I often peruse the writing subreddit (www.reddit.com/r/writing) it’s a decent little community of people who just want to help motivate others to keep working. But as of late, I frequently come away from viewing the first few pages more frustrated than anything.

My irritation stems primarily from how often I see posts where the OP is griping about actually doing the writing. Literally, almost every day something on the front page has a title like “I just can’t bring myself to write” or “I always want to write until I actually sit down to do it.”

Now to be fair, I am no stranger to the terrible curse of procrastination. Any writer fully recognizes the pang of apathy that often comes when you sit down at the keyboard. We’ve ALL been there. Even the Stephen Kings/Brandon Sandersons/Joe Abercrombies of this world have felt it.

The difference, is that successful authors don’t feel that growing sense dread in their stomachs and then immediately switch over to social media to complain about it. Instead they strap in and push through–that’s the mindset that you have to cultivate. I’ll often check the posting history of these people who complain about writing and it’s a flurry of activity. It’s easier to post on social media about writing than it is to actually do it, but that’s a dragon you have to slay, or it’s just never going to get done. Writing is hard enough as it is, and publishing is even more so–you can’t be your own worse enemy if you want to be successful.

And now comes the part where I feel like a hypocrite because I’ve spent the last twenty minutes writing a blog post about not spending your time on social media when you should be writing. But you know what, there’s a tiny hypocrite in all of us, despite our best efforts.

In my defense, I feel like I’m at the phase where I need to start amping up my social media presence. I’ve finished Eisengrau and need to start pushing it out there. A key aspect to doing that in this day in age is social media presence. The trick is doing so without detracting from my progress on book 2.

I spent a little while working on my website tonight to prep for that. It’s been a while since I dedicated any time to learning to use WordPress so it was a good refresher course. There’s a bio up now, so progress!

I also finished a big brainstorming session where I outlined the Penumbra cycle and I came to a somewhat startling conclusion that I think it’s going to be five books instead of the four. That’s a funny realization to have, considering my original plan was for a trilogy, which grew to four books when I realized I had drastically underestimated how long it took to tell a story and now I’m pushing it up to a fifth book. Amazing how things change.

– What I’m reading –

Having finished American Gods, I’ve moved on to a book named Sabriel by Garth Nix. I stumbled across it on the books subreddit (www.reddit.com/r/books) and no really nothing about it. A few chapters in though and I’ll say I’m pleasantly surprised. So far it’s solid and I’m looking forward to seeing how things progress.

I’m also forty pages or so through Emma. You’d think somebody with an English degree would have read it by now, but this one has eluded me for a while. My wife loves it, though I’m finding myself struggle more than I would have expected. I enjoy Jane Austen well enough, but Emma is no Pride and Prejudice.