Increase Your Twitter Following by Sharing Peer Posts

So you’re a self-published author, and you want to get noticed. How do you do that? How do you spread the word that you’ve got a book, and that people are going to want to read it?

An Author Platform Is a Necessity

One of the most important things an author can have is a platform, an audience that’s listening. And one of the most effective - and certainly one of the most popular - platforms is Twitter. Another is to host an author blog, and conveniently, these two platforms go hand in hand. You write a blog post, then take to Twitter to share what you’ve written. Hopefully, if people like what you’re sharing, they’ll follow you on Twitter so that they get updates about your blog.

Makes sense … except for one rather inconvenient drawback: where in the heck are you supposed to find the time to blog regularly? You’re an author. That means you need to spend your time authoring your books. And without blog posts to share on Twitter, how are you supposed to gain a following?

I Tweet, Therefore I Share

Twitter is all about sharing. You can favourite and retweet things you see and like to whoever is out there paying attention. And you can also tweet links to other people’s articles and blog posts that you’ve read and found informative (or funny, or interesting, or whatever) directly. Just shorten the link and add a caption.

Sharing helpful posts that are not yours is a great way to increase your activity on Twitter, and to gain followers - and before you raise a cry of protest, no, this is not cheating. What you are doing is providing your followers, and other Twitter users who happen to notice your tweet, with valuable information. And if you’re providing valuable information, people are going to want to follow you to get valuable information regularly.

A note, though, if you are going to take this route make sure you do two things:

1. It’s imperative that you use hashtags. Hashtags are how people find your tweets. By properly hashtagging your tweets, you increase the chance of being found, and followed.

2. CREDIT the author of what you are sharing by adding their twitter handle, as well as the twitter handle of the host site (if the author is a contributor to a third-party site). It's just good manners.

Supplement Your Tweeting Efforts

You don’t have all the time in the world to blog. You are busy writing your book. If you want to build that all-important platform, try supplementing your tweeting efforts by sharing the great work of your fellow bloggers and writers.

Writing Tip: Avoid the "Long-Ass" Sentence

One of the tips that literary agents and writing gurus tend to repeat is keep your sentences short and snappy. Or, as editor Cate Baum says in her blog post Eight Most Common Editing Errors In Self-Published Books, break up those “long-ass sentences.”

We’re writers. We love words; it goes with the trade. Not only do we love words, but we love to arrange words, too. And rearrange them. And turn those words into sentences and even paragraphs worthy of literary worship.

Unfortunately, the result is often the classic, run-on sentence.

The danger of the long-ass sentence

Everyone knows that run-on sentences are a big no-no. At least theoretically. Yet so many novice writers do it. Comma after comma separates thoughts and ideas which should be effectively ended with periods and semicolons.

Apart from being grammatically incorrect, long-ass sentences are also hard on your readers. It means they need to work in order to read your story. And making them work at reading is counterproductive to what you want for them: to escape into your story and actually live it.

Here is an example of a run-on-sentence from a fiction novel that has actually been published:

I look back toward my brother, waiting for the popping [of Pop Rocks] to stop in my mouth so I could give him some attitude about the shitty look on his face when my world suddenly stopped turning, it stuttered for a few seconds, then restarted, erratically matching the rhythm of the candy exploding inside me but when I swallowed, the explosions didn’t stop, they went down into my chest and on into my stomach, settling uncomfortably down low in my belly, for some reason the sensation was causing my brain to cease its connection to my mouth, leaving me devoid of speech.

Hard to read, huh?

Now, compare that to my edited version, with much shorter sentences:

I was about to give my brother attitude for the shitty look he had on his face, when my world suddenly stopped turning. It stuttered for a few seconds, then restarted. My heart thumped erratically, matching the rhythm of the candy exploding inside my mouth. But when I swallowed, the explosions didn’t stop. They went down into my chest and settled uncomfortably low in my belly. For some reason the sensation was causing my brain to cease its connection to my mouth. I was left utterly devoid of speech.

KISS: Keep It Short And Snappy

The key to writing fiction that pulls people into your story is to write sentences that move. Whether your literary sensibility likes it or not, short, snappy sentences move. Each thought should be separated by a period or a semicolon, not a comma.

By writing paragraphs that are composed of five or six succinct, individual sentences, you won’t be asking your reader to work at reading. And when they don’t have to work, it’s easier for them to enjoy your story.

