve never done this, so my experience is perforce somewhat limited. But I gather that it’s increasingly common for authors to promote their work with book trailers and/or audio readings. I’m not too sure what to make of this. I’d suspect that you’d need something really well-produced (which is not the same as flashy) to make an impact. If anyone’s tried this I’d be interested to see how it worked for them

• Being Nice to People

This section was originally called Networking, but people get the wrong idea about this. They think that it’s all about schmoozing in trendy Soho winebars (or, if you’re American, insert a poncy area of New York), or trying to catch an eye at a party, of pushing yourself beyond human decency for the sake of a small advantage. Hell, you’re probably thinking of the casting couch or something, aren’t you?

It’s not. It’s none of these. It’s about looking around you at your friends and asking yourself who they know. Or what they do. It’s about asking favours. It’s about being polite and respectful and not pushing – but asking nonetheless.

Just take a moment to think about your friends and acquaintances. Where do your colleagues work? Might they be willing to ask a favour on your behalf? Are they easily bribed with wine or chocolate (because a favour deserves a thank you)? By this stage in your career you should be in a writing group; there, already, are a lot of people who might have thoughts or ideas or contacts. Ask them. I wager they’ll be willing to help. The only price, save the aforementioned wine, is that you’ll be expected to return the favour.

Example: in my writing group there is a local writing festival organiser. There are a few who work for major (non-fiction) publishers. There was a professional copy-editor. At least one is agented: several past members are fully published. This is only a small selection – and here I’m only looking at professional activities. I’ve not even touched on their friends.

There is a reason why Six Degrees of Separation is a game/concept. You know people who know people who know people. You don’t have to push, you don’t have to dig, you don’t have to be some arrogant Hollywood big-shot to network. Just be polite. Be nice to people. Help others. And they’ll be a lot more willing to help you in return.

• Personal appearances

Whether public appearances work for you or not really depends on your personality and the nature of your work: it’s a lot harder to do school visits if your work is a Regency Bonkbuster or The New Stephen King than a nice educational children’s book. Below are a few ideas, tailorable to your particular idiom:

o Book release parties
o School visits
o Library visits
o Care home visits
o Workshops
o Stalls in markets
o Book Fair appearances/stalls

A few notes: I don’t know about you, but the idea of most of these fill me with horror. The best way to overcome your fear is to combine your efforts with those of other local authors. If you’re not in a writing group then you’re missing out. The mutual support is invaluable.

Secondly, make sure you invite everyone. Not just your friends, but contact the local press, any book-bloggers you might be following on Twitter (not for school visits: they’re a bit fussy, these days, about who walks in to chat with the kids) – hell, take punts and invite celebrities. Remember what I said about having to have heard a name five times before it settles in the brain? Most people you invite won’t come. But really – what have you got to lose? Email is free. Just be polite and unpushy. Invite literary agents because you never know who might be in town. Note, though, that if you’re theming the event – for example if all the authors appearing specialise in science-fiction – then you’ll lose credibility if you send a group email to every single entry in the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook.

Actually, never send group emails. To anyone.

• The Written Word

There aren’t enough journalists these days. Those that still exist are overworked and underpaid and are desperate for copy to fall on their desk that they can shove in the papers without any input from them. So whatever you do make sure you write a press-release and send it out to the local rag. And when I say ‘local rag’ I mean any rag that you’ve ever been local to. For example: I was born in Bradford, moved to Norfolk, went to university in Belfast and now live in Oxfordshire. So that’s four places to which I am local, every one of which has multiple papers to target.

I won’t go into the ins and outs of writing a press release here. I’m sure you can find guides around the internet. A few quick notes, however:

o Attach a photograph of you and your book
o Say you’re available for interview (which can be done over the phone, Skype or other modern contrivance, so don’t worry too much about travel)
o Personalise your letter to the area you’re targeting: for example, in my letter to Bradford I’d say how the local libraries shaped my writing growth
o Try and make it ready to be inserted, as is, into their paper. Minimise the work the editor has to do to make it ‘fit’
o Don’t send a copy of the book but do make it clear that you’ll provide a copy for review upon request

If they get back to you and invite you for an interview (don’t laugh; it’s happened to people I know) then for heaven’s sake take them up on the offer!

o Reviews

Before your book is released you should be contacting all the book-bloggers you’re following on Twitter (you are doing this, right?) and asking if they’re willing to review your book. Many won’t: the biggest will be choked with people like you. But you can only lose if you’re rude or abusive. And some will take it – and if you do a get a review, be grateful – even if they say you’re a horrible writer whose entire back catalogue should be ritually purged and all mention of your existence be expunged from history.

o Merchandise

It’s always worth getting some bookmarks (which double as business cards, with your internet presence highlighted – probably not email address: Twitter, Facebook and your website/blog addresses will be fine) to give out at any events you do host or take part in. Bear in mind that many people aren’t prepared to spend money on the spot. Most people like to go away and reflect before committing to a purchase. Make it easy for them. Chances are that if they have to hunt to find you they’ll just give up. Don’t let that happen.

o Your personal blog/website

I’ve left this until last because it’s the single most important thing you can have. It also ties together everything I’ve mentioned above. It doesn’t have to be anything like this: it doesn’t have to consist of regular musings on your life and of your irritations with the way the world is persistently ignoring you.

What you need is a portal from which people can see everything I’ve outlined above. It’s a place for people to springboard onto your Twitter feed, your Facebook group. It should outline your work and provide links for people who want to buy it. You can copy (or link to) any mentions you get in the press. Any events you’re involved with should be mentioned (and, if it’s an open event, this is where you place the invite).

Publishers and literary agents do look at these things. A good website might not sell you a deal but a bad one – or an absent one – might lose you one.

