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Grab a cup of tea or coffee (oh what the heck, get a danish too!) and sit a spell. You might want to grab your notebook and pen because you never know when you will be inspired to write down a quote, or jot down a poem of your own. Words are like that, they take you on a journey and the next thing you know you are breathing life into your own magical world of words.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Obsession and Social Media - Row80 Check In

Obsessions, I have them and they can take over my life for a spell if I let them. I don’t like to admit that I have an obsessive personality but I do. Now I am thinking how can I use this to my advantage with my writing?  How can I use a trait that most people would find annoying at the least and downright disturbing at its worst? I thought about my writing and how much I want to accomplish with it. I thought about the way I can obsess over the stupidest things. I wonder if I can actually obsess about writing.  I know I think about it a lot, but could I find a way to turn my obsessive behavior into something positive by directing it at my writing?

It seems like a challenge to me, and we all know I like a good challenge. I find myself thinking about this because over the last week when I wasn’t feeling well, I found myself obsessing over social media. It happens to me on occasion: I leave a comment somewhere then I start wondering if anyone has commented back, or I share, comment, post and wonder if anyone has responded in any way shape or form. And the obsession begins. When that happens I don’t get much done at all. I find myself hopping from one social media site to another until I am fairly dizzy with it and have to find a way to make it stop. Because once I get going, oh my, is it hard to stop.

Back to how I can use this troublesome behavior for the good of my writing. Can I turn this, tweak it, and find a way to make it work in my favor? Ah yes, words. I remember how this all began. How I allowed my competitive nature to take hold during wordmongering and began quickly building my word count for my stories. I then allowed myself to become slightly distracted by this world of online social media. I believe it is the immediacy of it. How you can leave a comment and have someone respond right away. I like right away. With my writing I have to wait. I don’t receive immediate satisfaction except knowing that I kept my word count up. 

What is true…? It is true I am having a hard time this week. It is true that I am obsessing over social media. It is true that I can become impatient and want immediate results and that is one of the reasons it has taken me this long to write.  It is also true that when I have a cold, I really don’t feel like writing because I have a huge brain cloud that doesn’t let me think clearly let alone be very creative.

Ah… so no need to panic. I am feeling much better and the inspiration is beginning to return. Yes, clear thinking is back in the building; stepping back onto the wordmongering track and away from the social media loop of just this side of crazy.

Row80 Check in
  • Minimum of 1500 words per day 
  • Flash fiction Friday post every week
  • Back to standing while I type and bopping to the music 
  • At least one post a week for Shadow Rhythms 
  • Working daily on my Contest
That about sums it up for me. Hope you are having a terrific weekend!

Peace, 
Morgan

P.S. Don't forget to check out other Rowers here...

22 comments:

  1. I hate to feed your obsession by commenting right away....

    I think most of us in writing are a little obsessive. You need to be. It's ironic that this personality trait that makes you so distractable also is useful in allowing you to throw yourself so completely into writing sometimes.

    It'll always be a struggle, but I do think we all find ways to read ourselves and use that energy for good rather than evil. Sometimes it's a matter of setting rules or goals for yourself, but sometimes it's a matter of breaking those rules you thought would work so well. Sometimes it's about finding a great way to indulge yourself.

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    1. I think you hit the nail on the head; setting rules/goals, breaking rules, and indulge yourself. Structure works well for me to an extent, but I have to be able to flow and move however is necessary and forgive myself when things don't work the way I want them to or I feel like I've made a poor choice.

      Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate your input.

      Blessings,
      Morgan

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  2. I can relate to the obsessive commenting part of your post. I often wonder how I can channel that into my writing... I obsess about everything else!

    Good job on sharing a part of yourself with everyone. :)

    Enjoy your Sunday and good luck on your goals this week.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Darlene, hope you are having a great weekend as well.

      Peace,
      Morgan

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  3. Writing is hard to turn obsessive over... things like social media are great because they play on our egos with that "oooh, someone liked what I said!" moment which we don't get in writing as it's solitary... we need that "this is good, run with it" from people to find addiction in writing...

    Just make sure the commenters know what they're saying :P If someone doesn't have a critical thing to say, find a new person who goes "oooh, but..."

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    1. I appreciate your input, I just don't think I could handle critical at this point in my writing. I need a compassionate person to encourage me to great heights with my writing.

      Thank you for stopping by.

      Peace,
      Morgan

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  4. Morgan -I have-like-OCD about my blog-posts & how I visualise my writing and layout; it has to be like perfect or I am not satisfied whatsoever; but it does take over my time and so I don't often have time for anything else, which is annoying when my WIP suffers -oooer!

