Antisocial Networking

Now is not a good time to be unmotivated. I've just finished two novels and have put together a new crit group whose first meeting is January 15th. I've committed to myself to get a certain amount of editing done so that the submission process can start.

I know what it is, though. I'm allowing myself to be deluged by other people's process. Many of my friends are writers, I'm part of several online groups and I get a few writing magazines, every one of which is deeply involved in their own process and is not just willing but EAGER to tell me about it in depth.

At some point, I have to stop listening to anybody else and figure it out for myself. It's great to get advice when you need it, but being deluged by stuff you didn't ask for can be downright destructive. So, I know what I need to do to get motivated. Stop reading my email. Turn off Twitter. Ignore Facebook.

I've got places to go and things to do, and nobody can drive the unicycle of authorship for me, can they? Well, they could, but then I wouldn't be on it. And there's nothing that sucks worse than sitting by the side of the road watching someone else ride off on your unicycle.