If you’ve not got one of these, do it. Do it now.

A final note (or two):

Perhaps the best thing you can do to promote your own work is to promote the work of other people. That might sound counterintuitive but it’s true. People remember nice people: not only the person you’re helping (who might well return the favour) but the casual Twitter-stroller will notice, maybe not even consciously, and will lodge you somewhere in their brains as someone to do – so to speak – later. I’ve followed many people because they’ve shared something I’m interested in: never heard of them before; oh, they’ve put something up. Let’s have a look at their profile…

It works. Try it.

Finally, just remember what I said about the longue duree. This isn’t a sprint. These things don’t happen overnight. No one single thing is going to make you the next Hugh Howey or – god help you – EL James. It takes sustained effort, time and patience to make a career as a writer. But it is doable. Relax. Take your time. Enjoy the process.

Remember: nice guys finish first.

The wet haddock of reality

Posted on January 2, 2015 by robjtriggs

So the WordPress annual report comes in, and I am happy. Slow growth across the social media world – I can live with that. I can sit back and enjoy this wave of adulation, my ego sufficiently bolstered..?

Of course not. Life’s never so straightforward.

2014 has been a bit of an enhumblement, professionally speaking. If 2013 was my ‘year of getting professional’, 2014 has been my ‘year of getting slapped in the face with the wet haddock of reality’. I’ve been forced to face up to the fact that, in the grand scheme of things, I know nothing. And I’m very glad to have made this realisation. It’s only when you face your incompetences that you can turn them into strengths.

So what have I learned? For a start, I over-use rhetorical questions. A small, silly thing really but it’s a habit that’s surprisingly hard to break. Will I succeed? Can’t say yet. I also over-use sentence fragments, an annoying stylistic tic of mine.

More fundamentally, I need to work on character and pacing. I don’t want to go too much into this because I’ve whined on about it before; really both elements come down to not addressing these things properly before I start to write. I’ve spent the majority of the year working on correcting related issues within my work.

But really I think the thing that’s changed in the last year is my attitude. I began 2014 by racing to complete a revision for an agent – I rushed in order to impress and ended up with a failure. Now I am working slower, steadier, and leaving more time for my deep thoughts to catch and swallow the scudding shoals of inspiration before they can lead me into shallows of superficiality.

If I manage to learn my bitter lessons and prove I’m worthy, maybe 2015 will become the year of getting published. One can always hope. But always, always, work comes before dreams. Only one can lead to the other.

Oh, and I also got married this year. That was good.

Blog in the bubble

Posted on November 7, 2014 by robjtriggs

I was at a writery-type meeting a few weeks ago and the question was raised: what’s the point of social media? And, following on from that, what’s the point of blogging?

Over the last few years it has become an article of faith: if riches and fame an author doth seek, let them face the public at least once a week. It has become not just common but required; anyone seeking a publication deal must have an ‘author platform’. A webpage, a blog, or merely an active ‘soapbox’ on Twitter or Facebook.

What if this accepted wisdom is wrong?

It’s easy to see the problem. If we’re spending time lovingly crafting these tiny essays, carving and paring our Tweets or telling all our friends what we’re up to (‘just burned the toast lol #toastfail’) then we’re not doing ‘real’ writing. Beyond that – and this is the point of the abovementioned conversation – it’s almost impossible to reach any actual potential book buyers through social media. With so many voices clamouring for attention, and no big product to back up your words, there’s no way to get through to the general public. You end up with a circle of people in your position: other authors, in other words, and all the time you’ve spent ends up shared only within an almost incestuous group of people in the same position as you.

An example is some of these ‘blog-tours’ that I’ve been involved with, hosting and promoting other writers on this platform. Let’s be honest about this – although I’m absolutely delighted to have been involved in these, I seriously doubt they’ve really raised profiles, either mine or other people’s.

Well that’s still better than nothing, right?

When I first set up this blog I was explicit about my motives: I wanted to build up my profile so that I would be more attractive to potential publishers/agents. But over the year and a half or so I’ve been going my reasons have changed. I realised pretty early on that I wasn’t going to get thousands of followers all desperately hanging on my every word, who had been entranced by my witty author-voice and were now itching to get their grubby little mitts on my writing. Instead I found I enjoyed the discipline of working out something to write about, of spending my Monday morning writing-time trying a different style of communication. It’s a place for me to muse about writing, my own and other people’s, and to break down in my own head some aspects I wanted to consider myself. Writing is learning. And what better way to learn then by sharing with other people?

And this little incestuous group I’ve formed – it’s actually quite a nice place. I’ve found a lot of blogs, some of which I have great respect for. Finding other perspectives, other people in the same place as me, is a good feeling.

Now I have a backlog of writing that, should I ever actually achieve my goals and get something published, Josephine Public will be able to find once she discovers me via another outlet. I’ve got a history and a personality online, free for everyone to see, that shares a little of my story and my character. This will hopefully stand me in good stead for the future.

Whether this demand for authors to have their voice is a passing phase or the secret to a prosperous future – well, who can answer that? I know I don’t have much faith in ‘interactive fiction’, with its videos and links and electronic wizardry – don’t people realise that the whole point of books is that this already happens inside the readers’ head without having to step outside the adventure to click on the link?

All I know is that I quite enjoy my little bubble. I like the challenge of trying to be interesting. I don’t think that people should be forced to do the same as me, I don’t want to be a statistic or invisible or a lone voice shouting in the void and to those who have made a career in the field without resorting to Twitter I say ‘kudos’. But I like it here. I’ve made my blog and I’ll lie in it.

What do you think? I know many of my regular readers keep blogs themselves (incest!) and I’d be interested to know whether you consider bloggeration a success or a distraction.

But now it’s time to put my toys away and get on with some real writing. Ciao!