The mind of a creative can be an amazing thing. Mine generally functions better when I am busy but every so often when I have the time I’ll take a step back from creativity. It is during these breaks that I grow the most. Experience and time served focusing on a craft has its obvious rewards but rest as a basic human necessity is vital to anyone looking to grow.
This year started busily with difficulty from external and internal issues for me. But like always, I found a way to overcome my obstacles and come out of a time that tested me to the limit. Reflection is fostered by time and to heal requires both. Coming back stronger than ever is my goal for this year when it comes to those external happenings. I’m going to do everything in my power to set right anything that wasn’t from last year. January and February are normally tricky for a lot of people and that includes me – I’ve got goals on my mind but I don’t want to burn out early.
Surviving is great but thriving is better and that is something I am aspiring to do this year. As always I’ll keep going, keep working and keep figuring myself out.
10 years ago I started my Twitter journey. Back then, I’d only really dreamed of having the numbers I have now as well as so many other cool things.
‘Join Twitter, build a following and share your writing with them…’
That statement is the narrow version of advice I found at the time and well, nothing worthwhile in this life is really simple or easy.
The truth is, I spent many years on Twitter not really knowing what I was doing or what I needed to do in order to reach people and grow. Everyone’s Twitter experience is unique to them and perhaps that’s what makes it special. You get back what you put in and social media is still quite a new concept viewed by many in a negative light but as someone who has spent an extended time on Twitter, good things can be found. That void you find yourself shouting into does eventually answer back because I am proof of that concept. In 2020 my following had crept to a moderate 3,000 or so followers. A year later it was 20,000 and during that time something happened, not just in the world but in my world because all I did was spend more time on the platform and with every tweet or interaction I learned. In my mind I marked what worked and what didn’t time and time again. Eventually and after that time, the needle began to turn and then eventually bend in my favor. People, good people began to notice me simply because I worked on my presence and what those people responded to.
Conversational tact and manners are all anyone needs to succeed on Twitter. You don’t need a gimmick or an act, you just need to be genuine and I say that from experience because for all the things social media is viewed as, most people look to it for an escape or to find others who are like them and if you do conduct yourself in a pleasant way, good things will eventually happen.
I couldn’t possibly sum up all of my experience on Twitter in just a blog post and those who do know me will also be aware of my many resources that delve deep into the intricacies of how to find success on the platform. While that success may be in the eye of the beholder, through my time on Twitter I have learned to reach people, keep people interested and even persuade them to buy my books and invest in me.
Of course I have returned that with my own support and as long as you can appear genuine in a sometimes volatile world online, you cannot be beaten. Supporting others is important to me and always will be.
And as 2022 faces the final curtain I shall use these words to reflect on what has been a difficult but rewarding time that I’ll remember for many things.
From starting January with 20,000 Twitter followers and my mental health in the drain, to getting married and seeing lots of my friends and family that I hadn’t since before the pandemic. A truly wonderful personal moment for me and for the one I love the most. Love matters to me, it always will.
Anxiety was a theme throughout my 2022 and it was very much comparable to a rollercoaster for some time until recently it subsided. Perhaps reflection has put things into perspective or I’ve just learned to cope with it. Maybe it was reaching the 40,000 Twitter follower milestone. The human mind can be a complex and wonderful thing. I’m incredibly protective of mine, most writers are.
My books selling regularly and consistently brought me constant hope and reminders to keep going. The wonderful people I have connected with through so many ways, like the amazing authors who graced my life with their books to those reviewing mine. To those who took a chance on my relaunched Patreon, watch this space, more is coming in 2023. To the doubters who I might have convinced and of course to everyone who has helped push this humble blogging operation to over a thousand followers.
There were even those who voted in huge numbers for me to win actual awards – a first for me in life.
Thank you everyone.
Farewell 2022, you were many things but above all, I survived you. Until next year, dear followers.
Consistency. No matter the trends or events happening, Consistency will always rule. And the results might not always be instant or even obvious but those who do keep going will find them.
I don’t consider my writing or work to have any level of finesse but I work hard and I keep going to make that writing my very best. It isn’t really up to me to say whether or not it is any good and perhaps that’s the real beauty and thrill of being a creative in the social media arena. Readers decide and interpret things in their own ways.
For all the things my journey has represented this year, enduring is the word I’ll use to describe it. Through the strange but mostly wonderful social media interactions to the huge numbers of reviews, sales, follows and even royalties. Things have endured, I have endured and I am still standing after whatever forces, good or bad were thrown my way.
The future is a concept I look to with excitement and possibility but I also know the time is actually now. Every day is an opportunity to shape our future and make it a good one.
I am one with the journey and the journey is one with me.
Reaching 35,000 Twitter followers is a hell of a milestone. To have that many people compelled to follow my efforts on a strange word party based platform carries a feeling that perhaps I have made it to some extent.
My secret is probably to never feel fully content and to always chase more. Good results foster even better results and on a platform like Twitter all you need is a little growth to tell you things are good and suddenly that growth can explode. It hasn’t been an easy journey and time has been the governing factor because there are no easy or quick fixes for me. People do often ask how but I would more look to why for the answer and that is because I never gave up.
