Step Five: Get Involved
The best way to make the most of Twitter is to get involved. You can do that with the following:
Participate in Writing Events.
Daily Events. These are events that happen daily, either for each day of the week or each day of the month. The link leads you to my personal list (if you discover any I missed, let me know), and it includes events that encourage you to share your work, do creative exercises, or participate in scheduled discussions.
Periodic Events. These are much larger events, usually annual or biannual. The link is to my personal list (best on Chrome), and it include pitch parties (where you pitch your completed work to agents in a feed), contests, workshops, and critique partner meet-ups. Many of these large events have lively Twitter conversations going on a related hashtag. These are often great places to meet people and learn a lot of DOs and DON’Ts of the industry. If you discover any Events I missed, let me know!
Participate in Chats.
I list the occasional chat on my events pages, but if you keep your eyes peeled, you’ll find a lot more. There are also Twitter users like @ChatSalad whose sole purpose in life is to list upcoming chats. An example? #WriteForum at 12-1am EST, for you night owls!
Join Wattpad.
Wattpad is a thriving writer community with a lively Twitter presence that includes weekly discussions like #Wattpad4 (Mondays 8-9pm EST, see above image). If you can put forth the time and effort to do both, it’s well worth it.
Pay Attention.
When you’re scouring other people’s posts and bio-blurbs, keep an eye out for mentions of your own genre/category or just anything you find intriguing. It never hurts to shoot people messages, and who knows – you could end up with a lifelong friend or critique partner if you keep your eyes open and stay curious!
Stay Personal, but Still Retweet.
Somewhere I heard that only 20% of your posts should come from you – the rest should have outside content. I think that’s a bit extreme, but all the same – support your fellows by Retweeting. And when you’re posting your own stuff, make it personal and relatable. Don’t be a machine, be a person. They’re much more interesting.