Saturday, January 29, 2011

Finding Twitterland


I’ll admit, I was once one of those people who thought twitter was just an excuse for self-obsessed losers to listen to themselves talk. I didn’t need a group of followers to feel validated. So I resisted. And resisted.
It wasn’t until I went to my first writer’s conference a few months ago that I changed my mind. If you’re a writer and you’ve never been to a conference, I suggest you fix that. Immediately. Not only were the panels and classes and critique sessions immensely helpful, but the people there… the other writers… never had I been somewhere surrounded by such a large group of people who got me. A group of people who understood staying up until three am to finish a scene, who spend 90% of their free time writing and the other 10% thinking about it. I found a community there that I never imagined existed. And after I came home, I missed that. You can talk to your friends and family about writing, and (hopefully) they’ll be interested and encouraging. But unless they write, they won’t understand.
            So I began searching for a way to stay in touch with that community. I visited blogs and websites, and one thing I found in common was that just about everyone was on twitter.
            In the back of my mind, I always knew I’d have to join eventually. It’s great for getting a following. But I guess I always figured it’d be when I found an agent or a publisher and they forced me to sign up to establish a platform.
            But the thing I didn’t realize was that there are so many advantages to signing up before all that. I’ve learned more about different agents and querying and the whole publishing process in general in these last few months on twitter than I had in all the research I’d done before. And I’d done a lot. I didn’t realize how out of the loop I was until I found the loop.
            Twitter connected me to a community. The feeling I felt at that conference isn’t gone. There’s such a strong, welcoming community of writers out there. *waves* I wish I’d signed up sooner.
            How has twitter helped you guys? Or is there something else that’s helped you on your journey?

3 comments:

  1. I don't pretend to fully understand Twitter, but I love it. I love the bits of chit chat, the tiny observations, the deep-cutting questions. It's a constant conversation and I love conversation. Thrilled to have found a fellow writer. Now, I'm off to follow you on Twitter!

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  2. Thanks Aidan! It's always great to connect with other writers. I love it when the wonderful community just keeps growing!

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  3. Hello Christine, I noticed your entry on Shelli Johannes' contest roll. Welocme to the insanity that is writing and blogging. I too felt much as you did when I went to my first conference. I'm in NC so I went to SCBWI Carolinas conference andi've just come from SCBWI NY conference. Absolute Amazingness.

    I'd like to wish you the best of luck and strength and perseverance in your writing.

    Stop by my blog whenever http://caenus.blogspot.com

    also... *since you're on Twitter now* I'm @Chris_Ledbetter

    ~Cheers

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