I signed up for a writers workshop through the local evening college, and in the first class yesterday, I mentioned a Twitter chat for writers of children’s literature. I don’t follow the chat myself, but many of my followers participate in it, so I’ve seen enough to see how useful many people have found it. Except, my suggestion went over the heads of the other class participants because it turned out that I was the only one using Twitter.

The idea still persists that Twitter is a waste of time, a pointless social media site designed for people who actually think the world cares what they do all day. Go to Twitter and click on any trending topic. These people use Twitter, yes, but these are not the people that Twitter was designed for.

I tweet mainly about topics related to reading and writing, though I also discuss topics related to politics, feminism, design, technology, and MSU sports. And yes, very occasionally I will sink to the level of what I did that day. But mostly I stay within my niche, knowing full well that my followers expect a certain thing from me. I post links to articles, blog posts (mine and others’), and news stories. I retweet (repost) other people’s tweets that I feel are important or insightful. And I of course produce original content with insights of my own. Read more »

Last summer, I was invited to attend a summer writer’s workshop, the kind that could expose my writing to agents and editors, decreasing the inevitable future of paying off student loans as a green-hat at McDonalds. As part of the acceptance packet, I received a card with a questionnaire about my living arrangements. With the exception of not being a vegetarian, or bi-curious, the questions seemed to define how much of a wannabe writer stereotype I am. Yes, I eat meat; yes, I smoke; yes, I drink alcohol; yes, I’m filled with angst. The last question asked me to rate, on a scale from one to five, how social I thought I was. Instead of being honest, I shaded the fourth box.

For the last few years, I’ve operated under the false assumption that an aspiring writer is a shut-in. As a matter of fact, what’s most appealing about the idea of being a writer is that it’s one of the few jobs you can do in your pajamas. With a computer, a television, a treadmill, and a trip to the grocery store, you too can live like hamster. Sweatpants and ugly T-shirts with things like ONE DOLLAR MAMOGRAMS can be your business casual. But that’s only partly true.

Read more »