Social media is a vital component of being a writer in the modern age, but in being a writer, we're more interested in the writing than actually promoting ourselves (I may just be speaking for myself here). However, there are really good aspects of social media, such as being able to connect with like-minded people and people in the same kind of situation, all across the world. With social media, you get to experience things in a way that is completely different to any other context. Having said that, social media can be all-consuming without moderation — and in many ways that can act as procrastination from writing
Generally speaking, there is a stereotype of writers — in that they write to explore their imaginations and fictional worlds, and if they are not doing that, then they can't seem to cope with real life. However, social media is a key part of being an author in the modern world. It allows you to get in front of other authors and potential readers.
I know, from experience, that using social media as a writer can be a double-edged sword. This is because I have to spend some time on social media, and whilst I am on social media, I'm thinking about the time that could be spent writing. And when I’m writing, I’m thinking about the time I could be spending on social media — as a way of creating connections with people, and engaging to further increase the reach of my writing. It is a difficult balance. It is about constantly trying to maintain balance. So, in effect, it is never quite balanced. As I’ve alluded to, if we are spending time on social media there is definitely this fear of ‘could I not be spending this time writing?’, and ‘if I had chosen to be writing for X amount of time, would I be much further in my project?’ On the other hand, there is this kind of argument of ‘if I never spend any time on social media, who is going to be able to read my projects when they are completed?’ Hopefully, you can see the tension that starts to build between the two sides of the matter.
It may be just the type of person that a writer attends to be, but a lot of writers seem to struggle with self-promotion; the idea of promoting your work, yourself, and who you are in relation to your work. But then also not ‘being too much’ and annoying people.
My two pence on this is that we can promote pretty much as much as we like, as long as we're not spamming people's social media and timelines. One person may only see one of five posts that you have posted about your work today, and people need reminding, or simply being made aware, that something exists.
There is also the balance of self-promotion and interacting with people, which can add to the time spent on social media, and compound guilt. It is about creating connections with people rather than just saying ‘here I am, here's my work; please buy it and read it’. Ultimately, the point of being on social media for writers is building those connections with people who might want to read your work — but if you start forcing it upon them, they're much less likely to even bother with both current and future works.
So, as you can see, there is definitely a happy medium with the balancing of actually writing and being on social media. There is a fear of ‘being too much’ or not promoting yourself enough, so that people don't actually know you exist. As I alluded to before, it is a constant balancing act that is never actually balanced. So, to a certain extent, it is about finding what's most comfortable for you.
Your presence on social media will change accordingly. For example, if I am just about to release a new book, I'm more likely to go on social media than I am to write — because it is about making sure that the book launch gets in front of as many people as possible. And as I've just finished writing a book, it would most likely mean that I actually would like the rest; in that way, social media becomes a respite.
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