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Whether you are a writer by profession or not, one thing is true. We are all authors now. Every time we get on Facebook or LinkedIn or Google+ or Twitter, we are publishing something.
You might have heard the rumor that Twitter is dumbing us down, making us like teenagers who text on their cell phones. But good writers know how to have the same impact on their readers, with fewer words.
And isn’t that the same thing we need to do on social media, where our audience is attention disordered, distracted and click-happy?
It can be much harder to get our message out in less space. After all, Mark Twain once said, “I would have written a shorter letter, but I didn’t have time.” Using fewer words takes practice and, yes, sometimes more time.
Writing teachers, from second grade classrooms to graduate schools, know this. They use an exercise with their students: the six-word story. Can’t tell a story in six words, you say? Well, I bet you can. Ernest Hemingway wrote one:
For sale: baby shoes, never worn.
Every word here is needed to tell the story, but there is not one extra. And we have a story. Now that is good writing. We may never be Hemingways, but we can learn something from him. I have blogged before about lessons from authors, like what Dr. Seuss can teach us about making every word count.
But did you ever think that Twitter might be a great place to practice lean, elegant writing?
5 ways Twitter can make you a better writer
Crafting a meaningful message or story in six words may be out of range for most of us. But Twitter helps us write cleaner and leaner. With just 140 characters, it’s excellent practice. Here is what you learn how to do:
1. Find the ‘big idea.’
In a blog post, or a short story, and especially on social media, a writer needs to have that one major idea. To get to the point—and quickly. Twitter makes us better at doing that because our tweets are flying through the stream and we have scant seconds to relay our idea.
2. Write with precision.
Will Strunk, co-author of the timeless classic The Elements of Style, says it best: “Omit needless words.” He compares two sentences: “A period of unfavorable weather set in” and “It rained all week.” Not only is the second sentence shorter (four words compared to seven), but it tells us much more: the bad weather was rain and it lasted one week. Twitter, with its strict word limits, helps us practice this.
3. Drop the unneeded adverbs.
You know, those pesky words that end in –ly? When I was a teacher, my fourth and fifth graders loved Tom Swifties. Their task was to find the adverb to go with a Tom Swift quote. “Who left the toilet seat down?” Tom asked peevishly. “Pass me the shellfish,” said Tom crabbily. The humor in the sentences had them falling down laughing.
But in real life, a strong verb trumps an adverb any day. So on Twitter, where every word matters, we learn to say the equivalent of “He slammed the door,” rather than “He shut the door loudly.” The stronger the verb, the fewer the words, the greater the impact.
4. Craft better headlines.
Now, with Google Analytics, we can see which blog post headlines we tweet are getting the best response, the most RTs, shares and direct visits to our sites.Good headlines, ones that surprise, make people curious or otherwise promise a benefit will always get more click-throughs.
5. Entice our readers.
I have written about the importance of writing Twitter teasers that make people curious enough to read our article or blog post (or visit Amazon to buy our book). Twitter teaches us to find the best ways to motivate our Twitter followers to read our stuff.
What about you?
Have you learned anything about writing better from being on Twitter?
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Pretty effective, huh? I do have a tendency to get wordy and turn two sentences into two paragraphs; I could probably use some ‘writing’ practice on being a more ‘effective’ writer.
Blogging is like golf; anybody can play. But we all know some are better at it than others, huh?
I forget the guys name, but he tells jokes in 142 characters or less. He is pretty effective with it.
Thanks for sharing this Judy. I hope your day has been well.
Bill Dorman recently posted..Why do you think that is?
Haha. I wondered if people would take up the challenge of the six-word story. You did it in five. : )
I love the idea of a joke in 142 characters. Let me know when you think of who it is. Would love to check that out.
Always good to see you here, Bill.
@arjunbasu He does a good job w/ telling a ‘short’ story in 140 or less.
Bill Dorman recently posted..Why do you think that is?
I think I just found someone new to follow on Twitter. What fun. Thanks, Bill.
Ernest Hemingway’s saddest story in six words: For sale. Baby shoes. Never used.
