This is really meta, since you are reading content I’m making about my writing, but this is a big part of what I do each month, and I thought I would give you all an insight into what I do to make content, both for my blog and my Instagram. If you aren’t following my Instagram, you really should. (https://www.instagram.com/c.hilts.books/ )
So, my main form of public promotion of my books is through Instagram, which is how I’m sure most of you have found my blog. Though my posting schedule has changed throughout the couple of years I’ve been posting, as of right now, I’m posting three reels a week, and two static posts a week. I always post a story when I’ve posted a new blog, and I sometimes throw in other stories such as novel updates or when I’ve found a funny editing mistake.
But how do I find content to post about? Truthfully, I just read my chapters, and pull my favourite lines and scenes from them. I made the smart decision with “Healing x3 Part One” to pull content while I was editing. What that means is that from each chapter, I’m pulling one quote for a static post, and one scene for a short video. Sometimes I’m able to get more than that from a chapter, but that’s what I’m looking for. In the past, when I’ve been pulling highlights from my published novels, I have gone through each of my chapters to find content. Yes, it’s incredibly time consuming, which is why I’ve done it differently this time, but I felt like it was the best content to show you guys.
I’ve also recently started using The Sims 4 to make content, which is one of my favourite games to play. What that looks like for my Instagram is making my characters and some of their outfits from the novel, building their houses and places they visit, and maybe one day, recreating my favourite scenes in the Sims. Don’t get your hopes up about that last point; I would need a lot of time on my hands to do that.
As for my blog, I truthfully came up with a lot of the ideas for it one night when I was in the shower. I was taking a writing class at the time, and the teacher recommended having a blog, and the idea seemed incredibly exciting to me. I came up with probably a dozen ideas, and began writing them. Currently, I’ve been trying to write all of my posts for the month in one sitting, since I find it’s easier for me to focus on them that way, but I have done them week by week in the past. I have a specific theme for my posts in August, which you’ll get to learn more about later, but honestly, I usually just add new ideas to my calendar as they come up. And not to tease you or anything, but I have some really good ideas coming down the pipeline.
I will admit, I’ve struggled to feel the passion behind making content, since I found it was hard for me to feel motivated to do something that I felt had little tangible benefit. However, since I’ve returned to the keyboard after being sick, I’ve kind of changed the way that I make content.
First, there’s a lot more planning that goes into it. I have a notebook where I plot out all of my reels, as well as a document to hold onto the scenes until I’m ready to plot them. Second, I’ve figured out my posting schedule weeks in advance, since it takes the guesswork out of me trying to figure out what to post week to week. Third, I film a lot of reels in one sitting (today was ten) since it’s time consuming, and I would rather just get them over with. I film all of the videos, then go in and add the text to them. And I have to say, I’ve been having a lot of fun with the different shots recently.
Now, this might not have been all that interesting to you, but I thought I would share another side of the writing process, one I feel isn’t talked about very much.
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