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Why I broke up with Instagram
I created my Instagram account on 20th July 2014 and now, six years later, after spending hours and hours of my life creating for the app, commenting on the app and scrolling on the app, I no longer spend my time there. I’m no longer anxious, I’m more productive and I have more ideas for my writing and business than I could hope for. It’s been transformative.
Does anyone read blog posts anymore?
I’m not the only one to have neglected my blog over the past year.
I was putting effort into my YouTube channel and the only blog posts I would upload were to promote my latest video offering. Creating for YouTube - and for Instagram - took up a lot of creative energy. I was in a constant state of time pressure. I was always thinking about my YouTube deadline, always thinking I had limited time to write, always thinking I had to consistently upload and to check my phone. I was tense, physically. I had no creative energy left for my writing projects. I had no time to write on my blog. But it was only when I stopped creating on YouTube and Instagram that I realised this.
The side effects of taking time away from Instagram
I don’t cope well with sudden and dramatic change. This could be a positive change like the birth of my first child. Or it could be negative or sad change. I’ve been taking the lockdown in my stride on the whole. Yes, I’ve struggled with certain aspects but generally I’ve felt okay and this is possibly because the changes have been gradual. But when a close family friend died suddenly in the last few weeks there has been a shift in my world. The lockdown has felt claustrophobic and frustrating. The news has become anxiety-inducing and my normally safe spaces online have just become too much.
So, I decided to take some time out from Instagram and from checking the news.
Taking time away from Instagram is quite a big thing for me. It is an app that revolves around my working day. It is where my community is, it is where I share my writing process. It helps me feel less alone in this solitary profession.
But what started out as something I had to do for the sake of my mental health has actually created a positive side effect.
My YouTube Journey
Over the weekend I sent out a newsletter which opened with a short anecdote about my YouTube channel. The subject of the newsletter wasn’t actually about YouTube at all but I received an email back from one of my lovely subscribers asking what had happened with my YouTube journey. She said: It feels almost like we followed you on your journey then when you arrived at the Emerald City, you left us outside the gates.
I completely agreed. I’d stopped talking about YouTube once I reached monetisation. I’d shared a lot of what I was going through including my analytics and how close I was getting on my Instagram Stories - but then just didn’t carry that narrative on.
My YouTube journey has dominated my life for a year. I was thinking about it a lot; anxious that I would not reach the relevant requirements and then, when I did, I was worried about being rejected and monetisation would not be allowed for my channel.
So I thought I’d explore why I stopped talking about my YouTube channel in this blog post, as well as looking at my YouTube journey so far.
Inside My Writing Notebooks From The Last Six Months
If you're looking for ideas on how to fill your journals and notebooks I am sharing a journal flip through to show how I fill mine. My journals are often messy but each one has a definite purpose.
I use one journal as a writing bullet journal to track and log my writing and creative projects. I use another to plan my writing and creative tasks. I have others for particular writing projects such as my book proposal, essays and YouTube scripts. Then I have some simply to journal and to free up space in my head.
In this video I share each notebook I’ve used in the last six months. There’s a completed journal, a couple of new notebooks and I also share how my notebooks (and writing) have been affected by the recent pandemic
Incorporating Instagram into my Writing Life
Instagram is the main way I engage with my audience. I also love the creativity of it. So I'm sharing how I incorporate Instagram into my daily writing life. It actually, with a bit of practice, doesn't take up a lot of my day - but I also see it as an essential part of my writing business.
Instagram is part of my writing routine. I love the app but I also see it as an essential way of growing my author platform. It can be used in a natural way as part of a marketing plan for writers. If you're looking how to market your book or how to use social media as an author but want to be authentic then this might be the way for you.
Monthly Reset Routine for my Writing Projects
At the beginning of every month I create a fresh start for my writing and creative projects. I have a little brainstorm, reset my task board, and take note of all the relevant stats for the previous month.
Click the link to see the video that shares how I go about doing it so I’m inspired and motivated for the month ahead.
The Tech I Use to Help Me With My Writing Projects: Scrivener & Backing Up
With writing we are lucky in that we don’t need much in the way of kit before we start. Just a notebook and pen. A computer is also good as is a printer. In this day and age many people have already got these items for work or school. I’ve always written my projects in Microsoft Word but since last year I blew the dust off the Scrivener software I invested in some years ago and started to use it for my book proposal. And I was hooked. Since then I’ve used it for my Patreon essays and for my newsletters. Everything now gets written in there and then gets saved on my external hard drive and backed up on another external hard drive.
In this video I share exactly how I use Scrivener and which external storage I use. Click the link to watch: https://youtu.be/EEqj6LqUVkk
My Writing Life | Becoming more productive
I wrote in my newsletter at the weekend that I’ve been feeling sluggish with my writing and creativity over the last couple of weeks. I called it ‘marshmallow syndrome’. It’s where my head feels like it’s full of sticky, melted marshmallow that stops any creative thoughts from coming. This could be due to one particular world event dominating everything and impacting our lives or it could be due to something else. Whatever the reason I was determined to do something about it because I was getting fed up with myself.
Honestly I hate that feeling when the creativity doesn’t come. When I do time-wasting activities instead of my writing and creative tasks, when my concentration is about a minute long before I start reaching for my phone or get out of my seat. Writing my essays, blog posts, my book proposal and novel gives me joy; creating videos and Instagram posts and connecting with other people gives me purpose and focus and a real zest for life. So not having the impetus to get anything done is so frustrating!
So on Monday I headed to my office with a renewed sense of purpose. I created a little plan for myself, got myself organised and set to work. I think it helped that my daughter was in my office with me doing her school work. I just felt - if she can do it for 55 minutes per subject then so can I.
This vlog is the result of that day. I’ve also included spring blossom and my dog walk at the end of the day to give a more rounded look at my writing day during the quarantine.
BEST NOTEBOOKS FOR WRITING: A5 Notebook Comparison
My latest video is a comparison of A5 notebooks . I am a bit of a notebook addict it has to be said but I did need a couple of new ones to replace my now full planning notebook and writing journal. Whether I needed six to replace two is besides the point!
I thought it would be interesting and useful, however, to take a selection of A5 notebooks, both hard and soft cover all available to be delivered and do a short comparison of them.
All notebooks are A5. Five of them are lined and one is dotted. Two brands have 120gsm paper and the rest have either 80gsm or 70gsm. I believe all of them except the Lemome are produced by British companies.
A Catch Up
Hello everyone. I hope you are all well. I thought I’d do a little catch up here as a blog post. It seems a little odd as a) I haven’t done a non-video blog post for some time and b) I haven’t done a general, chatty one in months.
I think I got side-tracked by making videos on YouTube and I just forgot to write about what I want, when I want. Sorry about that.
But I’ve been thinking of coming back to my blog more in recent months. It was long before this worldwide pandemic began but having this time at home has heightened my desire to connect with you all and to just write. To not necessarily have a specific topic in mind before I begin - but to talk to you - my blog audience and share what’s going on in my life without thinking about those all important keywords.