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Monday, March 21, 2011

Real People vs. Imaginary People vs. Virtual People

Ah yes.  The delicate balance. Real vs imaginary vs virtual.

Of course, real people should come first, right?

Followed by the imaginary people (these are the people that inhabit your stories, your brain, your soul...they give life to your writing....you can't ignore them.)

And last but not least, the virtual people....those out in cyberspace.

Seriously, but I don't see how some writers do it.  I mean, don't get me wrong.  I love my blog friends, but how can a person really balance the real, the imaginary and the virtual effectively?  I struggle with real vs imaginary all the time (Come on, girls, keep it down in there, Mommy is writing), but the addition of the virtual piece....wha?  how?  I'm barely hanging on here with my little blog, trying to connect twice a week.  It's not a chore, mind you, and I love reading other writers' blogs, but there is no way that I can comment as much as I'd like to.  I mean, I can only JUST manage to post my own thoughts twice a week. How do folks manage with facebook and twitter as well?

And I know I am not the only one who works a full time job in addition to being a writer.  There are others of you out there, I am certain.

But I fear that my real and imaginary worlds would suffer if I let the virtual world have a bigger piece of me.  Again, how do folks manage to do it?

Jugglingly yours,

hrh

16 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh yeah, I work and have kids too.

great post.

I woke up Sunday a.m. to find my blog, my 500 plus followers, my 100plus author interviews, and my 200 plus reviews gone. Blogger gave no explanation, but I think the account was hacked. Change your password often!

I have reloaded the interviews and reviews, plus redesigned the blog. But if you could, please hit the "follow" button so I can reclaim the fellow bloggers I miss. I'm still following you, as my account remained--thank goodness!
http://kellymoranauthor.blogspot.com

Thank you!
Kelly Moran
XO

Catherine Denton said...

I don't do it very well. I'm trying something new right now, posting all at once.

But the comments and reading I tend to do throughout the day randomly. I can't keep up with twitter and facebook either, so I'll be excited to hear from your other commenters.
My Blog

erica and christy said...

Yeah, I feel you. There's two of us and we have a hard time getting around - then again, we're both moms to two boys each, teachers, wives, and real, actual people. I still read the blogs I enjoy as often as possible and just hope those that haven't seen me for awhile understand (as do we)!
erica

Kelly Polark said...

I find it hard, and I don't have a full time job! I have been posting less because of lack of time (only twice this month so far!). But twice a week I try to set an hour of time to go to blogs and comment (somtimes more). Twitter I just bop in here and there when I feel like it.
It's hard but I find the supportive network makes it worthwhile.

Julie Hedlund said...

I don't think any of us DO balance it very well. I just keep shifting the coconut shells around based on what I seem to have the time/energy/need for at the moment. Personally, I think you have your priorities in the exact right order. I often use the virtual side to distract myself from the others - bad habit.

Jessie Oliveros said...

Everyday I struggle with this. Let me know when you finally figure it out.

Christina Lee said...

Um, I set a timer everyday--and give myself only so much time for each (except for the real people--hahahaha)--it is indeed a struggle!

Corey Schwartz said...

I'm terrible at it. I think my "real" friendships suffer, because it's easier to connect with my virtual friends. I can stay in pajamas!

Kelly H-Y said...

I've thought the same thing. If I do Facebook, Twitter, etc., it's going to have to take time from something else ... family, work, kid's activities, blog, writing ... it just doesn't seem feasible at this point!

Sherrie Petersen said...

I quit Facebook and I only tweet once in a while for a treat. I spend an hour two or three times a week visiting other blogs and I usually write my posts in my head while I'm driving or cooking, so that when I sit down to write them, they're mostly done. But I've been doing a lot of writing on two projects so I haven't been visiting blogs as much. It's tough to balance.

Hardygirl said...

It's all too much, really.

I have no idea. None.

I do have friends who spend only an hour a day on the internet--that's blogging, surfing AND answering emails. I don't have that kind of willpower (I can't ignore the email "ding").

So .... I'm not any help at all basically except to say, "I hear ya sista."

sf

Jackee said...

Oh, man, I have no advice for you, Shell. I have the same problem--there's no way I can keep up in the virtual world. But we just do what we can and hope people know we care what they have to say. Like your blog, I love it but never make it over as much as I wish.

Good luck with the juggling! Hugs!

Julie Dao said...

I know what you mean. I've been letting the real world take over for the past few weeks, but now my imaginary world is suffering for it. I think it's good to have both, but to prioritize the physical world (since family and making money to buy groceries is a teeny tiny bit more pressing than writing chapter 3). Usually my weekdays are for real life and my weekends are for the virtual stuff. Good luck juggling!!

Sarah said...

That's a good question, and I don't have an answer. In my life, the real people and the real homework (which requires the imaginary people waiting to pop up on paper or canvas) always win against the virtual ones, which makes me a terrible blog-commenter and facebook-replier. I suspect that those who keep up with all three sets of people don't sleep much.

storyqueen said...

Thank you all so much...it's nice to know that I am not alone in the juggling madness.

And I think it must be sleep. Writers who do it all must just not sleep.

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