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What I'm writing in YEAR OF THE DOG

I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
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Trying to limit Facebook and Twitter time

There have been lots of articles on Facebook since they went public, and there have been a few about people who deliberately refuse to get or re-up their Facebook profiles, for various reasons. Some of them don’t want to do it because it ended up sucking too much of their time.

I don’t think I could NOT be on Facebook or Twitter, but the articles have been making me more aware of how much time I’m on social media. I need to be a good steward of my time.

The other day, I spent half a hour just browsing around on Facebook. While that’s not necessarily bad, if I’m on Facebook when I should be working, that’s wasting the gift of writing full-time that God has given to me.

So I’m trying to be more conscious of my Facebook and Twitter time and trying to limit it to once or twice a day. Let’s see if I can do it!
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Anonymous said…
I've found that the most time-efficient way to interact with Facebook is put my friends and pages into lists. I have a Reading Rainbow list for my authors friends, a list for local news, Christian news, my Bible Study friends, my family, etc. Then I can click on those lists and find out what's happening with those most important to me without falling down the rabbit hole and being late for the party. Now reading, that has made me late for work at the library before. :-) I'm overwhelmed by the sheer volume of sheets and rarely read my Twitter feed. I think I need to unfollow some folks.
I also did away with the data plan on my phone so I don't get updates on the go unless I intentionally turn on Wi-Fi.
Mon May 21, 07:26:00 PM 2012
Camy Tang said…
Yes, I've been utilizing lists, too! But there's still so many updates to scroll through that I really have to limit my time these days.
Mon May 21, 11:33:00 PM 2012
Jacqueline Howett said…
Hi Camy,


Without some major discipline, the internet can be a big distraction for authors in their writing process.

Good luck with your process!
Tue May 22, 05:04:00 AM 2012
Susan F. said…
I've cut way back on Twitter. I feel that I'm wasting time on Facebook. I try to keep up with writers and their projects there though. I had played games but that is going to fade away. ;)
Tue May 22, 04:47:00 PM 2012
Camy Tang said…
Tell me about it! Thanks!
Tue May 22, 05:29:00 PM 2012
Camy Tang said…
I loved playing games, too, but I realized I spend too much time doing that! Ugh!
Tue May 22, 05:29:00 PM 2012
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