Often times, we write (or live life) with two voices in our head.
One voice belongs to the Critic. This voice says, “Your friends or peers may not like your work? Worse, you know So-n-So will hate it!”
“Who do you think you are?”
“You could fail!”
“You’re putting yourself out there, why risk it?”
“You’re sloppy and lack analytical, time management skills.”
“Apologize ahead of time to those one-star readers you know are telepathically hating your words right now!”
The other voice belongs to the Encourager. This voice pushes you out of your comfort zones because you have that one reader in mind you want to help. This voice says, “Give words to lift their spirit.”
“Show them what you’ve learned so they don’t have to struggle like you did.”
“Help them see a better way.”
“Brighten their day and give them hope.”
“Provide practical information that’ll make their life easier.”
“Point them in the direction where peace and joy abide.”
We may begin with the Encourager, but it’s the Critic that stops us. It’s the Critic that paralyzes us with insecurity and inaction. And if we proceed with the Critic, we move with such caution we end up writing to the Critic instead for the Encourager. In fact, the Critic wrestles the pen out of our hand and so, we add disclaimers until our whole book is about placating the Critic.
We want the Critic to like us.
They won’t.
We want the Critic to see our good intentions.
They don’t care.
We want the Critic to know we understand.
He’ll only slap at our attempts, laugh in our face with pungent garlic breath, and still hate whatever we’re doing.
When I began writing my debut book about social media strategies, I wrote to help the struggling artist, writer, or entrepreneur take advantage of what’s available at their fingertips. I wanted to provide applicable information to improve their understanding and presence. My desire included helping them get ahead while also remembering where their true hope comes.
But that all changed when the Critic showed up.
Instead, I added disclaimers before every chapter, like:
“Hey, if you don’t like this stuff, I’m so sorry, just skip this chapter, in fact, just skip this whole book. K? So sorry. Hate that you don’t like social media. I know it sucks. It sucks, right? Like big time? I know. So sorry. Social media can be the devil’s spawn. I totally get it. No, really I do. I’m a worm for writing that it can be used for good. So sorry to bother you with this. Oh look, squirrel!”
Yeah, true story.
Thankfully, I stopped doing that. I edited and rewrote. I got back to work and penned my book for the Encourager.
The most important part of this book is the writing under the word “Strategies”. It states: “Discover Powerful Tools of the Trade without Losing Your Soul.” I’m a social media manager who spent years, blogging and feeling like my soul was sucked out by all the platform-talk that I was told to focus on.
Add to that, the Christian publishing industry heavily relies on the number of followers you have before taking a risk on you, to the point, your whole worth as an author, a person can get wrapped up in a number. Sheesh. The pressure to be popular and viral can be defeating.
Also, I taught classes to local small business owners and entrepreneurs on how to maximize their social media presence. Essentially, I encouraged them (as a consumer myself) that clients, consumers, and community can’t find you if they don’t know about you. So this is as much as service to potential clients and community as it is for their business. But I found many business owners were overwhelmed by the deluge of information regarding social media.
That’s where this book comes in. I wrote it to be a help to others, but especially to Christians who feel like their souls die a little more every time they try to tackle social media, platforms, and latest changes in the social media landscape.
MY REVIEW: This is a informative and very helpful guide book to understanding the basics and a few not so basic of computer lingo. I enjoyed this book because I now understand computer technology better. It is chocked full of how to's in navigating the internet even listing how to get a blog up and running. This is a must have for anyone who has a computer, which in this day and time most people own one.
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nice review
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