Hijacker death, passenger brought to hospital.
This is what I mean by simple writing. Helas one cannot say its clear since one could make up many stories from those six words.
A blog post needs more meat. The story you tell in there must be understood like you want it to be understood, no second guesses by the reader.
Johan recently posted..My 100 reasons to study chess
Great example, Johan. And you are right, you could make up many actual stories from those six words. But it is a starting point, the beginning of a plot.
And I agree. A blog post DOES need more meat. But what Twitter and the six-word stories teach us to do is to get right down to business. No fluff, no extra words. So that kind of practice will also make the quality of our blog posts better.
Thanks for visiting.
Dear Judy,
I am thinking about holding final exam for my student via twitter, after reading your article. It will be great idea. Thank you.
What an interesting idea. If you decide to do that, let us know how it goes, okay? And thanks for visiting the Cat’s Eye blog. : )
I wish I was taking your class! Sounds fun!
Ha! For sure, there were lots of laughs in my classroom. And kids love to play with language, so we had fun most days.
Judy Dunn recently posted.. What Is Your Online Avatar Saying About You?
Okay. I screwed up, Mike. You were replying to Nanang, not me. Sorry about that.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Number 6 in this post is definitely, learning to write in a new language.
-Mattias
Wow. As a student of languages, who still loves them very much, I am always impressed by people who are brave enough to tackle new ones (and leave blog comments in another language). Good for you.
Hope you come back and visit us here again.
Judy, this is a great post.
I hear ALL the time that kids today can’t write – their skills have been ‘dumbed down’ by social media. But in truth, I agree with you that Twitter, Facebook and the popularized emergence of blogging have created an environment that encourages effective writing and communication.
The cream will rise to the top, as is always the case, but if we can all be more mindful of brevity, succinctness and impact, we will emerge as stronger writers.
Ruth – The Freelance Writing Blog recently posted..The #1 Writing-Related New Year’s Resolution that Can Explode Your Business
I know! From my early teaching years, at least in the elementary school grades, writing didn’t get as much attention because the subjects were compartmentalized: reading, science, math. Later, when it became more holistic, writing was included in all the other subjects, even in math, when kids had to explain how they arrived at a solution.
And now, with social media, people who never learned to write well are getting loads of good practice, as you say, with FB, Twitter, blogging, etc. And this is a good thing!
Thanks for visiting, Ruth. I have heard such good things about your blog. It’s on my list to check out this year. : )
Ahhh, you’re very kind Judy. Look forward to your visit!
Ruth – The Freelance Writing Blog recently posted..The #1 Writing-Related New Year’s Resolution that Can Explode Your Business
Great post and excellent advice! I’m planning to post something similar on my blog in the next few weeks, including advice from my particular writing guru, George Orwell. Thanks, Judy!
Annie Crawford recently posted..New Look!!
Annie, well, George Orwell is a pretty fine role model. That ought to make for an interesting post. : )
Sorry, I don’t know how that last bit (about “my recent post. . .”) got on there. I’m kind of a cyber-dummy. : )
Annie,
Oh, no! No need to remove that link! I purposely took the Livefyre commenting system off my blog as an experiment to see what my readers favor. So I am back to the original WordPress commenting, with Comment Luv plugin so readers can get those linkbacks to their posts.
So please, by all means, check that Comment Luv box and choose the post you want to link to.
Bob will be talking to you tomorrow and, if you’d like, he can tell you more about commenting systems (pro’s and con’s for the blogger and benefits for readers/commenters). Thanks for visiting the Cat’s Eye blog. : )
I’m just getting started in Twitter and wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted to do with it yet. I love the idea of using it for honing my writing skills. Thanks for the direction.
Kari Scare recently posted..How to… Develop a Sense of Humor – Part I
Kari,
There are many, many ways to use Twitter. But as you develop your goals, just know that you will automatically getting the benefit of practicing shorter, more concise writing.
I notice that you don’t have an avatar (photo) yet. I’ll be posting on how to get one soon, if that is something you’ve been meaning to do.
