Twit-twit-too-woo

I became aware of Twitter a few years ago. I think it was @riayn who first told me about it, but I can’t be sure. I do remember her describing this thing about text messages being sent over the internet. It intrigued me, but not enough to get myself an account. As time went on, other friends joined. Their stories about “following” Stephen Fry were interesting, especially when he was on his travels. My phone at the time, though, would not have been able to cope and my internet access was too sporadic.

Then I bought my iPhone 3Gs. I joined Twitter. I love it, and not just for being able to keep up with friends in a way that I prefer to, say, Facebook. Now, don’t get me wrong. I still quite like Facebook, but I do get annoyed by how it appears on its website. I far prefer the iPhone app where I don’t get bombarded by the stuff that Facebook seems to think people like me might like. Actually, I probably would give up on Facebook, except that it’s the best way to keep in contact with quite a few of my friends in a way that Twitter and email just don’t quite do.

What fascinates me about Twitter is how it’s conversation, but in a different way to most other ways we have conversations. While with Direct Messaging (DM) it can be one person to one person, that’s not really the point. Restricting your profile limits who can take part in your conversations, but that’s also different to conversations in the real world. It might be a bit like being at a private party, but there are factors like time delays at play, and who is paying attention to what thing people are saying.

The default Twitter setting is that someone makes a statement, or asks a question. It follows the basic structure of one thought per tweet. That is broadcast, effectively, to anyone who might happen to catch it. But, that’s not really how it works. If you have an account, you elect to “follow” other people. It’s those thoughts you see, and it’s those thoughts you can choose to engage with. Or, you can join a hash tag discussion and respond to people – friends and complete strangers - there. In both cases, the person you might respond to may or may not respond to you. I don’t get the impression people take to much umbrage at being ignored as they would, perhaps, in a situation where they were physically talking to each other. I like to think most people are reasonable enough to know that @stephenfry is not going to respond to every single one of his two million followers.

The other bizarre thing about Twitter is the strange voyeurism of being able to “eavesdrop” on other people’s conversations, both of people I know and those I don’t. It’s fascinating to get an insight into journalists’ lives outside their columns. You can tell those who truly tweet, and those who employ someone to do PR. I don’t follow the PR types. Advertising is dull, opinion and fact-sharing aren’t. Twitter’s good for both, and I follow those who tweet the latter two more than the first.

Twitter is, I think, a writers’ medium. By writer, I mean people who are interested in communicating ideas and observations, regardless of how profound, or trivial, it might seem.

Stepping back from the 140 character tweet, I am fascinated by the way Twitter is continually evolving in terms of etiquette. I’ve blogged before about the rules that are evolving about “spoilers”. There are loads of other rules being formed as people react to things that irk or annoy, and those things people approve. Greater writers than I have already commented on the “power” of Twitter in events like the aftermath of elections in Iran and the rebellion in Burma. As a Londoner, I’m aware of how Twitter helped in bringing witnesses forward in the case of Ian Baynham’s murder. On a more mundane level, it has helped people navigate transport during the heavy snow this December when the official communication channels seemed to collapse.

I am puzzled about the apparent optimism of spammers in using Twitter to advertise. They may follow you, but unless you follow them you don’t see their advertisements. Trying to guess just what tweet it was that caused a male only gym in Phoenix, Arizona, to follow me, a gay woman living in London can be amusing. But, really, in my culls of bizarre followers, I take slightly more delight in reporting them for spam. Even though I don’t know how effective that really is.

But, perhaps what fascinates me most is how the people who don’t understand Twitter react to it. There seems to be quite a few people who seem threatened by it. Just as the internet as a whole became the bogeyman for what is shared on it, the same is occurring with Twitter (as well as other social networking). On the immensely positive side, knowledge is power, especially when that knowledge leads to action to make things better or even just less bad. Burma and Iran are examples, as are the student and anti-tax dodging demonstrations in the UK. The negative is the way the information people mistake for knowledge is falsified, or is actually opinion dressed up as knowledge, and then people act on that. Putting a thought into 140 characters (or so) is a discipline, but it can mean more complex ideas are misrepresented. Those who I regard as expert Twitter users are those who capture a point, and then link to where the idea is explored in greater depth if need be. The other side of the contract is for readers to read the full article before assuming something that might not actually be there.