That is, after all, why you write. Isn’t it?

Why your romance novel does not need a villain

The days of the flat, dimensionless villain are over. Readers expect more from their stories than the classic good-vs-evil that characterized fairytales of old – think Disney in the 50s.

A while ago I wrote a post called Love Your Villain. In it, I talked about the need for creating a villain that your readers care about on some level. This is what makes the savvy reader of today care about your novel as a whole, about your characters and what will happen to them.

It’s true, some stories simply require villains. What would Titanic be without Cal Hockley? Or Harry Potter without Vold—whoops, I mean, He Who Must Not Be Named?

But if you’re in the outlining stage of your novel, and you’re struggling with how to fit in a villain that you can add depth and character to, try omitting the villain entirely. You don’t need him. Or her. Believe it or not, your story can get from start to finish without that classic hate-their-guts antagonist.

Creating conflict without a “villain”

If you don’t have a set, identifiable villain, you might ask, then how do you create that conflict that makes a novel—especially a romance novel—a page-turner?

Well, here are three suggestions:

1. Struggle against societal expectations

Think Pride and Prejudice. There is no real villain keeping Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy apart. It’s Mr. Darcy’s societal standing, really, that is the source of conflict here. It is everyone in Mr. Darcy’s upper-crust sphere, and the expectations they’ve put on Mr. Darcy his whole life, that is keeping them apart. Throw in a bit of stubbornness on both sides, and an insipid mother, and you’ve got a great, villainless story.

Try having your hero and heroine come from two different classes. Perhaps he’s a tavern owner and she a debutante. Perhaps she’s a London pickpocket and he’s head of Scotland Yard. With society against your protagonist lovers, you don’t need to introduce a villain to keep them apart.

2. Struggle against external conflict

Ah, external conflict. The bread and butter of historical romances. Who needs a classic villain when you’ve got the Wars of Scottish Independence to keep your lovers apart? Or maybe your hero and heroine are fighting for their love in the upheaval of Revolutionary France.

Many authors try to introduce a classic villain into historical circumstances when one isn’t necessary. Let the history create the conflict. Or if not history, then write your romance around external events that are beyond your protagonists’ control.

3. Struggle against internal conflict

If you don’t have historical or societal pressures to work with, try introducing internal conflict. For example, your hero might not think he’s not good enough for his lady love because of his poor upbringing. If you want a real example, then consider the first book and a half of the Twilight series, where Edward is struggling against his love for Bella because of his … er … nasty little habit of sucking things dry.

A word of caution, though, on internal conflict. You have to be smart about it. There is a fine line between great internal conflict, and stupidity. Your readers won’t thank you for a masochist protagonist, who constantly sabotages his or her own happiness because they’ve got all kinds of ridiculous hold-ups.

We all love a good villain. Keyword here is good villain. Don’t feel you need to introduce one just because. If you can’t write a villain that readers can at least identify with on some level, or at some point in your story, you’d probably be better to downsize your cast by one evil dude or dudette. 

The Quantity vs. Quality Conundrum

This morning, as I was scrolling Twitter looking for tips, tricks and things I can re-tweet, I came across a link to a blog post about the problem with quantity-driven writing.

As an author of romantic fiction, this is something I—along with my legion of fellow scribblers—struggle with. You need to stay relevant; you need readers to keep finding more new stuff from you. So you’re under constant pressure to keep writing, keep publishing, keep developing storylines.

But heaven help you if you start pushing out crap!

It’s a hard balance to maintain, and many authors, even traditionally published authors, can’t keep up the pace. In Goodreads I came across one review for a book I’d recently read which stated, “I don’t bother with anything that [author name omitted] has written post 1999.”

My own mother warned me off reading a certain well-known romance author because her newer books were nothing but insufferable, second-rate rehashes of her previous successes (my mom’s words, not mine).

What’s a writer to do?

If world-renowned New York Times-ers can’t manage that balance over the long haul … what hope do I have?

Or, in a less self-pitying tone, how do I stay fresh and deliver quality content, and how do I balance that with getting it out fast?

… I don’t have any answers. I’m sorry if you’ve read this far thinking I was going to divulge the secret.

Writing for the long-haul

I’ve made no secret of it before: I have no pity for writers who are out solely to make money. Of course earning a living off your writing is important, but if you’re not in it for the long-haul, if writing is not your true vocation, then I’m not talking about you in this post.

