Well I've been connecting with other writers on Twitter for almost a year now and I have to say it's really transformed my writing. I write much more often and for longer than I used to. In fact I've already written almost 10,000 words of my current work in progress in little more than a month. Before I got going with Twitter, I wasn't half as motivated as I am now. I didn't work as regularly on my writing and I didn't have the encouragement I needed to get going with it.
My husband kept encouraging me to set up a blog, which I eventually got round to doing with his help, but he said to connect with other writers I'd need to scour the internet to find them and link my blog to theirs. This, however, proved nigh on impossible. I found a few sites here and there of other authors but their blogs and websites seemed hopelessly out of date or not really relevant to what I was looking for. Then my sister suggested I try Twitter. She'd joined it and said it might be a way to connect with other writers.
I was very happy when (after a false start in which I was apparently followed by a porn site!! - has that happened to anyone else??!!) I began to get some followers on Twitter and began to follow lots of other people myself. This has made all the difference to me; I now have well over 1100 followers on Twitter and more people follow me every day. I'm in contact with various writers and we exchange comments via our blogs - I've even met another writer face to face as we found we lived in the same city! That has proved to be especially helpful.
To sum up I'm so much more motivated with my writing these days. I work harder on it for longer periods of time and I'm definitely seeing the results.
What's your experience of Twitter and blogging been?
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ReplyDeleteI also find the Twitter community of writers encouraging, but it is a bit of a double-edged sword. It can also be a bit distracting! I find it can be easy to lose focus and I have to be strict about not looking online at anything apart from research when writing!
ReplyDeleteThat is true. I find the internet in general can be distracting. I often use the internet for research and I can often get sidetracked. How's your writing coming on?
DeleteI agree Elaine about Twitter, it's been a fantastic way to connect with other writers, not least yourself. :-) Blogging wise I got off to a slow start last summer but I've gained momentum and I'm really enjoying writing posts and sharing my thoughts. It's also great to read other writer's blogs.
ReplyDeleteI've also been followed by a porn site or two - it doesn't help that there's an American porn star called Kate Frost - seriously!
A porn star called Kate Frost! Hmmm that's funny depending on which way you look at it! Seriously though, using Twitter has transformed my writing and anything that improves our writing has to be a good thing.
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