I am very interested in developing a blog to develop a following so I will have a base for the writing project(s) I have in mind and I want to connect with others interested in writing. Actually, I find the prospect of connecting with others encouraging, actually exciting. But, I do not know how to do this. Forgive me if I have missed something here but I have no idea how to get started on developing that blog you talked about that was free and took only 5 minutes. I would appreciate some real basic down to earth instructions and/or sites to get such from – I love to just butcher a sentence every now and then. I don’t know what that says about me but I sure feel better after I let one or two of them rip right off my fingers!

Seriously though, help?

Linda

Writers who are more in the “aspirational” phase shouldn’t be writing and blogging about their writing (meta-writing). It’s boring. And I agree it’s not going to attract much of a readership except other aspirational writers – which is good if you’re looking for a community of support/encouragement.

When writers build platform, they should do things they are passionate about aside from the writing itself, whatever distinguishes them, sets them apart. This might be an interest in a nonfiction subject area (like gardening, photography, history, boxing), or it might be related to tackling problems of a certain demographic (addressing care for the elderly, dealing with cancer, etc). Christina Katz covers this extremely well (with practical tips) in GET KNOWN BEFORE THE BOOK DEAL.

The key is offering/giving something — this is NOT about publicity, but about building connections with other people. It’s also about being INTERESTING and having something worthwhile or unusual to say.

If you’d like examples of two “aspirational” people doing this successfully:
- Jeanne V. Bowerman: http://jeanneveillettebowerman.blogspot.com/
- Darrelyn Saloom (who doesn’t have a site, but guest blogs for me):
http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/CategoryView,category,DarrelynSaloom.aspx

Yes, it’s true that most aspiring writers are not successful in getting published. But we’re not here to discourage and say the odds are against everyone. The truth is that it’s not talent that separates the successful writer from the failure. It’s something else – a mix of persistence, luck, timing, and ability. You can read more about my take on this issue here:

http://janefriedman.com/2010/02/20/the-dirty-secret-behind-writing-advice/
Jane Friedman´s last blog ..Reading Notebook #12: Existential Angst at Work

and would not be inclined to follow them, waiting with bated breath for their breakthrough book to be finished, sold and published. I would be interested to hear how many people are successful doing this. I do know of one or two who have made it work – but surely, as with published writers, the good ones will rise to the surface and the rest will sink without trace, with unfollowed blogs and a handful of facebook friends who might possibly buy their book if it is every finished/published.

Many (most?) aspiring writers are never successful – how long before people tire of following ‘promise’ and finding it never realised? It’s a strategy that might work for a short time, but there is going to be aspirant-writer-fatigue setting in pretty soon, I’d think.
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Agree with Therese! I friend people I don’t know personally as long as I can draw some kind of connection. I create friend lists in Facebook too, to help me should I have a privacy concern in the future. (Friend lists allow you to segment and customize access.)

It could be weird to solicit friendships from strangers, but only if you have no friends in common. Always include a message with your request and explain why you’re approaching them. Most people will be flattered at the interest.

I’m sorry to hear that some FB writing groups have gone commercial in nature. Those people are probably turning off far more people than they attract.

Regarding FB blog feeds: You can use either the Networked Blogs application, or you can use the RSS functionality on the “Notes” application that’s built into everyone’s profile.

For the fan page – you might have better luck if you share links/articles/sites that you find interesting and helpful, rather than a prompt. People like discovering little gems like that from people they trust on Facebook.

You ask really wonderful questions — it’s rare to find a writer who knows the right questions to ask. :)

I hope these answers help.
Jane Friedman´s last blog ..The Story of Your Life IS Your Life

* I am not uncomfortable interacting with people I don’t know; however, my understanding (or perhaps misunderstanding) was/is that social media etiquette demands that one only befriend people we know. I was under the impression that to send friend requests to strangers on FB was not acceptable. As I look through my own short list of friends, I see many people on their lists that I would like to approach, but why would they want to accept? Case in point: when I receive a request from someone I don’t know that isn’t a friend of someone I know, I tend to ignore the request. Perhaps I’m going about this wrong?