: )
I really like seeing people using twitter for something OTHER than marketing! This was a great post with fantastic results! Thanks.
Yes, there are so many ways to use twitter. I follow @winecountrydog and he tweets about causes like preventing animal abuse (with some good tips on choosing wines thrown in every once in a while). Funny thing is I got to meet him in person (in dog?) in the Sonoma Valley wine country when I was in San Francisco for a conference. Very fun.
Judy Dunn recently posted.. What Is Your Online Avatar Saying About You?
I bought a book on Twitter that I’m going to start soon. That will add to what I’ve been reading online. I’m excited about Twitter now.
Yes, creating an Avatar photo is on my “blog to do list.” Looking forward to reading your post on this topic!
Kari Scare recently posted..How to… Develop a Sense of Humor – Part I
Glad to be of help, Kari.
Judy Dunn recently posted..Social Media Fail: 5 Reasons I Will Unfollow You
Hi Judy, I agree with you, Twitter doesn’t create crappy writers and it can be a good way, as you explained, to improve our writing and be more concise and incisive. Well, we anyway have to stick to 300 words up to have a chance to show relevant ads on our posts.
But I don’t use much Twitter because I’ve found that I prefer to use my time to write and read blog posts which I get to know of through email subscription, this way I just receive what I want to. Twitter might be useful for many writers probably but I’m still wondering how many use it just for self promotion of some kind and more important how many tweets are worth reading. Too noise makes people deaf.
I mean if someone is not into celebrity gossip. But given that I’m not much into FaceBook too I’m probably some kind of caveman.
hypnodude recently posted..10 Affirmations for Weight Loss Motivation
True. Only so much time in the day and we need to prioritize. I have started to do something about the noise on Twitter by trimming my list of follows.
So important to remember that we have choices and can use the platforms and tools that make sense for us and do the job in terms of getting results/meeting goals. That’s probably different for each one of us.
Judy Dunn recently posted..Preventing Apostrophe Abuse Begins at Home
Nice suggestion.
I think your so right with the idea of creating better headlines. I know now I take a lot more time with my headlines then ever before. I try to really see what is being searched for or what would bring a WOW to bring more readers to that blog post.
Justice Wordlaw IV recently posted..How I Pissed Off My Seo Person
Once writers and bloggers get the importance of working to make those headlines just right, magical things begin to happen. Actually, I get those search terms into my alt title in the admin, so I can make my public post headlines a little more interesting. (At least that is what I try to do.)
Thanks for visiting, my friend. And speaking of interesting, and the title on your link to recent post makes me want to click through. : ) (I like the idea of pissing off an SEO person.)
Judy Dunn recently posted..Social Media Fail: 5 Reasons I Will Unfollow You
Haha I love you fight in you
… yeah my seo person wasn’t that happy with me but oh well I’m the boss
Justice Wordlaw IV recently posted..How I Pissed Off My Seo Person
Judy, I love this post and couldn’t agree more with every point. I just tweeted a quote from #3 (anathematic adverbs!).
You’re inspiring me to consider my current work-in-progress in a new light. It’s a low sci-fi novel. As I’ve worked on it, I’ve noticed that my style has changed a bit from previous novels. This one boasts an economy of words, which is not something I’m known for. ; )
I’d chalked up this phenomenon to a main character with a straightforward, easy-to-read voice…but now I wonder. I’m writing this novel after having been very active on Twitter for a full year. It’s quite possible that brevity on Twitter is spilling over into noveling.
If that’s the case, I can’t help but think it’s a positive change. : )
Courtney Cantrell recently posted..#Amediting: 1st Drafts in Riding Gear, People
Hey Court,
Thanks for that shout out on Twitter. You and I both have that adversarial thing going with adverbs. Wonder why they were ever invented anyway?
