Life in the Scroll Wheel

 

WRiTE CLUB bouts begin next week and I guess you could call last week and this week the eye of the hurricane.  Things have been relatively calm around here during that time, especially when you consider the events leading up to it and what is on the horizon. I say calm, but really that only describes activities I’m actively taking part in – it doesn’t come close to describing my mental state. Psychologically, my mind is stuck inside one of those centrifuges astronauts use to train for G-force abuse, at the point where the blood moves away from my brain and I’m on the brink of losing consciousness. In between recovering from a month of A-Z Challenge…and fortifying myself for a three month sprint towards another WRiTE CLUB championship…my agent is also putting MOVING FEAR out on submission.  Yeah…boring is a foreign concept for me right now.

During the time just before WRiTE CLUB begins and all during the contest, I am forced to become acutely aware of the role social media plays in everything. In order to foster participation and spread the word about the contest, I use a barrage of Twitter and Facebook posts to keep the engagement level high. I also watch for post by others so I can appropriately thank them for their support.  It’s much like promoting a newly released book – without $$ signs at the end. The end-goal is to be on everyone’s lips, that way your news remains at or near the top of the page. If nobody is talking about you…that’s when the scroll wheel comes into play.

I find it interesting how life…digital life that is…is sliced and diced…trimmed and transformed into snippets intent to draw the maximum amount of attention. On one hand it makes everything so much more efficient. The impact of every word (or image) is magnified ten-fold. On the other, it is so easy to miss an important tidbit if you’re not looking at the right time. At times it’s like trying to take a sip from a firehose. Thus both Facebook and Twitter have come up with tools to aggregate and group the information most important to YOU…which makes it even harder for a newbie to break into the rotation.

But spouting negative comments about how social media engineers predictable results for those who are smart enough to utilize its many offerings is not the way to go.  I say you must embrace the flow! You owe it to your endeavor…whether it be a novel…a passionate cause…or a contest meant to offer a leg up to aspiring writers. Taking a staunch stand against technology (or perceived social irresponsibility) will not serve you or your work well.

Take a spin on the scroll wheel for the team! :)