For me, my books are important. What readers think of my books are important. I care deeply about pleasing. So it’s with the long-haul in mind that I ask the following question:

Readers, what is important to you?

What do you make of this need to push out books with a high degree of frequency, and what does that mean for the kinds of stories you want to read? Do you know and love an author that delivers quality stories with consistency? Do you lament an author who has perhaps let his or her standards slide in the constant push for quantity and relevance?

I’d love to hear from you. 

Don't Beat Yourself Up ... But for Pete's Sake, Get a Move On!

I spent an hour and a half vacuuming my unfinished basement last night. Even as I was doing it, my brain was telling me, "Vero, this is probably the most useless chore you've ever spent time on." But of course, the most useless things suddenly become important when you just don't want to write.

It's a shame, too, because it was the quietest hour and a half I've had all week. It would have been the perfect time to pull out my laptop, brew a nice peppermint tea and sit down to tap out another chapter of my work-in-progress (A Noble Deception, by the way, coming soon ... shameless plug).

The (Un)Glamorous Writing Life

Writing is a tough gig ... as any writer will tell you. It takes a heck of a lot of mental energy to summon the voices in your head and translate them to paper (or word processor or whatever your medium of choice is). And when you just don't have it in you to write, it's almost impossible to force yourself to sit down and do so.

Unlike other nine-to-fives, writers have no down time. Any down time is prime writing time. Because of this, most writers live in a constant state of guilt: I have no energy to write; I should be writing; I just can't do it; I should be doing it.

And so on and so on. 

Make no mistake: the writing life is NOT glamorous. You spend half your time drilling your fingers into your keyboard, and the other half of your time berating yourself because you can't seem to park your rear in front of your computer and force yourself to write.

The Writer's Conundrum

There seems to be two recurring tips for writers on the issue of discipline. The first is that you need to sit down and write every day. Even if you don't feel like it, get your bum in your seat and start writing. Search #writingtips on Twitter and, guaranteed, you'll find that piece of advice about a million times.

The second common writing tip is ... don't beat yourself up if you don't write every day.

??? Well which one is it? 

The Art of Compromising

Okay, so I'm sure that this has probably been proposed before, and it wasn't me who came up with the idea. But I like to think that since I arrived at this conclusion on my own, that's got to count for something.

The key is to know when you write best. Identify the time of the day when you are most productive, and then exploit it. For me, I write best in the morning. And I have a favourite diner around the corner from my house where I love to go for a spot of coffee and a good, old-fashioned fry up. What better time is there to write? I grab my laptop and I type away over my bacon and eggs and I get quite a lot done. 

If you can do that, the next step is to identify when you don't write well. I don't write well in the evening. I know this. Coronation Street's on ... nuff said. So when I don't write at the times that I know I don't write well, I try not to beat myself up about it. I'm wasting prime writing time, sure, but I did take advantage of more prime writing time in the morning.

Give Yourself A Break ... But Try to Push Yourself ... But Don't Beat Yourself Up ...

Being a writer is hard, and we writers tend to make it harder on ourselves by being the toughest critics of our own work and writing habits. Yes, we need to push ourselves. Yes we need to give ourselves a break. But we need to set ourselves up for success by recognizing when the right times to push and the right times to relax are. 

That said, it's 7:30pm, and I'm now sitting down to an episode of "The Supersizers" with Giles Coren and Sue Perkins. My half finished novel can wait. Moira MacInnes and Lachlan Ramsay, I'll see you tomorrow morning over a plate of peameal and scrambled.

Managing Twitter Stress with a Posting Schedule

Twitter is a tough business. You have to be posting constantly if you want to attract new followers and - more importantly - keep the followers you've gained. And what you're posting has to be valuable to your followers. They need a reason to keep following you, after all.

It's only fair. But it's also labour-intensive. And if you're like me, an author-blogger trying to build your name and your platform, your blog content is probably taking a back seat to your in-progress manuscript ... or worse, you're neglecting your manuscript in order to produce content for your blog.

Talk about your double-edged sword.

The Beauty of Twitter

One of the great things about Twitter is that you don't need to produce your own content to share great content with your followers. Twitter is saturated with writers - great writers with great insight on everything to do with writing and blogging and marketing and what have you.

