By Alex Beecroft

Like most new writers, when I signed the contract on my first book, I had very fixed ideas of what the writing life would involve. These involved a great deal of solitude, long walks in empty parks and sitting at my word processor in a lovely little attic garret with the sun streaming in through the windows.

Occasionally – I dared to think – I might get a fan letter, or be asked to attend a book signing. But for the rest of the time I would be alone with my books and my fictional worlds, free to write all day and be paid for it.

That dream did not long survive the reality. These days it seems that a writer is expected to write 5,000 words in an hour before breakfast, and then spend the rest of the day on the internet, blogging, tweeting, Facebooking, answering emails, attending Yahoo chats, being interviewed by other writers, interviewing other writers, running contests, promoting, advertising, networking, being seen in the right places, saying the right things to the right people about the issues of the day, while being gracious, professional, happy, encouraging and inspirational to others.

If you're an extrovert and you are energized and enthused by talking to other people, then this may not seem so bad. But you're a writer, right? And writing is pretty much a career that self-selects for people who love to spend the majority of their time alone with a piece of paper and their inner voices.

So what can you do to prevent yourself from plunging into all of this, swimming frantically for a while and then going down, overwhelmed by the fact that a writer's life has very little to do with writing? Here are my very hard won tips:

1. Writing time must come first.

If you have one free hour a day and it's a choice between spending it on social media or spending it on writing, write. You are not a writer unless you write, and a new book will promote your work better than any amount of blogging could.

2. Only follow blogs that inspire you.

Many people love a bit of conflict and controversy, and there are plenty of blogs which will provide it for them. But if you are unsettled by conflict and find it stops you from writing, you are allowed simply not to look. Don't waste your limited time and energy on things that prevent you from writing.

3. Do not get involved with flamewars/wank on the internet.

Every so often a massive controversy will appear to shake the roots of your genre, and everyone you know will be up in arms about it on one side or the other. Dealing with this will suck up your writing time and your energy. So don't deal with it. Avoid the controversy and unplug the internet until it's all over. You don't have to have an opinion (or at least, you are not obliged to express your opinion) on every contentious topic out there. If you actually want to, and you have the spoons to deal with the subsequent conversation/rant, of course, then have at it.

4. Make the most of your blogging time.

Readers will be looking to find out about your books, so you need at least a basic website. Publishers are looking for you to have some internet presence too, so you probably can't get completely out of blogging. However, it's not too difficult to update your blog once a week and have that update fed automatically to other social media outlets such as Twitter/Facebook using nifty software like Ping.press or Wordbooker. A once a week post to prove you're still alive and working should be enough as long as you're still writing and publishing new books.

5. Look after your psychological health.

If reading about other people's successes gets you down, don't read about it. If you get a bad review, don't advertise it by talking about it. There is a massive pressure to be out there and available all the time, but you must look after yourself first, or you won't be any good to anyone. Give yourself permission to unplug and go for a walk, or read, or have a calming bath, or finish your chapter. You cannot be a writer unless you write. So – first and foremost, last and hindmost – you must protect the sometimes fragile thing that gives you your ability to write. Everything else takes second place to that.

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Alex Beecroft writes full blooded vintage fiction with a slice of lime, and can be found at her website, on livejournal, or on Twitter @Alex_Beecroft