I’m trying to figure out Twitter. This is a land I haven’t spent much time in, and it is proving to be difficult. New languages to learn, new people to meet, and if there is an organizational principle behind it all, I have yet to find it.
Plus — and this is a big plus — I can spend A TON of time there. A ton. I watch with fascination as message after message pops up, as all the people I’m following let me know exactly what they are doing at that moment.
There have been some surprising finds for me, I must admit. I’m now quite hooked on a blog called Go Into the Story — It’s written by Scott Meyers about screenwriting, and it’s addictive. There are others, but this is the one at the top of my brain right now (because I was on his blog mere moments ago, and am now reading the screenplay “Dune.” Because he offered it. Go figure.)
Facebook — same, same. I’ve been on Facebook for a while now, and I still feel like I don’t get it. It’s a decent vehicle for getting the word out about upcoming events, and when I’m writing — as I’m supposed to be doing now — I use it to update m word count. Keeps me on track, because there are other people out there seeing it, and I don’t want the embarrassing questions like “So what happened to you on Saturday?” (or whatever day I didn’t write, but hung around, washing clothes and vacuuming dust bunnies, and maybe even going out and sitting in the sun, that sort of thing) But past that, I can’t understand why anyone gives a darn what I’m doing with my day. (And why, in reality, they’d even care about my word count.)
And then there’s this blog. I sometimes forget to come here and put words down. I should remember. This is my connection to the outside world, after all. My connection to an unbelievably big world. Millions of people, all looking for — something. Could be what I’m talking about. You never know.
Perhaps this is what’s freezing me. The thought that there are millions of people out there, and any one of them could happen on this blog — or one of my Facebook entries — or 140 characters I dashed off on Twitter. That would be their introduction to me. Is there anything there can could possibly be compelling enough to make them try to find me again? Even remember my name?
After all, I’m not offering much. Sometimes a bit of my pain, or a bit of my joy. Sometimes something interesting I found on the web — or out in the real world. Sometimes just the word count on my latest novel. Hope it’s enough.
If it’s not — read Dune. Hey, somebody gave it to me! The least I can go is pass it on.