The blog mini-series, 'The Five People You Meet in Cyberspace', is coming to a close. There are only five in this series and I have reached number five. So far, you have seen that Felicia Williams really got the ball rolling for my new online writing career. I then refocused my blog based on tips from Darren Rowse, famous Problogger.
Later on, I was inspired by Zen Habits' Leo Babauta and his editor, Mary Jaksch from Write to Done. This inspiration gave me the idea for a new blog with my own domain (inspiredtowrite) and a new look. The fourth person was Yan Susanto who's blog, Thou Shall Blog, gave me an A-Z list of tips for beginners and corresponded with me personally to offer advice.
All the while I was modifying and tweaking my blog, I kept up (at a much slower pace) with my other writing on eHow, Suite 101, and Teaching Life. The keyboard became an extension of my fingers. My dreams and thoughts that kept me up at night were obsessed with the topic of writing.
Back in January, I started on this microblogging site called Twitter, which by now everyone should have heard of. I was familiar with the website at the time, but not really sure what a Tweet, a Twit, a TwitPic, or TwitWall was, so I signed up as JulieBMack. At first, I wasn't sure what the point was or how I could use it in a productive way. I started watching and observing the Tweets that were getting attention. Slowly, I started getting followers. I wanted to inspire and help people, give them thoughtful and interesting things to read about. I am not good at self-promotion, but I occasionally threw a link to my blog or other writing in there. Shameless.
Then, around the beginning of March, right around the time I changed my blog name, I twent to twown. I started ReTweeting and balancing that out with inspirational quotes and interesting links. I watched my follower numbers increase at a higher rate. I became a Twitter addict.
I know the title of this series is the Five People you Meet, but...
How Twitter Influenced Me
After trying to decide on this last 'person' I realized that since I became an zealous user of Twitter, I have met so, so, so many great people. There really was no way to pick one of these Twitters. Therefore, I decided the Twittersphere would be number five. It is more like a place than a person, but it has influenced my writing either way.
Writing is about finding ideas, support, passion, inspiration, and sharing with others. Some say it is about making lots and lots of money. Earnings are nice, but not my motivation. With many of the people I have met on Twitter, I have found ideas, support, passion, inspiration, and the opportunity to share with others - in 140 characters or less (including spaces)! All in one central spot!
Twitter has opened doors and opened my eyes to all the good people who exist all over the world. These individual's and group's interests and motivation for Twittering is so diverse! Some are writers, but many are not. But, they are all just people that have something they want to share. What a great place to be.
What a great place to end this series. However, since the door has now been opened, there just may be a Part II. Thank you all for taking part and I hope you all find at least five people to inspire you in cyberspace!
