Peter Rozovsky did some contemplating on the subject of Twitter a little while ago. In another discussion on the topic I dismissed the idea as I didn't think too many people would be interested in how often I clipped my toenails. However, a couple of weeks ago, while on the beer with my friend and all-things-web-related-advisor, Gareth Watson, we had a chat about Twitter. Yeah, that's how exciting a night on the lash with me can get! Anyway, he had me most of the way convinced that I should sign up as he plans to revamp my website to include a twitter feed, it's not a time-consuming site and he reckons it's a cutting edge web-community that I should be part of.
But I was hungover for many days following that night out and never got around to it.
Two weeks into Lent, I'm dry as the Sahara and getting twitchy. I'm tempted to sign up, but not sure if I should invest another piece of the time I should be spending on my novel. So, maybe some of you folk could weigh in on this for me. Is Twitter a good idea?
The spot where Gerard Brennan, author and playwright, blogs about reading and writing... but never arithmetic.
He recently turned his back on gainful employment to pursue a crime fiction related PhD at QUB.
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- Gerard Brennan
- Ireland
- Gerard Brennan's short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies, including The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime. He co-edited Requiems for the Departed, a collection of crime fiction based on Irish myths. His novella, The Point, was published by Pulp Press in October 2011 and won the 2012 Spinetingler Award. His debut novel, WEE ROCKETS, was published by Blasted Heath in 2012. He is currently working on a creative writing PhD at Queen's University Belfast
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16 comments:
Yes.
I don't know if this will inspire you but recently I purchased a book because the author started following me on Twitter.
If you look at the everyone feed you might indeed be turned off by Twitter. If you can find people with similar interests then it can be interesting, informative, even fun.
I Twitter with colleagues where it becomes more of an extended chat session though out the day.
There are also some fun feeds such as the person who tweets as Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment.
Some of the authors I follow on Twitter are Roger Smith, Roger Morris, and Michelle Gagnon, Sean Chercover, Lee Loftland, Duane Swierczynski, Scott Sigler, Seth Harwood.
I follow several musicians on twitter. Good way to get quick updates.
Gerard,
I've had a twitter account for about 6 months now (about the same amount of time I've had a facebook account.)I rarely use the thing, and when I do it takes up close to about fifteen seconds of my time. But I have to admit, I only update it about once a week, where as many other writer's are constantly updating (Ray Banks, Bill Crider, Duane Swierczyski.)all of whom use it when they update their blogs and when they have new projects coming out. But they also do the same thing on Facebook. When it comes to social networking it's all about personal preference. Facebook tends to be a little more personal, twitter is a little more disconnected (Think of it as online textmessaging.) But that's my take. Both are huge time sucks, but are great billboards for your writing. But my opinion is go for it, what harm is it really going to do? If it's distracting you from working on your new book, then chances are that anything would be a distraction.
Josh - Love your first answer. Very much in the spirit of Twitter.
Mack - So if I get published this could lead to sales? Hmmm, should be reason enough to form an account.
The oter stuff sounds cool too, though.
Keith - "If it's distracting you from working on your new book, then chances are that anything would be a distraction."
You're a genius. Such a brilliant point.
Looks like I'll be signing up for this soon (unless anybody wants to weigh in with some persuasive cons). See you guys there.
Cheers
gb
If/when you join the twitterverse, look me up. I'm Max46 there.
Mack - Will do, sir.
gb
I hate Twitter. God, he is so annoying, I always hope Sylvester gets him for good
...
What?
Ahem yes.
It doesn't inspire me, just as textmessaging doesn't inspire me, but unless you spend hours on it and/or end up unable to write sentences longer than twitter bursts, I suppose there aren't great cons.
Now I have this burning curiosity- how often do you clip your toenails?
v-word:psionica
Gerard, one useful application is to have your blog posts sent to Twitter automatically as "tweets." That's my main use of it.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
Peter brings up a good point. I frequently track back from a Twitter post to the blog post. I have yours and Peter's blogs in my feed reader but I am more likely to see that you have put up a new post if the link appears in Twitter.
Marco - Probably not as often as I should. Maybe keeping note on twitter would be good for my preening habits?
Pete and Mack - Tweets, you say? Sounds like a good function. Tell me, can you have a feed from Twitter as a sidebar gadget on blogger? I have a CSNI-relevant idea if you can.
Cheers
gb
Gerard, take a look at
http://tinyurl.com/3b7jwz
I think it will do what you are looking for.
Mack - That looks like it'll do the job. Thanks a million for the link, man.
That's me sold. See you there.
Cheers
gb
Ok, I'm gerardbrennan on twitter and I'll be tracking you other twitters down in due course. Might be a wee while figuring it out, but I'll get there soon enough, I'm sure.
gb
Gerard, a "tweet," as far as I know, is simply the term for a Twitter post.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
Peter, thanks for the clarification. I think the sidebar gadget thing is pretty nifty. Anything that adds constructively to CSNI is fine by me. Hopefully what I put in there is of interest to the blog's visitors.
gb
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