Interesting....... 'All writers are vain, selfish, and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives there lies a mystery. Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness.' George Orwell, with his breezy advocacy of a very British 'common sense', often seems as much crackpot as savant.
An example of a Facebook group. Groups can be open or private, administered by one or several people. There are lots of writing- and book-related Facebook groups, sharing info and updates, working on a project, supporting members.
I forgot this most important thing: Waterproof notepads made of waterproof paper. A notepad and pencil you can use in the shower for those brilliant ideas you'll otherwise forget. I use it ALL the time.
Take a story by a writer you really, really admire - preferably a short short story that won't take for ever to reproduce. Analyze it in minute detail: from word choice to sentence length. Now, choose a different setting and different characters with different dreams from that of the originals, and write a copycat story, following the exact structure and tone of the original.
New Australian publisher of short stories and novellas. Must be by a Brisbane writer or have some connection to Brisbane. Pays $10 for a story and wants all world-wide rights for a year after the anthology is published, then rights revert to the author.
Official fan page on Facebook for international YA author Cassandra Clare. Sample of a genuine fan page, with lots of competitions, trailers, fan art and fan fic.
"Instantly connect to what's most important to you. Follow your friends, experts, favorite authors, and breaking news." Also, the most valuable professional development and networking tool around.
"Enhance your social media management with HootSuite, the leading social media dashboard. Manage multiple networks and profiles." You can set up tabs and columns to follow different hashtags or information streams.