Writing and networking: How do we keep a balance between them?

Is there any need to maintain a balance between writing and networking in the first place? This question might have crossed your thoughts when you read the title. Even I was also not ready to give the topic much attention few days back. Which blogger does not know networking is as important as writing? They go hand in hand when you want to grow in this vast blogosphere. But just knowing a fact is not enough at times. You have to implement it in reality. 

There are days in my life when I only concentrate on my writing. For you cannot improve your craft unless you practice it daily. But in the process of honing my writing skills, I also ignore interaction with my blogger friends even though I follow a number of wonderful blogs. 

Realising the mistake, I turn the focus towards increasing my social quotient. Spending time on the blogs, appreciating their beautifully written posts, saying a Hi to an old friend and creating new connection becomes my agenda for the next couple of days. I get so engrossed in socialising that writing, the sole reason why I am here, takes a backseat eventually. Long story short, I turn out to be a clear case of indiscipline. And without discipline, success always prefers to keep a dignified distance from you. 

This post has been published in Medium. Find my Medium profile here.

After doing an introspection, I realised one thing. Over the last few weeks, I was acting very strict upon myself and compartmentalising my whole day’s activities, especially my writing, into a certain time table. Discipline is necessary undoubtedly, but too much of anything is not good either. It kills the fun….the sheer joy of creativity. The whole process of writing, publishing and networking started looking like a daunting task to me. That’s when I decided to bring myself out of this mess and strike a balance. Here is what I plan to do :

Set a priority between writing and networking :

Writing will always hold the top position in my priorities. This is how it is supposed to be. Only involving in a discussion with friends throughout the day cannot do my job. Just like the way, I visit my friend’s blog, read an article and appreciate it, my friends too want to share their love with me. But what can they do if my last post was published months ago and they have already read it? I need to write down something in my blog at first. This is my main responsibility as a blogger/writer. 

I can spend an entire day reading one interesting article after another. By the time I click Add New button in my dashboard, the day might be over. Moreover, I might feel too exhausted to write as reading even ten blog posts demands a considerable amount of attention and energy. 

Socialise, interact, read more, read often. Reading and interacting opens our eyes. They pinpoint our areas of improvement. But, don’t forget to strike a balance too. Writing is an exercise for our brain. So, do this when you are feeling fresh and bubbling with ideas. You can always relax your mind later by enjoying the varied treats from your fellow bloggers. And how can you have a relaxed reading session? There comes the next point.

Socialise with blogs that you really love to read :

We all believe in Karma. Don’t we? Do good and good is bound to happen to you. Like someone’s post and that blogger will like your post. Follow a blog and you will gain a new follower. Tell me honestly. Do you always get a like for a like or follow for a follow in your blog? Can you enjoy reading a post under such give-and-take pressure? Things have never worked for me that way at least. My following always counts more than my followers. Am I ashamed of it? No. It simply gives me a message that I need to work more on my writing though. 

However, if you really want to enjoy someone’s work, then first stop networking only to increase your follower count. You will not achieve much at the end of the day. Although I am using the word networking in this post, but I feel this sounds like a very professional word. As if I am doing some business. But I am not here to do any business. I am here to share, learn and grow with others. And this can only happen when I like/follow a post/blog only because I appreciate it…..genuinely. This will take away the stress of networking from my head. Then only I can start enjoying an interaction. I can even end up even learning few good things from another blogger which in turn will help to improve my writing in the long run. 

Make the optimum use of your unproductive time :

You can’t be productive throughout your day. Nobody can. I can’t. There are certain times of the day when I feel at the top of my creative energy. I can’t wait to sit with the laptop and write down the storyline that made me too excited to sleep last night.Whereas, there are times in the same day when even taking out the laptop from the cabinet itself looks like a mammoth task. I feel totally useless and unproductive. Now, it’s entirely up to me what I do in these unproductive hours. Watch a series in Netflix, see the same videos in Youtube for the nth time, play Candy Crush, scroll through Instagram or open the WordPress/Medium apps and read some blogs?

The point is to be smart enough with time. Want to take a short break from writing? Not getting any ideas good enough to write down? Feeling lazy? It’s okay. But don’t let the time to fly away just like that. Open a blogging app in your phone, search the tags that match your mood at that point and read few blogs. Simple.How much effort does it take?This way you will utilise your time in the best possible manner. What’s more? This habit will help to revive your writing spirit and make you have a comeback at your desk with more enthusiasm.

Writing has given a purpose to my life. It makes me believe that I am still capable of doing something good. In today’s date, I don’t know what else I can do apart from writing. One like, one comment from a fellow blogger makes my day. So, it will be a huge injustice on my behalf if I don’t give proper time as well as attention to my craft and the friends whose love and appreciation has helped me to make even a little progress in this sphere till now.