Those who do keep going in creativity find rewards for their craft and in the social media world they also find others to stand beside. My following on here and across the platforms is heavily populated by fellow creatives who I’ll never consider my competition but my team mates. All of this is driven by a state of mind and a thinking that resonates with that attitude. Social media does have many pitfalls bit is also one hell of a beacon for many including me.
Just what is that beacon broadcasting? Hope, for those who can see within.
To those who do follow me on Twitter, over 35,000 of you, thank you.
Thank you to those who signed up to my Patreon over the weekend! For all my social media posting and effort I wasn’t sure if anyone knew about my latest venture of Twitter coaching. Social media can be hard sometimes, especially when you want to yell from the high hills about something but the algorithms and platforms tend to work in mysterious ways.
I am recording again today – another coaching session which will drop this week and will be exclusive to Patrons. Of course those who do sign up will receive regular shout outs on Twitter as well as access to a growing catalogue of exclusive content. Having something to offer regularly is the key to success on social media and whilst it can be difficult to be heard, those who do keep going will find ways to be heard. I am proof of that and even though my numbers aren’t huge, they are enough for me.
This month is the anniversary of Consistent Creative Content and soon you can expect some cool promotional things.
It’s an incredible feeling to have an audience member approach me and say they enjoyed the play I wrote. This past weekend saw my 4th stage adaptation premiere and it was a huge success. Shows and large gatherings of audience have been absent for quite some time in my life and to see it return is very special to me.
There are many writers who live with their work in obscurity and never ever have to opportunity to see their words brought to life or even read so I consider myself lucky to have that. I am very grateful to the drama club that take on my work and bring it to life whilst also giving it a whole new meaning. As a performer way back when and now a writer, this wonderful group has always embraced my creative efforts and my writing is merely a suggestion because the final performed product is even better than I could imagine. To me, nothing beats the roar of a crowd and the bright lights that wash over the stage. Live entertainment, is the best entertainment.
This has been a busy year so far and to have good things like this is incredibly rewarding. To those involved, thank you.
Its okay to do nothing sometimes. In this world where being busy is pretty much the norm, taking time away from that hustle and bustle is good for you. That’s what I’m doing my best to convince myself with right now because I am currently between projects and its quite nice.
This year I’ve been running hot with social media stuff or content stuff and now things have found themselves wound down for the time being. Many of us pride ourselves on producing stuff all the time but stopping and taking a look around is a healthy way to recharge. I’ve got seven books published and they are all assets that are serving me well. I could easily take a step away from putting out anything new for a while and still be able to feel the benefits of a backlist.
The engine room of all my efforts and presence is Twitter where right now new followers are coming in at around a hundred a day, that’s a huge amount and something I find incredibly rewarding. With that many new eyes on my work there’s opportunity in those numbers. While I say I’m between projects right now, I am still working towards my Patreon Twitter coaching audio sessions where something should appear rather soon. And of course I’m moving towards my 8th book but right now I’m enjoying the quiet.
There’s nothing I respect more than a creative who keeps going through the adversities and struggles they face to market, sell and ultimately improve their craft while creating. To forge any level of progress from zero and to keep forging takes a strength of character I admire and ultimately find inspiring. The desire to improve from yesterday can be a grind but to gain a few more followers, get a few more sales than a previous release or even just the satisfaction of continuing a journey is enough to tell me that creative is on the right path.
We don’t give ourselves enough credit for what we have achieved sometimes in art because the journey and the yearning to get more than yesterday can cloud our judgement but the next time you find yourself down about things take a look back, see the path you’ve trodden to get to now. The chances are you’ve achieved incredible things to get here especially if you compare it to where you started. This has always been an eye of the beholder type of deal and if you can satisfy your own eye then everything else will feel easier.
I’m proud of the journey I’ve taken to get here. The sales might not be world dominating, or the reviews might not be through the roof but the work I have done has made a difference to fellow authors in recent times and to help writing in general is better for my writing.
May 2021 is shaping up to be the ultimate culmination of 8 years work. 8 years that began with a leap of faith into the unknown world of authoring and blogging. I’ve always had a weird relationship with luck along with always somehow being in the right time/right place. Things seem to just weirdly align although I will say that carrying on through everything in those 8 years is finally paying off. And those who do carry on no matter what have my greatest respect.
In art and creativity, we can only get better by showing up day by day and making progress step by step. Progress can be measured by time and what we do with it. Recently I’ve never been busier as social media and the writing demand more and more attention. Its started to carve a rather trailblazing path paved by those looking to me for advice and wisdom; a somewhat foreign but ultimately humbling feeling. People trust what I have to say and I have always believed that my own words are honest and good. Perhaps honesty is all that matters.
This journey has become a responsibility, a responsibility to do authoring and blogging justice by telling the world that our own induvial words, our books and our content matters. We can forge a following from zero, we can build from scratch and our words can stand on their own two feet upright and shoulder to shoulder with every generation before us. I am determined to prove that and so much more.
With my eyes firmly set on a month that is going to define my entire journey as an independently published author and blogger I have never been so ready because for the first time in all of this, I have momentum.
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