Cutting back…

I once read a blog post (I forget by whom) about reaching your limit–about maxing out the weight you could carry on your shoulders.

I’ve reached that point, and I’ve been refusing to admit it to myself for a long time…but it’s now started to affect my writing–and that’s just not okay. I’ve been getting slower and slower at answering blog comments; getting slower and slower at getting blog posts up; forgetting to answer emails; losing sight of all twitter mentions; clawing to keep Pub(lishing) Crawl running smoothly; and basically drowning in that fickle creation known as The Internet.

Some days I love the online world. It’s a place of fluffy Lisa Frank koalas.

Oh, it's so fluffy! I'll just play with it for a few minutes......or days...or YEARS.

Other days, it sucks me dry like a Vampire Koala From Hell (with lightning coming out of its eyes to boot). And more often than not, I find the online world to be the Vampire Koala instead of  what Lisa Frank intended.

Trust me: Vampire Koalas From Hell are really bad eggs and NOT to be trifled with.

It’s not that I don’t love my online friends (I have truly forged more relationships via the inter webs than real life…some might call this sad, but I consider it wonderful). Nor is it that I don’t appreciate all the online interactions–I rely on those to not go stir crazy in my writing hole…

But there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. And, as everyone knows, too much of a good thing turns that good thing into a Vampire Koala From Hell (with lightning coming out of its eyes to boot).

So, starting today, I’m cutting back the blog. I write 4 times a week, and it’s getting to be hard. Not to mention, it takes at least an hour per post (usually more). I’m really, really, REALLY sad about this. I thought I could stay consistent with my  blog–keep on pounding out these posts and interacting with all you lovely people for the next bazillion years.

But alas. The time I spend writing the blogs and answering comments is time I should be writing other books or editing on a deadline. I am, it would seem, unable to tune out the internet when it’s in front of me… What I need, actually, is one of those awesome  metal shells a là Colussus. Then the internet’s ALLURE would just bounce off me like bullets, and I could SLAM THROUGH my backed-up emails with ease.

Alas, I  don’t have that shell, and since I haven’t yet figured out how to grow one, I’m going to have to take a different route: cutting back the blog to 3 times a week.

It’s not a huge jump, but I think it’ll help. Book recs will come on Monday, or–if I haven’t read any books that week (sadly, this has become the rule lately instead of the exception), I’ll post about something else. I’ll keep the Pub Lowdowns since I think that’s a valuable resource for writers and readers alike, and of course, I’ll still answer comments (just not as promptly as I used to).

🙁

I’m sad about this. I hate admitting defeat–even if I know it’s better for me and my readers in the long run. And, who knows? Maybe I’ll have to cut back even more in the future…or maybe, if I’m lucky, I’ll find more time in the day and come raring back with a vengeance!

So, please accept my apologies, and please tell me: do you have an Internet Breaking Point? Have you reached it?