Of course, Twitter is not only about the serious side of life. Despite strange legal decisions in the UK lately, Twitter is a great place for jokes. Good jokes. By allowing links to pictures and video images, it’s a brilliant way for people to see the wonder, the weirdness, the funny things that happen on this planet of ours, as well as the horror.

On your marks, get set... WRITE!!

About seven years ago friends of mine told me about this thing that had started in the USA and had built up a bit of a following via the internet. It was called NaNoWriMo, which expanded out to National Novel Writing Month. I've always had a problem with the 'national' bit. It's not limited to one nation even the website comes in several languages now. Either drop the 'national', or change it to 'Int' - internet / international. Please. [Bleat over.]

I didn't do it then. Not because I was irked by the title of the thing, but because I'd been told about it halfway through the month of writing. The next year I was in the throes of emigrating to the UK and didn't have an internet connection, really, and after that I lost track or didn't have the time.

This October another friend mentioned he was going to give it a go. Inspired by him, I went and had a look at the NaNoWriMo website, checked out the rules, and signed up.

In the days leading up to November, I followed some of the links to writerly websites. I loved the range offered. I followed a few on Twitter, enjoying those that tweet quotes from writers about their craft. Seen with a closed mind, they're contradictory. Seen through a mind open to the rich diversity of human thought captured through the centuries, it's a reminder of brilliant wit and sagacity. Even if a quote is something I disagree with, I have still enjoyed reading them.

Writing is the slow capturing of rapid thoughts and flitting ideas. Medical diagnostic technology is showing what our brains do when we talk and when we write, but it's writers who are exploring what that means. More, too, of course.

I downloaded the Storyist software (Mac only, for now), which was free for the month of November as a trial version. I liked using it so much I've bought it, and I suspect my current version of MS Office for the Mac will be the last version of that I'll buy. Don't get me wrong, MS Office is useful, it's just that Storyist is better suited to what I use my MacBook for and I know I've barely unleashed its potential.

This year I fit the writing in around my work and social calendar. Next year I am going to book a week or two off work. This year was a struggle, to be honest, but I did do it. So did the friend who inspired me.

Other blogs, and some newspaper articles, debated the pros and cons of NaNoWriMo. You can go hunt those arguments down for yourself, if you like. Some of them were a bit Stepford Wife in their praise, but others seemed intent to trash the concept. What's the point, say the naysayers, of raising the hopes of thousands who might "win" but never find a publisher? It's a valid point, until you actually read what's on the site and follow their links and suggestions. And they don't say it in a scared-we're-gonna-get-sued kind of way.

What I got out of the experience was what I hoped I would: a first draft of a novel from a collection of notes I'd been carrying around for a while. From that, a sense of achievement. However, I am very well aware there is a lot of work to do before it will see the light of day. But, I now know the ideas work as a story, and I like the characters. I want to put in the work to build it properly and then to start the process of trying to sell it.

What I found most useful about NaNoWriMo was the competition. The part of the website I used most often was the statistical bit. It felt good to have my daily word count above the target line. When it dipped, that spurred me on. The fact that it was on a website hosted by friendly strangers was more encouraging than if, say, I worked out my own formula. I liked the little pep-talk emails, too. I had been dubious about them, but when they started to arrive at a pleasant rate I read them and was entertained. More than that, they showed a vulnerability in the authors, and that in turn served to reassure and inspire.

NaNoWritMo is not for every writer, and nor should it be. Commissioned authors writing to a contracted deadline don't need to do it. What NaNoWriMo does is give you a similar set of conditions, but with a supportive community to combat those doubts of whether or not writing is work. Of course it is, even if it might not be paid work. Yet.

Depending on what's happening in my life next year, I may well sign up for a second time.

ADDENDUM

In March 2011, I submitted a sample from a polished up version of what I completed for NaNoWriMo to a publisher who had opened up their submissions policy for that month. In July 2011, I was asked to send them the full manuscript. That's absolutely no guarantee of a sale, mind, but I'm utterly delighted by the news. Even if that publisher ends up deciding the novel isn't for them, the simple fact is that NaNoWriMo was the spur to get me to finish that first draft, and that feeling of initial success I wrote about in this blogpost the spur to polish it up and submit it.

Oh, and software-wise, I've now discovered Scrivener. Cool program, which for me just edges ahead of Storyist.
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