By sharing other bloggers' posts, you not only provide valuable content to your own followers, you help market your fellow writers and extend their reach.

It's a beautifully digital twist on the classic symbiotic relationship.

But once again, if you're like me, time is an issue. You have to spend time looking for valuable content to share. You've got to get yourself organized with the author's Twitter handle, a Bitly link (or an Owly link, or whatever), and an understanding of the content you're sharing.

Something that's meant to save time is still pretty labour-intensive.

Enter the Posting Schedule

I got the idea for a posting schedule from an acquaintance whose job is social media in a corporate environment. With this brilliant little tool, she organizes her Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest posts a month in advance.

Admittedly, as a writer, I don't quite need the same degree of organization to my Twitter activity. So I adapted the posting schedule to my own purpose.

Here's How

• When you have time, search Twitter for interesting posts that you feel your followers might find valuable
• Create a shortened link right away and record it in a spreadsheet 
• Record the title of the post, the author's Twitter handle, and the website's Twitter handle if the author has written a guest post
• Keep a column where you can record the date of when you made the post

Keep all these things in a running spreadsheet for later use - when you are strapped for time but want to send out a tweet or two to keep yourself active on Twitter. 

It's kind of like the glycemic index, isn't it? You compile a list of three or four valuable posts at a time, as time permits, and hold onto them for sustained release.

Here is what my current posting schedule looks like:

And here's a helpful hint: if you use different computers at different times of the day (perhaps you're at work, or using a tablet when you're away from your personal computer), create your spreadsheet through Google Docs. You can then access and work on your posting schedule whenever - you are not limited by access to only one computer. If you have wifi, you can work.

Sharing other writers' content is just one of the many ways you can be a valuable contributor in the Twittersphere. To keep control of the stress of having to find things to tweet, organize yourself by using a posting schedule.

I've been doing it for a while now, and it's been working great for me.

Struggling with My Niche ... What IS My Niche?

If you're an indie author, you've got to blog.

At least, that's what I've been told by, like, just about every "how to" blog post I've seen. Blogging increases your following. Blogging makes you more visible.

... It's also a major time-suckage.

Whether it is, or is not, necessary, I've gotten myself into it, and I'll be damned if I'm going to give up on it now (persistence ... it's one of my more unattractive qualities).

What Should I Blog About?

Lately I've fallen into a trap: I've spent several posts on writing tips. Why have I done this? Peer pressure, I guess. I've seen all those blog posts out there that say "five tips for ..." and "how to ..." and I thought, that's what people want to read.

But ... is that really what I want to blog about?

Don't get me wrong, as an author, I've learned a few things about creating a manuscript. I know a trick or two about how to craft a gripping plot. I even know what makes a good character.

But I'm not just about the craft of writing. And I don't pretend to be an expert on it.

So Again ... What Should I Blog About?

I've come to a realization: I'm a writer.

I'm a writer. And as a writer, I spend a lot of time brooding. Thinking. Musing. I outline stories in my head for the fun of it. I scope out character flaws while I'm on the treadmill. In short, I'm a deep, deep thinker.

Yes, I know a bit about the craft of writing. Sure, I can write "how to" posts and then send them out on twitter with the hashtag #writingtips. And every now and then I'll want to share some of the knowledge I've gleaned in the past ... well, X number of years.

But that's not the limit of my interests. And that doesn't have to be the niche I plunk myself into as a blogger.

My niche, I've decided, is the author-blogger, and I've only just been able to define what that means to me. It means that I've got to trust the voices in my head. Heck, they've never led me wrong in my books. It's time I let them have free reign on my blog posts.

Have I been musing over the merits of a clean-cut hero versus a rough-and-tumble one? Did I watch a movie that has influenced my latest project? What did I think of the latest book I've read?

The Author's Blog - Not Just A How-To

Writing endless how-to blog posts seems to be a popular thing to do. And if I wanted to, I could probably continue to follow the herd.

But I'm a writer. I'm about challenging myself. And finding things to blog about other than "five secrets to a great plot" or "how to write a loveable lead" is a challenge. It's also kind of scary, because it means I have to put myself out there. It means I have to expose my flaws, my self-doubts and my sometimes-lack-of-expertise.

Then again, writing and publishing my first novel was kind of scary. I had to do all those things then, too.

And you know? Somehow I came out better for it.