Tag Archives: New Year’s resolutions

Twitter in the New Year

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Twitter in the New Year

By Natalie Bright

Take a look at this list of names:

Cynthia Leitich-Smith
David Morrell
Christine Taylor-Butler
Elizabeth Hoyt
John Kremer
McDonalds TX Panhandle

Can you tell me what this group has in common?

Give up yet?

All of these people, or place as in the McDonalds, are on Twitter and they followed me back. This is a big deal because they all have way more followers than I do. In all of these cases, I do buy their books, follow their blogs, and repost their tweets, except for McDonalds to which my teenager contributes. I believe that’s how social media works.

It’s not too late to make New Year’s Resolutions is it? I’ve decided to make an effort to be more friendly on Social Media. There’s really no reason to be snooty on Twitter. In my mind, we should all repost and retweet, and more importantly, follow back the people who follows us.

How do you determine who to follow back and who to skip over?

There are local people I know personally who did not follow me back on Twitter. If that’s you, out you go. I’ve had to unfollow a lot of you, so that I can follow back the people who are following me. It just good manners.

In 2015, I promise to be kinder, friendlier, and retweet all things bookish.

You can find Natalie on Twitter @natNKB.

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Outtakes 21

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January 1, 2012 is closing in fast. I can’t believe there are only thirteen days until the New Year begins. I’m not much for New Year’s resolutions as I break them within 48 hours. However, I am setting my writing goals for next year. Here they are; short and simple, and I hope my critique partners hold me to them.

  1. Get organized. Since starting the blog, I realize I need a good system for tracking topics and making sure they are done on time. I also need to keep better records for submissions and Frontiers in Writing conference details.
  2. Write and mail the checks for my Panhandle Professional Writers and Oklahoma Writers’ Federation Inc. dues. I keep forgetting to do that.
  3. Follow-up on Fall 2011 submissions.
  4. Complete the publicity plans for Frontiers in Writing.
  5. Complete the final edits for my novel HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW.
  6. Submit the first thirty pages of the novel to a potential editor.
  7. Write down the lyrics to the songs I’ve written for my Sunday School class. Other teachers are asking for them.
  8. Learn more about using social media to promote my work.
  9. Start a new project.
  10. Lose another fifteen pounds. Okay, that doesn’t have much to do with writing. But getting a little more weight off will help my blood pressure, increase my stamina, and make me more productive.

If you haven’t set your writing goals for 2012, now’s the time to get to work on them. Goals are good for us. They provide a path to improving our productivity and better our chances for publication. If you are a beginner, start small. Keep track of your progress, and mark accomplishments as “Done”. You’ll enjoy seeing the list get smaller.

I wish you all a happy and productive 2012.

Cait Collins