Writers & Bloggers— is it time for you to give up? Is it just too hard, with no hope of success? Or should we say ‘Never Give Up, Never Surrender,’ like that guy in Galaxy Quest?
Back about the time of the last US presidential election, I was cut off from my internet and my television service due to sheer poverty— I’m on SSI Disability due to an autism spectrum disorder— and that cut off my ability to keep up with my blog the way I wanted to, and to self-publish anything, even on the cheap as I have to do it.
I did then have a cell phone with limited internet access, but then I lost that, too, and was cut off from everything. I couldn’t even call my mother for a month. Since mom had been put in a home, that was tough.
My mom passed away earlier in the year, and a kind family member got me a cell phone with unlimited internet access and a limited wifi hotspot. So, now I’m back and connected.
And then, my Mac computer, which I got second-hand, finally seems to have bitten the big one. The PC computer I had before I got the Mac I had thought was broken down for good, but I still kept it on my desk. With the Mac not functioning, I plugged the old computer (”Ace”) in, and to my surprise I was able to use my Scrivener program and to sync with Dropbox for backup.
I still need a new or newer computer. ‘Ace’ only works when plugged in— it doesn’t think it has a battery. I was told to take it to a repair shop. The nearest computer repair shop is in a town I’ve been trying to get a ride to for a couple of years— I urgently need stuff from the stores there. The odds of me getting to a computer shop there are not good, and I’d have to pay the charge whether they make the computer more functional or not. And now, even if I was physically able to drive that far, the gas price would stop me.
I guess now would be a good time to give up, but I find I can’t. Even when I can’t handle urgent practical things, I feel the need to sit down and put words on a page. Or a screen. I decided to be a writer as a child— if I was a writer, those stories in my head weren’t proof of mental illness, but of creativity. I find I can’t stop— and I don’t want to. I am a lot better at some stuff now, and why throw away the improvement I worked hard for?
Even if you become homeless for a while, you can still write. I remember being in a homeless shelter— never mind why— and everyone seemed to have a smartphone to charge. People were allowed to keep their phones with them— they might be expecting a call about a job, after all— and they did use those phones. The US government supposedly gives out free cell phones with some internet access— though when I wrote a begging letter about getting one, telling them I had NO PHONE, they kindly gave me a phone number to call. On the phone I didn’t have.
Homeless people without a smartphone can use computers in a library if they can get to a library and are clean enough not to be chased out. Years ago I heard of some well-known blogs by homeless people, at least one of whom wrote a book and got out of being homeless.
So here’s the thing— you write, you blog? Keep it up. If you aren’t that good, you can improve. You can learn new skills. If no one reads your book or blog now, keep on slogging. Your blog can catch on. My little blog here got a comment the other day from LAWRENCE BLOCK. Since the post was mentioning an updated version of a writing book by Lawrence Block, I’d guess it was authentically the man or someone who works the internet for him.
COMMENTS are welcome, if you can avoid being uncivil or using foul language. If you have a blog or book to talk about, you are allowed ONE LINK in your comment, if you tell what the link is about.
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*MeWe: https://mewe.com/i/nissaannakindt
My Books.
Banned Books, Banned Girl. https://www.wattpad.com/story/269878745
Get More Blog Traffic: https://www.amazon.com/dp/BO86H4FQ4M
My Antimatter Life 