Can Twitter Make You a Better Writer?

I love to talk. And I’m quite animated when it comes to telling stories. In fact, my father always tells me that I wouldn’t be able to talk if my hands were tied behind my back. Imagine the challenges I faced when I became journalist and discovered that I had to take twenty minutes worth of information and whittle it down to one-minute-fifteen-seconds. Oh, the agony! But, I got pretty good at it, if I do say so myself.

And then there came Twitter. One-hundred-forty characters. Not words. Characters. That’s how much room you get to share a message, tell a story, make an announcement, shout it from the mountaintop. Oh, the expletives! And I know I’m not alone. I have often asked – often in a high-pitched, incredibly loud voice, “How in the world am I supposed to say something in 140 characters?” I have often asked myself, also in the first soprano range, “How can I be an effective writer in 140 characters?”

But, believe it or not, Twitter can indeed make you a better writer. While there are many who will make good use of abbreviations and slang, I am still a journalist and a writer. Complete sentences are still a must for me. For that reason, Twitter has taught me how to use some tools on my desk that had become quite dusty: a thesaurus and dictionary. Learning new words has actually been quite fun!

Twitter has also helped me to get to the point. (Those melodious strains you are hearing is my father singing the “Hallelujah Chorus”!) I must get to the point or else there is no point. I don’t have the luxury of keeping an audience’s attention with my gift of gab when it comes to Twitter.

Oh, and you can forget about adjectives. “Very” is no longer part of your vocabulary. Grammar takes on a whole new meaning. And my editing skills have improved drastically, which in turn, has helped me when I sit down to write a blog or a magazine article.

Yes, it takes time to hone your Twitter skills, but you will be pleased with the end result. If you’re not quite ready to tackle Twitter yourself, let Maverick Public Relations lend a hand.

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