On Blogger's Block by Joy McCullough-Carranza

(This is my brain in playwright mode.)

Since I joined Project Mayhem, I have had plenty of ideas for blog posts, usually a couple months ahead. This month was the first time it snuck up on me and I felt completely blank. Absolutely nothing to share. Blogger’s block, if you will. (I rather fervently don’t believe in writer’s block, mind you, but blogger’s block seems to be a thing, based on the philosophy that what I experience must be true, anyway.)

Part of this is because my mind is not on middle grade fiction these days. Honestly, I’m kind of peeved with middle grade fiction. (It’s not really the books themselves. I still love the books. But still.)

And part of it is because my playwright persona is in full swing, with a world premiere of the play of my heart opening in February. It turns out my playwright brain works very differently from my MG brain. In fact I thought I would have a first draft of a new novel by March 1^st, but as it turns out, my brain is beginning work on a new play instead. Because it’s in playwright mode and it doesn’t shift easily.

So I’m in the awkward place of needing to blog about middle grade as a Project Mayhem team member, but not really having anything to say about it. In grappling with how to deal with that, I thought I’d just be honest. After all, it seems we’re mostly writers here. We’ve all had those days—or longer—when we’ve felt we really didn’t have much to say.

My personal belief about writer’s block is that there are certainly periods of time when what we write is utter garbage—sometimes extended periods of time—but that it is always possible to writing something. And so I have blogged something.

I hope by the time my next Project Mayhem slot rolls around, I will have found something more substantive and interesting to say. Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Do you believe in writer’s block? How about blogger’s block? What do you say when you don’t feel you have anything to say, or is it sometimes better to just be quiet for a while?

Rules to Tweet By: Social Media and You!

Okay, so these aren't exactly rules. I mean, who likes rules anyway? Not us writers, that's for sure! I just like to use these as guidelines when it comes to social media and writers. Please feel free to add to these as needed.

Keep it real!

I don't know about you guys, but I can't stand automated posts a la twitter, etc. They come off as entirely fake and obvious plugs to sell books. If you want to sell books, forge real relationships with people. Also, if you're only posting about links to your books or your great reviews I have zero interest in you. Clearly you have no interest in getting to know me, you just want my money. Social Media is about being social. It's not a link factory.

Remember you're human!

No one expects you to post every day. No one expects every single Facebook post to be chock full of witticism and wisdom. Sometimes you just want to comment about the crazy guy in front of you in the Starbucks line, sometimes you want to comment on laundry. It's okay!

Don't go overboard

You don't need to be on every platform. Pick one or two of your favorite platforms and stick with them. If you're on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, Instagram, etc, how can you possibly keep up? If you can, good for you, but when the heck do you write? ;)

Don't get offended if....

You reply to someone's post on Blogger or Facebook, etc, and they don't respond. Sometimes an email is missed. Sometimes the person has seven million other things going on and it can't be helped. Just like you're only human other social media peeps are stuck in that category too, except for that super intelligent cat who manages to always keep up his Facebook page.

Don't get mortally wounded if....

Someone unfriends you or unfollows you. There are generally really good reasons why someone drops someone from their contacts on social media and it has nothing to do with the person personally. They may be cutting down to people they only talk to regularly or maybe they just want it to be family. Perhaps they noticed you're a middle-grade writer and they realized they only want to be connected to romance writers for the sake of their craft. Think about it before you get too upset. In reality, it's no big deal and you probably did nothing wrong, so don't sweat it.

Don't be a mass unfollower!

Nothing...and I mean nothing disgusts me more when someone on Twitter, generally a writer follows me, I follow them back, and then months later, they unfollow myself and every other writer that's followed them back in a lame effort to make themselves look "popular" by having a few people they keep following (and I mean a few) and then hundreds to thousands of alleged fans (those they mass unfollowed). It doesn't make you look popular and it's pretty despicable. We all know the truth and we'll all eventually unfollow you. Sorry, but it just makes you look like a tool. Please don't do this!

Don't comment on your reviews!

Here's another huge no-no in my book. We've all seen the public meltdowns from authors commenting on bad reviews, blowing up at the reviewer. It's shocking and horrible to watch. Please stay away from this. If you feel your emotions will get the better of you, then you've got to stop reading reviews of your books, plain and simple. Nothing will make you lose credibility faster--even if you're comments have validity--then an author who cannot control themselves.

Okay, so these are my "rules". What are some things you might add? Social Media can be tricky, but it can also be lots of fun. I like to keep it light. I don't discuss my political views or religious beliefs, but that's just me. What's your social media advice?