8 reasons why a Writer should join twitter. On the shortest day of the year a celebration of writing short
I know writers and readers who embrace every kind of social media but still can’t stand the thought of twitter. I wrote this two years ago on another blog and I still think it’s true…
1) You exercise your writing and editing skills. It’s hard being pithy and witty in 140 characters
2) You can find out what’s happening in the publishing industry – many (most?) publishing houses, editors, publicists and some agents tweet.
Leading London agent Carole Blake (author of From Pitch to Publication) tweets. Chances are your favourite contemporary author tweets.
3) Feel part of it – I once got tweets from a dinner table at the Booker. It was fun to know what everyone was eating or being too nervous to eat (lamb) and who won before it was on the news.
4) Make contacts and friends
5) Increase your blog readership
6) Promote your writing – but not all the time. You wouldn’t want to mix with someone who only ever talks about one thing (especially when that one subgect was themselves).
7) Get topical ideas from the ‘hot trending’ subjects (what people are tweeting about): journalists do it all the time.
8) Get useful information, advice from other writers like this:
from @mewroh
good links, inspiring people, a chance to home one-liners, and the freedom to completely fabricate a twitter character.
see @MrsStephenFry, @CherylKerl, @sexyexecutive, @dimblebot for the latter
from @EffieMerryl
networking, raising profile, marketing, promotion, ideas , social benefits, community
Not convinced?
This is from Stephen Fry’s three page letter to his two millionth follower (Jonathan from Dundee) back in 2010
… the majority, the great majority of people are friendly, forgiving and kind…You will be astonished too by the wit. The speediness, elegance and brilliance of some twitterers regularly takes my breath away…mostly Twitter and my two million followers are as good a reason as I know to trust people. To respect people. To believe in people…
Half-convinced?
A quarter? Willing to dip a toe into the water?
If you want to chat you can follow me @agoodconfession
But there are some people I don’t follow back. Find out why here.
- English: Stephen Fry (Photo credit: Wikipedia)…
I first heard about Twitter a month or so after it had been launched on the world and with my usual perspicacity mentally consigned it to the dustbin of history. ‘What a simultaneously hysterical, banal, footling and useless idea,’ I remember thinking.
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I think I’ll sign up immediately!
Do! Do!