Three ways Twitter makes you a better writer

Good Twitter writing. Now there’s an oxymoron. Twitter and its 140 character limit is often synonymous with rambling gibberish and horrifying grammar. As a copywriter, I didn’t join Twitter thinking it would help refine my craft. It was only after months passed and I realized I was getting better and better at writing concise messages that it became clear that was, in fact, what was happening. 

It makes a whole lot of sense when you think about it. Forcing your thoughts into 140 characters or less is a constant training regimen for your writing. Here are three ways tweeting your random thoughts makes you a better writer.

Brevity is the soul of wit
Sure, you’ve heard this phrase a thousand times, but stop and really think about what it means. Anyone can make a point if they have all the words in the world. But making your point concise and compelling is a whole different story. Brevity is essential to good writing (especially writing for the web) as your ideas become more compelling and are more likely to strike chord in your audience. Excess words make for forgettable writing and weak arguments. Even the best of writers struggle with chopping down their beloved words, so practice is vital. Twitter forces you to convey your ideas in as few words as possible, trimming the fat whether you like it or not.

Word choice on steroids
With less space to work with, you’re forced to choose strong words that cut right to the heart of the matter. That often means flimsy adverbs and adjectives are the first to be edited out in favor of better verbs. Using strong action words instead of multiple descriptives is a cornerstone of any good writing. Twitter will force you to break out the thesaurus to find that perfect, knock out phrase.

Hone your provocateur skills
You’re out to get something when you write. Whether it’s getting people to change their mind, to start a conversation or to buy a product, you want to inspire action through your words. Twitter lets you practice what works and what doesn’t in getting a rise out of people. Try out different hooks for getting people to click links, retweet messages and respond to your tweets. Doing so will help you understand what your audience thinks is worth their time. Knowing what your audience cares about is the basis for effective writing.

With practice, you can inspire a storm of activity in your reader’s minds in under 140 characters (you can even tweet entire stories). If you can manage such clear, powerful statements in all your writing, you’ll be on your way to greatness. 

Jason Ross is a copywriter for The Duffy Agency. He loves working on both traditional and social media projects and speculating on the future of the ad industry. 

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