    I can also get OCD about social media (if I let myself); I've found subscribing to comments helps me keep track on all that so I don't have to go to-and-fro and lose valuable time. Also, closing down the tabs for all related social media sites whilst writing, helps too. On the whole I think it’s good to be OCD; but we need to make sure it is managed and works for us. Good luck with you goals & I’m glad you are feeling better and ready to be creative this week –you go girl! :)

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    1. I have a saying for myself, I am perfect in my imperfection, because I am a perfectionist as well. It has taken me a long time but I have worked very hard to allow myself to make mistakes and to allow for things to not be perfect all the time. It is very freeing. I hope you can feel that freedom for yourself as well.

      Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and words.

      Blessings,
      Morgan

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  5. Ah Morgan, I feel like you crawled in to my soul and wrote the words in my heart. I think we might be kindred spirits. I too wonder if I can turn my obsessive nature into productivity in my writing. I too obsess over social media wondering if I left enough comments and the worst is when I wonder if anyone likes me. Oh how hard that is to admit. It's so self centered. These things take up valuable ram space in my brain and I feel like a rat on a wheel. I am a race horse too. I want everything now and social media gives me a quick return on my investment. Alas, writing is plow horse work and I am determined to do it. The question is, how to quiet the soul hunger for quick returns, getting ahead of the pack and affirmation and get to he business of writing.

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    1. I hope you find wonderful ways to be kind to yourself. I know what it is like to worry whether you are liked. The thing is, we have to like ourselves. I know you have heard that before. It is true. Self centered is actually important; to be centered in the self, to love yourself enough to make kind choices for yourself. We were told as children to not be selfish to not be self centered. This has damaged us in a way that we think we are always suppose to think of others first, but how can anyone ever like us if we do not like ourselves?

      You are worthy, you deserve the best, and I hope you can feel that from my heart to yours.

      Peace and Healing,
      Morgan

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  6. I love this post from you, Morgan, because your contest has actually brought out the obsessive nature in me, too! What comes around goes around, I guess. I get obsessed in a weird, OCD, focused-but-distractable sort of way, where I get consumed in a whole process. Sometimes, it works, sometimes it feels like I completely wasted what precious little time I have. Sometimes it's just about finding a good balance and, most importantly, not being hard on yourself if your obsessions get you carried away and you don't do as much as what you should be doing.

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    1. I am very grateful to your enthusiasm! You have a wonderful imagination and I always look forward to seeing what you will write next.

      Peace,
      Morgan

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  7. Well I'm the other side of OCD because if I had to sign up to one of the Seven Deadly Sins, it would be sloth! My favourite thing to do is nothing! I do some writing and it so tempting to just think 'Oh that good enough for today' and just leave it. Which is what I do more often than not! It's probably why I like writing first drafts and hate editing. Because editing is too much work!

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    1. I write because I must. I write because to do otherwise at this point in my life would be to live as a robot. I have days that I feel like my energy is so low I don't want to move. I whisper to myself, keep going, because it is my life and I want to live it. My wish for you is to live, love and laugh out loud, then write it all down. No one else can tell your stories but you.

      Peace,
      Morgan

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  8. LOL. Janet and I are cut from the same cloth. I have the fight obsession to do nothing, and that includes social media. The worst thing is figuring out where to put in the majority of your time/efforts. I'm actually taking Melissa Foster's marketing class on the 6 in the hopes of getting the answer, lol.

    Keep up the great work!

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    1. Well it sounds like you have a great sense of humor about it. Marketing is my least favorite thing of all so good luck figuring it out. Thank you for stopping by.

      Peace,
      Morgan

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  9. Hi Morgan! Wow, you are a gifted person! I love your honesty and I relate to your obsessions. Yet you keep plugging along. Keep it up. You're doing awesome. Glad the cloud has lifted and that you're feeling better. Have a great week! :)

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    1. Thank you... I am taking your words in, feeling into them and feeling very grateful you stopped by.

      Peace to you,
      Morgan

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  10. I am much the same way, Morgan. Social media can be very distracting, but I find that if I take some dedicated time out of my day to devote to being social, it can help me parse my attention better and not fall down the rabbit hole of Internet time wasting. :-) Good luck on your goals this week!

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    1. Thanks Jess for the words of encouragement, I appreciate every one of them. Yes, schedules are wonderful when I can stick to them.

      Peace,
      Morgan

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  11. Loved this post, Morgan! I so know how it is to be obsessed with what I write in comments--was I clear, did I read for typos/grammar--the list never ends. Because I feel so comfortable here, I'll admit that part of my reason for joining ROW80 was to finally get a blog up and running and to comment on other blogs. I have to admit that it's better.
    Wonderful, wonderful post and well-written.
    Karen

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    1. Thank you Karen, I appreciate your words. I think there are a lot of us that can be quite obsessive about various things especially about our writing; whether it is comments, blogs, or our stories.

      I am taking in your words, and very grateful you stopped by.

      Peace,
      Morgan

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

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