* I joined several writer-related groups on FB with the idea that I would be able to connect with the members of those groups; however, the only communications I’ve received have been a barrage of promotional commercial posts from the owners behind the pages. There seems to be little interaction and discussion between the members.

* My profiles and professional information are all over the Internet, so the issue of anything to hide doesn’t apply.

* I read your blog about Facebook strategy. You mentioned feeding your blog posts directly to FB. I don’t see a way to do that on either FB or Blogger. Could you elaborate? (If you prefer to e-mail me privately, that’s fine.)

* Perhaps the fan page was the wrong approach; my questions were generic (i.e., [for readers] how important is a cover in your decision to examine a book? [for writers] does a particular time of year inspire you or crush your creativity?) My intent was to get interesting dialog going between readers and writers.

* I follow you on Twitter because you provide the kinds of motivational material that keep me pumped up. I’m a long-time member of WritersMarket and fan of the magazine. I am not a novice writer, but this social media thing sure has me stumped!

I reach thousands more people on Twitter, but the interactions I have on Facebook tend to be more in-depth and more meaningful.

But more key:
FACEBOOK IS BECOMING A MORE POPULAR DESTINATION SITE THAN GOOGLE.

As people spend more and more time on Facebook, and rely on Facebook for news, then writers ought to be increasing their interactions there.

Note: I have nothing to hide (in terms of what I post on Facebook) from even a stranger. I know that, in this approach, I am somewhat different than others. I blogged about my approach here:

http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/2009/08/14/FiguringOutYourFacebookStrategy3EssentialTips.aspx

If you can find a way to be comfortable on Facebook even with people you don’t know well, here are the benefits:

* You can have conversations on your blog posts that just never get sparked on the blog itself. (This happens to me constantly.)
* You can post links to information/topics that you find interesting/relevant (without going to the time/trouble of a blog post) – yet another avenue for good conversation.
* You can make a more lasting and personal connection with people who see you as an authentic human being (depending on what you’re willing to share).

All of these conversations serve as test marketing, audience building, and community development for yourself and your ideas. Even if people don’t participate by commenting, you’ll realize later that they’re reading closely, and sometimes it’s easier to get people’s attention on Facebook than anywhere else.

That said, a lack of engagement may be related to the facelessness of a fan page (people are on Facebook to interact with real people) — or you’re just not posting anything quite interesting enough!

Last year, I developed a “page” on FaceBook for the purpose of bringing readers and writers together to discuss likes and dislikes, trends, etc. Ninety people signed up to become fans of this page, and I dutifully posted a new question every other day. At the end of the first four months, we had fewer than twenty responses! When I asked why everyone was so quiet, someone commented, “we’re all busy reading!” Clever, but it appeared that supposed readers and writers just weren’t interested in talking about the craft.

It is easy to consider these sites as time-gobblers and discouraging to spend energy and optimism with so little return. Any insights into how a writer can make this work?

I started my blog a year and a half ago for exactly this reason. I was getting ready to query my first novel in a few months, and I wanted to start to build a web presence. But my blog has become so much more for me.

I found it difficult at first to come up with topics, and I did worry that it took too much time away from my writing time, which was so little as it was. But when I started writing my second novel, I put word counts on my blog posts, and I found that to be a great incentive in my writing. It was like the blog was keeping me accountable for writing every day. I think my blog helped me a lot in being able to write the first draft in three months.

I’ve made friends through my blog, with other bloggers that I follow and them following me. It makes me feel less alone in my writing, which is wonderful.

I highly recommend writers try it, even if they’re not worrying about traffic at first, just get a feel for it and have fun. It can be a great tool to keep us on track.
Samantha Clark´s last blog ..Guest post: Memoir author Linda Joy Myers