Do you Twitter?
The verb twitter means: to talk lightly and rapidly, especially of trivial matters; chatter.

Some ingenious person took that meaning to heart and created a great social networking sight which links to cell phones via text messaging allowing the world to communicate rapidly of trivial matters; to twitter.

I always thought twitter meant: to tremble with excitement or the like; be in a flutter. Turns out it means that too.

When my cell phone vibrates with a twitter message, I tremble with excitement for I’m connected to my friends and woven into their lives in a whole new fashion. Not only that, I’m connected to new friends across the world.

As with any new social networking site, Twitter took a while for me to figure out. What was appropriate twitter material? How did you reply to one person only and not the whole group? Then I began to think of Twitter as an open chat forum connected to the Internet and my cell phone at the same time and things began to click. I realized the trick to Twitter was to make your 140 character messages interesting and generic at the same time. The collective Twitter group didn’t need to be involved in private conversations, but witty repartee worked. Twitter became a place to discuss chocolate cravings with old and new friends as well as rising gas prices or any other trivial matter. The operative word here being trivial.

Surprisingly my Twitter audience grew rapidly; soon there were lots of Twitter-ites hanging on my every word. Yikes! And some become Twitter obsessed! There are a couple Twitter friends in my group that send so many twitter messages I finally had to quit following them via my cell phone and only follow them online. I couldn’t handle my cell phone vibrating non-stop all day with no orgasm. I mean with all that vibrating going on, one expects a climax eventually. Right?

But that’s one of the nice features of Twitter. You have the option of following people online only or online and via your cell phone. My Twitter friends whom I want to be more deeply woven into their lives, them I follow online and via my cell phone so that our Twitter conversations can be instantaneous and continuous.

Literature has also found a place on Twitter. Novelist N.L. Belardes is writing a novel called Small Places on Twitter 140 characters at a time. I enjoy following the story and receiving little bits of literature throughout the day, it feeds my literary soul during the daily grind.

I’m also following Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice on Twitter. Although unlike Small Places which is sent out one twitter message at a time, Pride and Prejudice’s twitter message is a daily link to the next installment of the novel online. I’m enjoying reading Pride and Prejudice again. The DailyLit has other novels to choose from if Jane Austin is not your cup of tea.

Needless to say, Twitter has become one of my new favorite things…

Do you Twitter? If so, please follow me on Twitter and join in the conversations.

Labels: a twitter novel, chatting, groups, Internet, Jane Austin, N.L. Belardes, novelists, online, Pride and Prejudice, Small Places, social networking, text messaging, Twitter, twitter.com, Writing

  posted by Matildakay at 10:59 AM 0 comments

Yosemite Writers Conference: A Conversation about Blogging
In today’s world, blogging has become a way of life for many people and corporations. It’s an instantaneous way to connect with people. For writers, blogging should be a natural progression, a promotional tool and a way to personally reach readers and build a fan base.



This year’s Yosemite Writers Conference workshop, “Blogging Your Way to Fame” was taught by N.L. Belardes of ABC23 and Noveltown (noveltown.net/blog), Genevieve Choate of the Fresno Bee and Momologue, and Rik Bollman a Las Vegas writer/blogger and radio host, three individuals for whom blogging is not only a way of life, but a necessary part of being a writer. Three individuals who understood that blogging is not just posting a blog and hoping a handful of anonymous people on the Internet find it and read it. No, blogging is about so much more.

Blogging is about using your voice to capture attention for yourself as a writer and about using your voice as a community service. Blogging is about having a sense of integrity, being humble, and being smart about what you write. Blogging is not about what you ate for lunch, but rather it’s about getting out there in your community and finding original content to write about. Blogging is about having a conversation with people and that is what is truly unique about blogging.

Since blogging is a conversation with people, N.L., Genevieve, and Rik broke panel tradition and had a conversation with the workshop attendees about blogging. Everyone responded and interacted as if we were all sitting around an informal dinner table discussing blogging. For those who were new to the conversation, this method seemed to demystify blogging and make it less daunting. As a blogger myself, I felt this conversational format was most effective.

Gone was all the techy talk and html, instead the discussion centered on how writers can use blogging to build their author platform and a community of readers. By spending time on social networking sites such as myspace.com promoting your blog, book and/or yourself as a writer, by posting compelling content and updating your blog often and through grassroots promotion you can build a fan base and a platform that editors and agents will notice. Belardes stated, “You have to sacrifice time to promote yourself.” He also stressed the importance of having a presence on social networking sites.

Even though Belardes stated that blogging most likely won’t make you famous, he did discuss how blogging could help you get where you want to go as a writer, for you never know who’s reading your blog. In the blogosphere, if you build it they will come. Blogging will grow an audience for your writing.



It was prearranged for me to help people in the workshop immediately sign up for a blog. With laptops available, I was able to answer questions and help a few people sign up at the end of the blogging workshop and later that evening in the Tenaya Lodge Jackalope restaurant. I think it was helpful for those new to blogging to have a computer and a person available to walk them through the process of setting up their blog. Hopefully they will continue their journey into the blogosphere and towards building an audience.

More on the 2007 Yosemite Writers Conference:

Is Book Publishing Dead?
Yosemite Writers Conference: A Conversation about Blogging
Rambo Creator Reinvents Captain America
Yosemite Writers Conference: Demystifying Chick lit and Women’s fiction
Yosemite Writers Conference: Poetry talk
Mystery talk after David Morrell's big speech
2007 Yosemite Writers Conference: Brenda Knight Sidesteps the TVA man
Yosemite Writers and the Chukchansi bathroom break
Headed to Yosemite Writers Conference to talk writing for social change

Labels: ABC23, Blogging, cross promotion, Fresno Bee, Genevieve Choate, N.L. Belardes, Noveltown, Rik Bollman, social networking, Yosemite Writer's Conference

  posted by Matildakay at 12:49 AM 1 comments