Quiet Sunday Reflections

Normally I write on Mondays, but tomorrow, workers will be invading my house to mount a new ceiling fan from our 20 ft living room ceiling and that will distract me beyond measure. Not so good for reflecting or writing.

I've been thinking about technology and the modern author. Okay, not really, but I have recently joined Twitter and it made me think of the first time I started moving into the modern world of communication. It all started with a cell phone from Sprint. I resisted for as long as possible, but capitulated when I started applying for jobs where I might not be home much and I needed to stay in contact with interviewers. It was a good choice for me at the time. Now I wouldn't be caught ANYWHERE without my cell phone (although I'm no longer with Sprint).

My next big jump in technological communication (and communication is the key to every relationship) was Facebook. I was resistant because when did I have time to constantly update my status? I was busy doing stuff that I would write about as my status! But I capitulated because it was a great way to keep in contact with folks in my profession who didn't live in the same city as I did or had moved on to other places and jobs. I could stay up-to-date with what they were doing without having to be in the same university, city, or company as them. It's particularly useful for finding out their upcoming projects. :)

Then I started this blog. For a long time I looked at blogging as a way for people to fan their egos. It seemed self-indulgent to me. But after thinking about it a long time and reading a few blogs, I realized it was a viable way to get your voice out there, good, bad, or mediocre, to be noticed. I'm a writer, so getting my voice out where publishers, agents, and editors could "hear" it seemed like a really good idea; especially if I wanted said folks to become interested in my writing ability. Now I see it as yet another form of interaction and communication; a place where I can offer snippets of my writing where a lot of people can see it.

Now I've joined Twitter. I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination and I was resistant to it because I wasn't so certain you could really put anything meaningful in 140 characters or less (that's pretty hard, actually). However, I joined Twitter for two reasons. One, many authors communicate as much as possible to as many people as possible, and Twitter is a good place to connect, at least briefly, with a lot of people (readers, reviewers, publishers, etc.). Two, with Facebook cracking down on contests and giveaways, people turned to Twitter for that information and when I start my giveaways (and there will be some, believe me), I'll be able to post it here and tweet it on Twitter.

I'm still resistant to a "Smartphone" because if I want to do computer things, I'll use my computer! I'll use my phone to make phone calls and text! *eye roll* Well, I sometimes use it to listen to music and snap photos, but that's it! Yeah, I know, not much of an excuse. I might succumb eventually. :S

The point of my reflections is any form of communication can be good or bad, but it is what you make of it. I'm trying to make my communications useful, meaningful, and well written (or at least thought-out). So I'm getting my voice out there. Come "like" me on Facebook to read my posts; follow me on Twitter to enjoy my pithy tweets; or follow me on this blog for more involved writing. And feel free to share with other folks! Happy reading, writing and communicating! :)