Use the Reality Factor in Social Media to Jumpstart Your Writing

I like reality television. (There, now I’ve confessed it to the world.) I’m interested in the real lives of real people. If you’ve followed my blog, then you know that I can’t sit in a restaurant or waiting room without listening to the conversations around me. I’m always collecting bits and pieces of other peoples’ lives. I guess that’s part of being a writer. I know that these smidgens of dialogue and slice-of-life scenarios might find their way into a story someday.

Social media (Twitter, Facebook, blogs) is a lot like reality television. If you look among the posts, links, quotes and replies, you’ll find everyday odds and ends of peoples’ lives. For example:

“Rushing home from work now. I haven’t heard from my husband all day. Worried."

“Silent prayer after communion at church and my kid decides to scream, ‘I’m going to throw up.’ Then he does! Loudly.”

“Dropped a frozen chicken on my foot. I think it’s broke. Going to the ER.”

“My daughter just gave birth to a baby girl. As expected, the baby has Downs Syndrome. Babies are like snowflakes. No two are alike and every one is beautiful. I love her.”

“At the libery. Homeless. Where to sleep tonigte? Cold out.”

“Dude. My grandma is 61 and she just got her GED!!”

You might find these comments mundane, but they reflect real life, and that’s what good writers build on. It’s these ordinary comments and scenes that help create well-developed and believable characters.

I prefer to people watch on Twitter. I find it easier than Facebook to find specific groups of people to follow. If you aren’t familiar with Twitter, Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing, has a great post on his blog for getting started. (See: A Beginner’s Guide to Twitter.) Once you’ve joined Twitter (it’s free) and get comfortable with its basics, you can search for people to follow. Mashable, The Social Media Guide has a helpful post called “10 Ways to Find People on Twitter.” It lists two of my favorite Twitter directories, "Twellow "and "We Follow." These sites allow you to search for groups of people by occupations and interests.

How can searching for specific groups help your writing?

A writer friend of mine just started a new novel and is considering making the main character a doctor. Along with researching the education needed to become a doctor and the professional aspects of practicing medicine, my friend could also use Twitter to help round out her character. I’m sure she could find doctors Twittering (posting messages on Twitter) not only about their professional lives, but also their personal lives. This might give her insight into how some doctors balance work with recreation and family.

Another friend just published a short story about a young single mom. My friend is a 50-something woman with no children. She decided to search for and read blogs written by single mothers. By doing this, she was able to understand some of the concerns and emotions that come with being a single parent. She also found several colorful anecdotes that she changed somewhat and added to her story.

What other ways can you think of to use social media to jumpstart your writing?

Last year, I joined Twitter and Facebook. So far, I’ve built a network of about 500 followers on each site. Most of them are writers and people who share my social/political/religious viewpoints. One of my goals for 2010 is to add more variety to the people I follow. A good writer needs to see through fresh eyes, to understand opposing views and to feel with a compassionate heart the feelings of others. I hope that by this year’s end, I’ve learned to do that. I’ll be sharing notes about my progress here on my blog. I’ll also be posting other ways that social media impacts our writing.

If you’d like to follow me on Twitter and Facebook, you can click on the Twitter and Facebook badges on this page, or go to http://twitter.com/jeanfischer1 and http://www.facebook.com/jeanfischer.writer.

Happy writing!



Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Ziggy cartoon ©Tom Wilson

Nine Months of Social Media – an Evaluation

Where does the time go? It's November already, and that marks nine months since I began using social media. It started with this blog, then I added a Twitter account, and more recently I joined Facebook. It's time to take a break and look back. This week, I'm sharing my thoughts about these three forms of social media, and I hope that you'll react by posting your comments and suggestions.


When I started the Walrus and the Carpenter blog, I wanted to do something other than a daily blog featuring short posts. My plan was to update monthly with an essay to interest other writers. Then, after learning more about blogging and reading more blogs, I decided that I should be posting more often. Since May, I've been trying to write weekly.

I haven't decided yet where this blog is going, or where I want it to go, so don't be surprised if you see some changes. I might return to posting here monthly, or I might give in and write shorter posts more often. Whatever I do, I want my readers to take something away when they leave here: an attention-grabbing link, a creative exercise, or something interesting to think about.

I'm still on the fence about blogs. Reading them and writing mine takes up a lot more time than I had planned for. I find it overwhelming at times; yet I see value in blogging, and for now I plan to continue.


I joined Twitter never expecting to find worth in sending or reading 140-character messages. I joined only because other writers were doing it, and I wanted to stay current with fresh trends. Surprisingly, of the three forms of media discussed here, Twitter has been the most rewarding.

I've written a previous post about Twitter, so I won't repeat what's there. I'll add to it by saying that I've been wise about whom I follow on Twitter, and I think that's what makes it work for me. My list is limited to people who share my interests. I don't automatically follow back, I block spammers, and I'm less likely to read tweets from people who only use Twitter to promote their books. I reply to posts that get my attention, and I retweet those that I find interesting. In other words, I participate in my Twitter community.

There are two things that keep me coming back to Twitter. First, the people I follow often post links to blog posts and articles. If I take a few seconds to visit those links, I'm exposed to much more information about what interests me than I would find on my own. That alone makes Twitter worth it. Twitter also offers the support of a real-time community. If you read my other blog, you might remember that I wrote a post about how "followers" pulled together in real time as a young woman experienced a life-changing tragedy. I see that kind of support consistently among the people I follow. It intrigues me that a caring community can be built on brief, 140-character messages called "tweets."

The jury is in on Twitter. I'm staying. It's quick, it's informative, and I like the people I've met there.



I'm still new to Facebook. I signed up in August purely for business. It was another way to network with writers, especially those not using Twitter. I'm still not comfortable enough with the media to give it an adequate evaluation, but let's look at a couple of positives and negatives.

On the positive side, Facebook allows me to create longer posts than Twitter does. I like that. I can also add images to posts on my profile page, and that's a plus. I have control over who "friends" me, and I like that, too. (On Twitter, followers don't ask for permission to follow.)

One of the things I dislike about Facebook is the interface. I wish that I could change the appearance of my Profile page by changing the background and/or layout. I also find it clunky that the Friends list is alphabetized by first name and that I can't resort it by last name. The Home page looks cluttered, and I think the "Poke" and "Like" options are a bit strange, but I understand that they're there for the social and fun aspect of the media. I don't know if it's a visual perception on my part, or what, but the whole interface just leaves me cold.

I hadn't planned to connect on Facebook with family and friends, but I have, and that creates a bit of a challenge as I try to figure out how to mix business with pleasure. So far, I've kept personal posts off my page altogether. I set up my account so that no one can post to my wall. This gives me control over what gets posted on my Profile page, but it also makes my page impersonal. I'm still pondering whether I want a separate page for family and friends, or maybe to set up a fan page for my writing business. (If you use Facebook and have an opinion, please post a comment. I'd love to hear if you've experienced this issue and how you've resolved it.)

I haven't been on Facebook long enough to decide whether I will continue. Like Twitter, it provides a good place to network with other writers, but I don’t find it as user friendly. For now, I'm eager to see how it evolves.


Overall, I view social media as an essential tool for the business of writing. It provides a great way to network with other writers and also to stay current with publishing news and trends. Still, I wonder if that is enough to justify the time I spend on social media sites. The jury is still out.

Now it's your turn. What do you think about social media?