Such a fascinating thing you have said here with your new novel being sparser (more sparse?). I have to admit that tweeting has have a huge effect on my other writing. I think, even with the long form of novel, that can be a good thing. It will be interesting to compare the pre- and post-. Great to see you here in the comments. : )
Judy Dunn recently posted..‘Clean Slate’ Blogging: How to Write a Post Your Readers Will Remember
Judy, just came off a two week break determined that this year I will conquor my reluctance to tweet. Maybe my issue is that I talk too much, or maybe the format does remind me of texting. Whatever it has been, I intend to address it with new energy. Love this post and will remember your great advice. Good to be back and in case I forgot Happy New Year
So you are a reluctant tweeter, huh? True, it can feel like texting, but I have discovered that if I am trying to use “4″ for “for” or “U” for “you,” that usually means that either the thought was too long to tweet or I haven’t done a good enough job “snipping” the excess words (the words I don’t really need). I know what you mean, though. It can be a challenge.
Great to see you here in the comments. And Happy New Year to you, too.
Judy Dunn recently posted.. Harry Potter Headlines: 10 Ways to Conjure Up a Viral Blog Post Title
What a fantastic post Judy! I had never thought about this before, but you’re right–in fact, the more I use twitter and create concise tweets, the more it impacts my writing. Especially my query letters–they’re becoming more concise and clear every day, and more conversational.
Krissy Brady, Writer recently posted..6 Ways to Create Writing Goals That Stick
Krissy,
Happy New Year! Funny how practicing concise writing can pay off, huh? I shudder when I look at some of my past work, stuff I thought was clean and clear enough to send off. In that respect, Twitter has been helpful (at least for me). Thanks for weighing in here.
Judy Dunn recently posted..Social Media Fail: 5 Reasons I Will Unfollow You
I’m totally in the same boat–I look back on some of my old writing and just cringe, LOL!
Happy 2012! xoxo
Krissy Brady, Writer recently posted..6 Ways to Create Writing Goals That Stick
Judy!
Ok, ok. I have to admit it… Until you used these examples, the adverb -vs- the verb was completely out of my understanding! (I was actually going to read my son’s Language book from school today!- I had been reading this warning so often!!)
So. Now I know. Thank you!!
(huh. The choices of my blogs are months old!)
Amber-Lee ( recently posted..The Last Hunt on the Last Frontier with Alaska Chick
Amber-Lee,
So glad you stopped by. I’ve missed you here in the comments section.
Funny how Comment Luv (link to most recent post) makes us realize how often we’ve been posting.
Glad you didn’t have to consult your son’s textbook. : )
Nice to see you again. Please do stop by more often.
Judy Dunn recently posted..Preventing Apostrophe Abuse Begins at Home
Love it, Judy. It’s funny how often we see the tools being blamed for our own failings (for want of a better word), and Twitter seems to bear the brunt of this criticism due to its format.
But if you think of the great journalists, they all learned the art of shorthand and brevity in notes, and created masterpieces. So why should Twitter be any different?
Grat writing is great writing, because it comes from the person, not the platform.
Cheers, miss, great topic and comments!
Danny,
It’s true, isn’t it? Journalists are particularly good at sparse but precise writing. My two+ years as a reporter taught me so much about that. You learn to look at a piece with a critical eye: which words are not needed here? Sometimes I would delete entire paragraphs!
I think movie scripts are a good example, too. Not one extra word in those lines of dialogue.
Great to see you here, Danny. : )
Judy Dunn recently posted..Social Media Fail: 5 Reasons I Will Unfollow You
wow!, i love the post. i sure hope that by using short sentences in twitter we are learning what we call as the precise writing. we also learn to make it more meaning full by practice. thanks for the great post.
chaitanya battaluri recently posted..challenges
Yes, practice is the key word. Just like learning a sport or playing music. The more you do it, the better you get.
Judy Dunn recently posted.. Harry Potter Headlines: 10 Ways to Conjure Up a Viral Blog Post Title
As a copywriter, twitter helps me practice writing short ads. When I use hootsuite to schedule content for twitter, I notice my brain shift gears.
I write everything that needs to be said, then edit until I have that 140.
Jim Syyap recently posted..Can Your Website Pass This Five-Second Test?
