Guest Blogger: E. M. Blake
The Epic Adventure of Writing – Exploring Unchartered Waters
Internet users worldwide on average spend 145 minutes per day on social media. It is estimated people read 12 books a year. Photographs and videos are filling the creative landscape. They provide us with the opportunity to develop more skills, perspectives and play with other artistic forms. We have a message, character or something that we have fallen in love with. How do we help them to stand out in a sea of so many others?
As a writer we are expected to do more than writers of the past. We are in a period of exploration with new ways to express ourselves, such as sharing a series of tweets or a narration on YouTube. In an Instagram Story highlight for my latest piece called ‘Leaves and Snow’ which is about childhood memory and a family holiday to Malaysia, it was fun playing with music and selecting images. It also made me think about what words to include and why. These new mediums feel daunting, but ultimately they challenge us and help us to become better.
Before I began experimenting with Instagram and Twitter, I was intimidated with posts, likes, tweets and comments. There are days I wonder if I will ever know what I am doing. Then there are times when I am thrilled to have connected with inspiring and supportive people. It is a wonderful place to try something, play with words and discover cool stuff. When you don’t feel like producing original content, you can re-tweet or simply enjoy what is out there, like the funny tweet about a truckload of rice accidentally ordered by an in-law. It received 185,000 likes and 43,100 re-tweets in 15 hours. The account’s twitter following also grew from 4,000 to 20,000 from posting this story.
It has taken many hours to become more comfortable with this new technological world, just like it did with learning about how to write fiction and what works. I still have a long way to go, but we all do.
The takeaway is take risks, step outside of your comfort zone, embrace whatever happens and see where you end up. Patience and perseverance are your friends. Writing can be an epic adventure that has scary moments, but all the amazing experiences in life often do.
More about the Guest Blogger E.M. Blake:
Ellie Blake is the author of Dilly Dally Sally, a children’s picture book about a lost duckling in a London canal. She enjoys reading, writing, taking photographs of nature, travel, cooking and healthy happy living. Once upon a time, she worked in education and many other jobs, before, after and during completion of an MA in English literature, LLB, B.Commerce and BA.
Website: www.mycreativeeveryday.weebly.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/mycreativeeveryday/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/EllieMBlake1
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Ellie.M.Blake1/
The Instagram Story highlight for Leaves and Snow can be found here.
Shiv Ramdas viral rice truck tweet is here.
Be sure to check around her sight for more great content!- A Note from Kayla