How Twitter Helped My Writing Improve

August 30, 2009

Last year two of my “pseudo resolutions“ were as follows:

1. Write more articles that matter
2. Use Twitter less often

Initially I thought those were separate and disconnected items but today I got to thinking about how connected they actually are. One issue I’ve always had is that I write quite a bit and never get to the point. (Resolution #1) When writing for Twitter that luxury is non-existent.

On Twitter everything is condensed down to 140 characters or less, and if you ever want to convey a point in one message you have to expedite things a bit.

You won’t catch me writing seriously in full-fledged SMS message format in either medium, but one goal I’ve always had is to do the opposite. I like to figure out how to write the most coherent message in 140 characters using as close to proper punctuation and grammar as possible.

I don’t always hit the mark, but I think it has helped me get to the point faster both in articles and on Twitter, and for that I think everyone can be thankful.

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