Judy, this post is great. I blame you for the next twenty minutes I am going to spend crafting six word stories.
Brevity & I are often at odds so Twitter has been useful. I tend to be skeptical about headlines so I have spent less time worrying about them.
Some of that has to do with philosophy. I build my community around me, but that is a different post.
I like Twitter but I do worry about training ourselves to be impatient and unwilling to spend time reading something a bit longer than a few characters and or paragraphs.
Jack recently posted..One Hell Of A Story
Jack,
Haha. Couldn’t resist the challenge of the six-word story, now could you?
On your last point, hopefully Twitter isn’t training people to have even shorter attention spans, although it may. Hadn’t thought of that.
To me the beauty of Twitter for writers is that it trains us to use just the words we need and no more. In a novel, or memoir, or other longer work, that means that each sentence, each paragraph is tight, concise, powerful. Just my thinking on this. : )
Judy Dunn recently posted..How to Write an Irresistible Blog Bio
Hi Judy…this is my first visit at your home here and I am happy I stopped by! I know it’s wired but I kind of like the creative challenge that 140 characters offers. I’m not sure I’d be very adept at a six word story but Twitter’s parameters keepme on my brevity toes. I tend to get long winded in my writing and trying to be clever and quippy in 140 characters has been good for me…and if THAT isn’t challenging enough, trying to draw positive attention while RTing is even more compelling!
Thanks for a fun and intriguing post, Judy! So glad to have visited!
Claudia
Claudia recently posted..Another Auld Lang Syne
Claudia,
I love the 140-character challenge, too! Six words is next to impossible, but it really gets me thinking about conserving words. And RT’ing is even harder because it adds at least 20 more characters to our tweets. Thanks for visiting. Hope to see you back in these parts soon. : )
Judy Dunn recently posted..Social Media Fail: 5 Reasons I Will Unfollow You
I don’t know about crappy writers, though typo’s seem to be made without editing quicker and even I am guilty of that. I think Twitter allows us to think on how to shorten the message to be as clear and concise as possible. Do this too much and you may end up writing shorter blog posts with less fluff.
Justin Germino recently posted..Really Seeing Livefyre in Action vs CommentLuv
Justin,
Typos will always be there. Even the most excellent editors admit to typos. So never feel bad about typos. : )
I like what you said about writing shorter blog posts with less fluff. That was exactly my point. Twitter is good training for that. Thanks for weighing in.
Judy Dunn recently posted..Social Media Fail: 5 Reasons I Will Unfollow You
Hiya Judy!
I remember reading a blog post by Ann Handley early on in my Tweeting career (?). She was reflecting on her background in journalism as it was melding with her new usage of Twitter, and she noted that the restriction in characters can actually make a lot of people “sound” a lot less sophisticated than they really are. Things like abbreviating “ur” for your was one of the examples I still remember.
I think I was lucky to find this early on, because it really does get tempting to use “r” for are, “ur” for your, or of course, OMG. I find that as someone who spends time copywriting, Twitter is great training for the brain. How can you say everything you want to say in 5 words? It’s harder than it may seem (if you do it “right”)
Great post!
Hi Margie!
That’s a great thought from Ann. I really try not to do the “R” for “are” and “U” for “you” thing on Twitter, but I have to admit, sometimes it happens. But I also think that my 3 years of being a reporter helped me weed out many unnecessary words. With the space limitations (especially in a print pub) and having to save room for the ads, one has to be ruthless.
Twitter is indeed great training. It is amazing how many words I can cut while retaining the meaning of the message. I also think that Twitter makes my stuff sound like poetry sometimes, which is sort of cool.
Thanks for the visit. : )
Judy Dunn recently posted.. Harry Potter Headlines: 10 Ways to Conjure Up a Viral Blog Post Title
Judy,
I’ve seen the argument that social media, especially twitter, is leading to shorter attention spans. If I spend too much time in “rushed reading” — twitter, facebook, skimming short blogs and jumping around on line — I do feel like my brain moves into a faster gear. But there’s another way to look at that shift. Maybe we’re training ourselves, as readers and writers, to work on different levels at different times. It takes one type of “brain space” to read through a lot of short material quickly. It takes another type to slow down and work through a more complex article or novel. Aren’t we stronger if we foster both?
