Last week I reviewed a book by Steve Umstead, a writer I met on Twitter. I don't remember how I started following him, but I'm glad I did. Steve would tweet about the book he published and with his every tweet I got a little more curious about the novel. Even though the story was sci-fi, a genre I know nothing about and usually don't want to know anything about, I downloaded it for my Kindle.
I won't go into how much I liked the book, for that you can go to over to my corner shelf and read the post there, but I did like – a lot. By talking to him on Twitter I was introduced to other writers of that genre and started to talking to them as well. The same thing happened. I found myself downloading several other books that are currently burning a hole through my Kindle waiting for me to read them.
I first joined Twitter because that's what they say you should do when starting up a writing career. Get out there, show yourself and your writing to the world. Make friends, give support and in turn you'll get support back, hopefully.
I have to say it works.
The one writer I talked to asked where she could find my books. If I could have reached through the computer and kissed her I would have. It would have been creepy afterwards, I mean, really, how do you back out after something like that? A nice woman would be sitting in front of her computer giving support to someone whom she thought was a normal person and this crazy redhead jumps out of her computer wanting to kiss her in gratitude. Embarrassing.
I got so giddy when I saw that tweet pop up. However, the ever grounded Sparky was there.
She wants to know where she can find my book!
Um. You don't have a book yet.
Gee, thanks for the reminder. But that wasn't the only reason why I got excited.
I got excited because I made a connection. Everyday I stay at home with my kids and although I wouldn't change that for the world it can get a bit lonely without adult contact. When I go on Twitter I can talk to other adults about things that are of a common interest.
Knowing that there are people out there that are going through the same things that I am make me feel supported. Knowing that there are people out there that are where I want to be and are willing to talk with me about their experiences gives me something to shoot for.
Sparky's right, I don't have a publishable book right now, but I am working on one. It's amazing that there are people out there that are curious about my work because of conversations that I've had with them. It makes me want to write even more.
The support I'm finding on Twitter is second to only the support I get from Sparky.
So, thank you Twitter friends for being there to motivate, inspire and support me. And for giving me someone to drink with while I write. ๐
8 responses to “Twitter: An Online Support Group For Writers”
Wow, that Steve sounds like some kind of guy!
I don't know, I hear he's a drinker. ๐
And?
“The support I'm finding on Twitter is second to only the support I get from Sparky.”
Does that mean I am off the hook for any future 1500 word pep-talks via email? ๐
Watch out for that Twitter drinking crowd. They're a wild bunch.
You'd like to think that, huh? Unfortunately no. I still need your 1500 word pep talks. I'm dedicating a special post to you next week. Don't worry, you'll get your due ๐
And I wouldn't have it any other way!
Uh-oh, I'm scared! ๐