grammar

Social Media & Being an Author

/ emhardenburger / Leave a comment

Sorry for the lack of posts lately! I was on a (much needed) vacation to California! The need for vacations to take a step back from your work is a topic for an entirely different post, but I can sum it up to this: sometimes it’s necessary to not think about your novel, to escape and have new experiences which will influence your writing, and to be in a more sublime environment so when an agent rejection pops up in your email, you take it in stride and order another wine sample! 😉

Today, I wanted to focus on a subject that has been giving me major headaches–the dichotomy between being an artist and thus trying to be a free spirit while at the same time being cognizant of the pressing need to create an online presence. This need for a writer’s platform necessitates the use of social media. Writers, as a rule, hate social media. We would rather be writing! However, our ultimate goal is to be read, and to be read and gain notice in today’s world means hashtagging and blogging our way to fame. Hopefully that prospect turns everyone’s stomachs as much as it does mine. It is a very imposing goal; in the millions of individuals out there on the internet, how do you make a difference?

It’s a question I, unfortunately, cannot answer in this post. But I do welcome good suggestions! The first step for me is simply, getting out there. One of my New Year’s resolutions this year was literally: “Tweet less.” Obviously, that is not going to fly. I have been trying to force myself to tweet more lately, and have gone to excessive use of hashtags. Today, I activated a Facebook account (under much mental stress), and a LinkedIn page. I am looking into #QueryKombat, which appears to be a great way to get some exposure as well as potentially awesome contacts with agents and editors! The Internet is a crazy, intimidating place, but I hope to do my research and find some success in it.

I want to get the word out soon because I am going to be doing something very exciting here on the blog. I am going to be posting sample chapters of Capacitance! I want the novel to get exposure and hopefully build momentum. Stay tuned on chapter one coming soon!

With that being said, follow me on Twitter and Instagram (@elisemarie52), and Facebook (Elise Hardenburger)! And comment below with any tips how you got your online following started. 🙂

Minutiae

/ emhardenburger / Leave a comment

Today I finished making the edits on the first draft of Capactiance, and am now in the process of going back into the computer file and making all the corrections I found on the hard copy. While editing on the hard copy was a great exercise as I actually read all the text I had written (and felt the triumphant glow of realizing that I really have written something halfway decent), entering these corrections into the digital copy is a less enjoyable step. It is a time-consuming task at best as the process of entering or omitting words and correcting grammar tends to get tedious after awhile. At one point, I found myself researching whether a specific type of wine (Merlot) should be capitalized; after half an hour of researching that one specific detail and still finding no cut and dry answer, I decided to leave the word the way it was (although that one minuscule detail will undoubtedly bother me and see me up late tonight in bed on my iPad attempting still more research to find the correct case). It is hard to feel like the whole day hasn’t been spent wasted since I am just entering onto the computer corrections my mind has already processed on the hard copy, but I know once I am done, I will feel a true sense of accomplishment. Even now, as I take a break to write this post, I feel little pride in my craft starting to glow in my weary mind–like a jewelry maker polishes a finished piece I too am finely honing my masterpiece. Each little detail that I perfect makes the novel as a whole all the more of a wonderful accomplishment, which makes agonizing over comma placement or struggling to untangle a mind-bendingly messy sentence a little more bearable.