Twitter can be an excellent writer’s tool. I especially love your first two points, about finding the core and keeping it neat. I have an essay up at Hippocampus Magazine comparing Twitter to a modern-day writer’s salon (it’s in my comment luv link, if you’re curious). Twitter can hone our writing skills, and it can also work as an idea market, a lovely bit of eavesdropping, an inspiring conversation. What wealth!
Lisa Ahn recently posted..Hippocampus Redirect: Twitter Me This
Lisa,
I LOVE it when two people come out with posts on the sane topic at the same time. I will definitely check out yours. Coincidentally, I am preparing something for Hippocampus right now.
I really like your point about the different brain functions needed to read and digest different kinds of materials. I hadn’t thought about it that way but, you know, I think you are right.
Now I need to go read your piece. Oh, and welcome back. Haven’t seen you here in the comments in a while. : )
Judy Dunn recently posted..Write Better in 2012 by Reading More: What’s on Your Bookshelf?
Judy you make some valuable points. After years of collecting dust, my Elements of Style now lives on my desk. The most valuable lesson is using less words. I loved your Hemingway example. Profound. I use a Stephen King rule – write, leave it, then when you edit remove 10% or more of the words.
Yes, Jen! Such an important point you bring up about editing. I think it was the novelist William Faulkner who said, “Kill your darlings.” For me, this was the hardest thing to learn. Often the words you love the most (“Wow, did I write that? That was a fine turn of the phrase.”) are the ones that need to go. But it’s hard to be objective when you have fallen in love with your words! I commented to one of my writing instructors at the University of Washington, “Isn’t it hard to cut stuff out of your writing?” She said, in a rather cold, detached voice, “No. I just get out the scissors and start snipping.” I didn’t understand it at the time but I do now.
In writing my memoir, I learned a cool technique from another author. Now, when I edit a chapter of my book and remove a part I’m particularly fond of, I create another file: “Chapter Outs.” I cut those parts and paste them in the other file. So I haven’t actually “killed” them. They still exist so I can read them again and who knows, they may someday fit in another piece I write. Since I started doing that, it’s gotten much easier.
Judy Dunn recently posted..‘Clean Slate’ Blogging: How to Write a Post Your Readers Will Remember
Hi Judy, nice post. I agree particularly with your 2nd point. I think using Twitter has made me a more concise writer (and editor – when retweeting you often have to edit other people’s tweets to make them fit AND have space for your own comment.)
Just one thing though – I also used to think that ‘shorter letter’ quote was by Mark Twain, but it’s not – in fact it was Blaise Pascal who said that.
cheers
Robin
Robyn,
I’m with you on that. if I had to pick just one of these five, I, too, think the greatest writing benefit in using Twitter is #2. But sometimes it’s darned near impossible to retweet someone’s tweet. I am uncomfortable editing someone else’s message down in order to retweet it.
And on the quote? Thanks for that information. Duly noted. As I look across the internet, I see the “shorter letter” quote attributed to everyone from Twain and Jefferson to Lord Chesterfield and, of course, Pascal. Even NPR attributed it to the wrong person! But Pascal wrote it in 1657, so that pretty much decides it, doesn’t it? I think with all good quotes, people have a tendency to reword them and make them their own. I think maybe that is what happened. : )
Thanks for sharing your thoughts here.
Judy Dunn recently posted..Preventing Apostrophe Abuse Begins at Home
I think Twitter helps us write concisely and to the point. But, I feel it hurts us in the areas of spelling and grammar.
Ellie
I agree. Like texting, people tend to conserve their characters and the spelling suffers. I try not to do the “R” for “are” thing, but it happens.
Judy Dunn recently posted.. Harry Potter Headlines: 10 Ways to Conjure Up a Viral Blog Post Title