Sharing the adventure!

When I first started this blog, I wasn’t entirely sure what to blog about. And then I got on social media, and I really didn’t know what to share.

I tried looking up “blogging advice for authors,” and what I got was “Writing is an adventure! Share the adventure!”

And I thought, “Writing is me sitting and staring at my computer. Or my notebook, depending on what I’m working on. Sometimes my printer runs out of ink or jams when I’m printing a hard copy for editing. Great adventure!”

*sarcastic thumbs up*

But then I started trying to do daily updates on my social media. I wasn’t sure what I was going to update people on, but I realized: Whatever I did that day. Did I sit on my kitchen floor and cry because I was overwhelmed? Did I find a plot snarl that’s giving me trouble? Did I learn something cool while looking up facts for my story? Did I skip writing entirely and eat ice cream because my brain was too tired? Did I solve that plot snarl?

All of that matters. People like hearing how the book is coming, even if it’s going slowly because I’m too tired to do it today.

I give some details sometimes, with a big *SPOILER ALERT* at the top. I share nuts and bolts, I share inspirations, I share stuff I’m learning, I share quotes out of the books that I’m proud of. Whatever happened in my writing world that day, I put it out there and let people see what’s going on.

Strangely, I’m getting a pretty good response! People seem to like hearing how things are going. Even if it’s just that I’m frustrated and can’t right now. I have some pretty great followers who say things like, “You got this! Take a break, try again tomorrow! You’re awesome! I’m so excited for this book!”

(You can find me on Facebook here, by the way, or Instagram here. I never liked Twitter, and I’m just done with it at this point.)

Writing is an adventure. Sometimes they’re grand and glorious, sometimes they make one late for dinner, as Bilbo Baggins noted. Sometimes adventures just plain suck. But the whole process is, in fact, a process, and it’s been fun to let people into my brain.

And despite my concerns, they seem to like it in there.