I recently learned that there are still people out there who haven’t joined Twitter – yet. I know some of these people personally, and when I ask them why, the most common excuses are, “I don’t know where to start;” “I don’t have anything to say;” “I don’t need to share every move I make with strangers.”
If you can relate to this train of thought, this post is dedicated to you.
I’m here to let you know that Twitter is not only a wonderful place for businesses and marketers, it’s also a wonderful place to groom your writing abilities.
That’s right, folks. It’s not just a platform to air your dirty laundry about your ex. Twitter can help improve your writing skills.
Allow me to explain.
Be concise
If you’re at all familiar with Twitter, you’ll know that you have 140 characters – not words or letters – to get your thought published. Not much latitude there.
What is a character? Letters, numbers, punctuation, symbols and even spaces, count. So, you’d better know what you want to say and say it in as few words as possible.
I have a friend who happens to be a LONG storyteller, and uses verbose descriptions to describe each detail. Ok, fine, it’s me. But, I’m not alone. Many people are. Depending on your audience, it can have unwanted effects, such as, you may soon realize people don’t think your stories are as interesting as you do. But, when you’ve only got 140 characters to explain your latest project, events of the day, or simply declare and support your opinion on a subject, there’s no option to carry on, which forces you to create a more compelling statement.
This is where Twitter comes in handy.
Exercise your vocabulary
Pull out your trusty dictionary and thesaurus, and dig deep. Find short words and phrases to craft your statement in 140 characters or less.
Creating a message for Twitter requires you to enhance your verbs and reduce adverbs and adjectives in order to express yourself more articulately.
Twitter won’t allow you to post your “tweet” until you’ve hit the allowable character count. For most of us, it takes a few re-writes.
This brings me to my last reason about how Twitter can help improve your writing skills.
Improve your editing skills
As a writer, you should be able to edit your own work. Twitter enables you to hone your skills and dramatically improve them, so that you can write a short message, get your point across and inspire followers to take action by “retweeting” your message, responding to you, or clicking on a link you’ve provided to support your marvelous message.
If you’re still feeling fearful of joining Twitter, but think it could be great a great tool to promote yourself or your business, I can help!
