Yes, it's been longer than usual for an
update. But to be fair, for a good portion of that time, my blog was
down. It got pulled as, “spam,” by the Powers That Be. So
instead of checking it first, deciding whether or not it actually was
spam, and then
deciding if they should take it down, naturally that process was
reversed: guilty until proven innocent.
At
any rate, I've been having a blast on Twitter in the meantime. (I'm
still trying to get a, “follow me on Twitter” gadget onto this
blog, but the only one I found seems to be broken.) I've been
reading tweets from celebs and from my home town, from other writers,
and from people who just seem interesting.
But
the most useful thing I've found on Twitter thus far has definitely
been what is known as a “#writingsprint.” For the uninitiated
(something I was a mere few weeks ago, so I'll slow down and
explain), that pound-sign on Twitter is called a hashtag,
and it allows you to key in on words or expressions of particular
interest.
When
you sign up for Twitter, it asks you to follow something like a
minimum of 15 people, just so you get a sufficient number of tweets
that interest you. I guess it “noticed” that I was following
writers, and one of the recommendations it made for me to follow was
Jane Espenson, a writer-producer currently working on Once
Upon a Time.
I recognized her name due to a mutual acquaintance and also the fact
that I have admired her writing for years. You'd probably know her
work if you've ever seen Buffy
the Vampire Slayer,
Angel,
Battlestar
Galactica,
Dollhouse,
or Caprica,
and a bunch of other stuff I never even realized she wrote for
(including two of my all-time favorite series, the brilliant Nowhere
Man
and Firefly).
After
watching and seeing how Twitter worked for a bit, I jumped right on
in. I saw Jane doing something she called a “#writingsprint” one
day, explained as an hour of writing time during which you
concentrate on writing
only:
no phone calls, no tweets, no Facebook or Google Plus . . . no
distractions. I liked the idea, and though her #writingsprints
always seem to come around too late in my day (I am a nightowl trying
desperately not to be) for me to take part, I haven't let that stop
me. Following Jane's example, I've started doing my own
#writingsprints. I found a few other writers who have joined me, and
we write together. Er, well, together, separately . . . just at the
same time. But that doesn't matter. It's not even like a contest,
it's just a good motivator to know there are others somewhere out
there working on their own WiPs, just like me.
Since
I've started this habit, I don't know how much writing I've gotten
done, but I know I've been writing pretty regularly. I'm trying a
new schedule to see how it works. But just the idea that there are
people out there who are looking for me, to see if I'm writing,
somehow gets me going, regardless of when I do my writing.
I
have absolutely no idea if Jane (@JaneEspenson) was the originator of
the #writingsprint, or if it's been around for as long as Twitter has
had writers. But in my case, I will give Jane the credit, since she
initiated the first one I saw. So thank you, Jane! You may not know
it, but you've really helped keep the words flowing!
Aniko
P.S.
If you want to join a #writingsprint, follow me: @AnikoTevvit and it
won't be long 'til you see one coming up!
No comments:
Post a Comment