10/8/2009
Twitter and Writing within Limits
When Robert Hruzek announced his monthly group project, What I Learned From Limits, I immediately thought of Twitter. One hundred forty characters isn’t much to work with, and if you want your Tweets short enough for people to easily retweet, you’ve got even fewer characters to work with.
Twitter can feel like being stuck in a room with a low ceiling that you just keep banging your head into. You have an idea to express but you just can’t squeeze it into 140 characters. Something has to give, and it isn’t going to be Twitter.
The TWEET Method: Think, Write, Edit, Eyeball, Tweet
Twitter forces us to apply a discipline to our writing that we should actually apply to everything we write professionally. Let’s call it The TWEET Method – Think, Write, Edit, Eyeball, Tweet.
Think.
What am I really trying to say? What is my core message? Someone just Tweeted me asking how I was today. How do I respond? Do I want to keep it light and talk about the weather? Do I want to convey my innermost feelings? Comment on my breakfast? My plans for the day? I can’t squeeze The Morning of Brad into 140 characters. Therefore, I have to do one of two things – be brief about a few ideas or go deep on one big idea.
Write.
I’ve decided to go deep on one idea. Now I write a first draft of my Tweet -
Heading out to drive into Chicago for a client meeting to discuss several content issues for a new blog for a product launch. What are you up to today?
Edit.
No surprise, I’ve written clumsily and too much. After a little editing, I boil it down to this.
Driving to Chicago – major content strategy session with client for they’re new blog. What’s new with you?
That seems to convey the gist of it, plus I added the concept of major, which I neglected to mention in my first draft. To top it off, I inserted an important keyword phrase, content strategy. And … 34 characters to spare.
Eyeball.
Being a stickler for grammar and boring stuff like that, I like to give my Tweets a once over before pulling the trigger. To my horror I notice I’ve written they’re instead of their, sure to make me look the buffoon and inspire the wrong kind of retweeting. I correct the error – another bullet dodged.
Tweet.
Now that I’ve followed my TWEET discipline I can fire off my message with confidence.
Does this system take too much time? I think not. Once a discipline becomes routine, reflexive, it saves time. When you’re reinventing the creative wheel with every Tweet … now that takes time.
Over to You
What are your Twitter composition secrets? How do you balance time and quality in your Tweets?
16 Responses to Twitter and Writing within Limits
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I like that, Brad! That’s what I do when I tweet — I just didn’t think of it as a formal process. Not everyone figures that out quickly — so you saved them a lot of time! Great limits post.
This is a great technique and one I’ve honed it down to myself over the last year or so. Too bad I can’t say it’s always worked; occasional moments of insanity do manage to make it past the editor every now and again.
Hey, thanks for the WILF entry, Bubba!
A most original description of method, though I expect no other from you
Have to confess I use no method of thinking, planning and editing on Twitter at all, other than to delete spare words till I get down to 0. I guess there is some art in which parts to cut in order to get there… but I don’t give it that much thought. It’s a medium I really enjoy precisely because it can be free flowing and forgiving of occasional moments of insanity (I seem to recall most of these have been part of conversations with a combination of you, Robert and Karen
)
The only editing out I do is to delete whole tweets if I’m feeling a bit down – the negativity seems to be exaggerated in that form, and it only reinforces the mood for me rather than flipping me out of it. In which case I lurk instead, and enjoying seeing what you guys are up to…
Hi Meryl, Perhaps I’m wrapping a system around the obvious, but for important tweets, I think it pays to pay attention to detail. Not every tweet, but some.
Robert, Your insanity is what keeps many of us coming back to Twitter!
Joanna, Thank you for divulging your Twitter secrets.
I think the Twitter style must come naturally to you, because your tweets, while totally conversational, almost always contain a certain style and wit. Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it. I’ve noticed that same thing about negativity – almost every tweet I’ve held back is of the negative variety.
Uh, my insanity? Then we’re in deeper doo-doo than I thought! :-O
You made me think about keeping negativity out of tweeting. Does that mean that we consider tweeting as a means to cheer us up, to send energy over the web rather than negative vibrations? There are moments where I don’t feel like sending energy over, but then either Robert Hruzek or Karen Swim or Brad Shorr are doing this (or Barbara Ling), and then I feel how my energy sources refill again. Great, isn’t it?
Hi Ulla, Twitter does seem to be a source of positive energy, though it never occurred to me until this discussion. I always look forward to checking in with you and our other Twitter friends. For me that’s usually the beginning of the day and a great way to start.
I’ve been needing advice on Twitter posts for a long time! This has been so useful I’m sure I’ll be returning to re-read your advice every time I’m stuck on a post. Also great examples Brad, they back up your points exactly.
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Hi Jenny, Glad to hear you can use these tips!
Hey Brad, excellent post. Thanks. I love your process of T-W-E-E-Ting.
One final check I use just before hitting ‘send’ is:
Think:
Will
EVERYBODY
Enjoy
This?
… aka the TWEET test.
All groans aside, given that your tweet stream is potentially read by ALL of your human followers, it’s important to stay as valuable and as relevant to this wider group as possible.
Better to use direct messages for tweets that exclude the majority of your followers.
Best to you, Brad.
Robin
Hi Robin, Your TWEET test is a great one – you are good at using DMs, something I should get in the habit of doing. Public tweets really should be pointed at many rather than one as often as possible.
Hi Brad, I can laugh at your post. Communication has come along way since the days when communication was done over a garden wall. I do think of what I write when replying to someone tweet but I’ve never looked at in a way that you’ve described.
Great post.
Hi Shaun, Twitter is definitely a new style of communication – something that doesn’t come along all that often.