Twitter in Good Form (a SM Tip for Writers) (and another excellent example!)

Writers wanting a good example of how to use Twitter effectively need look no further than the online home of The Associated Press Stylebook.

The venerable reference Tweets as @APStylebook uses #APStyleChat to manage online discussions and to alert followers to upcoming chats.

Clean, simple, useful. Social media as it always oughta be!

Writing for Money and Fame in May

Dear scribbling, scrabbling scribes,
 Here are a few of the writing contests in process this fine month of May:

The Writers' Circle contests are ongoing, judged monthly, and free to enter.

The Writer Mag lists a bunch of contests - some are free, some aren't.

New Pages will surely generate many new pages, thanks to its list of contests with May and June deadlines.

Have you entered the 2013 Writer's Digest competition? Well, too bad - you just missed the Early Bird deadline. But there's still time.

Goi Peace hosts an essay contest for writers under 25 years of age - so it's a little late for me - but if you're  still a spring chicken, you're in luck:  your deadline is June 30. 

Add Skloot to the 'Excellent Examples' List of Debut Authors

"Debut author" sounds a little bit like "overnight success." It's a label, and it doesn't say much. We must know there's a unique story behind each person we slap that label on, but slap we do.

So with due respect and admittedly not knowing her story, the label's been slapped on Rebecca Skloot. Skloot uncovered the story of Henrietta Lacks and wrote about her with integrity, determination, (a grant) and a hell of a lot of sacrifice and hard work. She ignored lots of labels along the way and cared enough to discover the unique story behind many of those labels. While reading the book, I marveled at Skloot's work at the same time I realized it paled in comparison to the amount of work Lacks did in her life. But that's just me seeing the world through my own lenses. My focus and perspective leave a lot to be desired.

Let me try again. From my writer's perspective, Skloot's account is a stellar work; it exemplifies (very) long form  journalism and historical nonfiction storytelling. Journalists, nonfiction writers, and students, please add this to your "excellent examples" list.

From my reader's perspective: damn! what a story!

 ~~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Skloot earns a spot next to Michael Lewis 

on my list of non-fiction, 

journalist/storytellers worth reading  -

and Henrietta Lacks' story was worth telling. 

Writers Beware, and Be Smart

Among the many opportunities for writers, I'm seeing an increase in ads soliciting bloggers to write 250-700 word posts for $15 a pop and to basically pimp the copy on the writers' personal social media accounts.

From an ad posted last week:

"Writer MUST HAVE a STRONG social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media websites. If hired, articles MUST be posted on social media accounts. Please provide links to those accounts."

The best way to describe an opportunity like this is "Ew," because it stinks. In case you were left in a cabbage patch yesterday, I'll offer this advice that otherwise should go without saying: Don't do it.

Unless you want to sell your social media credibility for $15. Then, by all means, apply today. 

Blog Excuses

What's holding back your business blog?

Is it a lack of a plan? A lack of discipline? I'm pretty sure it's not a lack of something to say...

Good old-fashioned blogs may seem less "exciting" than Pinterest, Tumblr, and a host of other social media tools, but the fact that they can increase your sales and reduce your cost of sales is well proven.

What are you waiting for?

Goofy Writer's Tip: Talk to Yourself

You know how inspiration strikes when you're out and about? Maybe you're driving or walking and typing is the last thing you want to do.

Chances are, you probably have your phone handy.

So here's what to do: learn to use the voice record feature on your phone (almost every model has one) and log your idea for later use.

When I come up with an idea on the trail, whip out my phone and start talking to myself, I know I look goofy - but sometimes I capture a good idea that way, one that I may have forgotten otherwise.

If you don't jot them down, do you remember the good ideas you have when you're out and about?

I'd love to hear from you.

 Happy Trails! ~Diane Stresing

             ^  for those who like to write in the rain

Stories Set to Song, and Storified, and other Social Media I Haven't Tried Yet

Today I thank Tommy Tomlinson for doing many writers a great service, delivering a lecture on good writing structure without making it sound like a lecture. Rather, it sounds like a classic ballad. It's The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

It's not the first time Tomlinson has waxed lyrically on Nieman's Storify Storyboard.

(Yes, that's the correct spelling, as it belongs 

to the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at 

Harvard, not the high-end department 

store. Although I must say, Neiman 

Marcus is doing some interesting 

stuff with social media, too.)

While I'll admit that I'm really glad Tomlinson did it, and he did it really well, I'm kicking myself for not doing it - or something like it, just not as good - because I've always thought songwriters make the best storytellers. Elton John, David Bowie  (Ziggy Stardust), Billy Joel, James Taylor, and John Denver are the first that I think of, and there are many more. 

But instead of focusing on one thing I haven't done yet, why not worry about two or more? "Learn how to use Storify" hovers near the top of my lonnnnnnnnnnnng list of "things to do." (I haven't figured out what Pinterest is good for yet, either, but Storify is a much higher priority, at least for me.)

When I searched for a "Storify primer" Google coughed up one on the Harlem Shake, which didn't exactly make me feel like dancing. 

So now that another deadline is looming and I have to get back to my "real" job, I ask you, dear readers:

What do you use Storify for? where can I find a free, Storify 101 course online? Is there a Storify for Dummies?

You know where to find me....