5 writing tips from the Twitter rabble

And by rabble, we’re referring to an Esquire magazine contributor, a cartoon character, and our very own executive editor.

By Michael Sebastian
April 4, 2011

Ever follow a novelist on Twitter thinking you’ll pick up a writing tip from the feed?

Good luck. The Twitter feeds from many popular writers are examples of procrastination in action.

For 140-character nuggets of writing advice, you have to dive deeper than published and popular fiction writers. Working editors and journalists (and a popular cartoon character) are a good source for writing and editing tips.

Here are five tips:

On writer’s block, from Dana Goldstein, a contributor to The Daily Beast and The Nation:

in my experience, the cause of most writer’s block is a lack of reporting or research on which to base the writing http://bit.ly/dUc3CN less than a minute ago via TweetDeck DanaGoldstein
DanaGoldstein

On hyphens, from Mark Allen, a freelance writer and copy editor:

Why we need hyphens: Because second-best margarita in Phoenix is not the same as second best margarita in Phoenix. @GrammarMonkeys #ACES2011 less than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhone Mark Allen
EditorMark

On a common language gaffe, from Chris Jones, a contributor to Esquire:

@BleacherNYC: “I couldn’t care less” is fine. “I could care less” doesn’t make any sense.less than a minute ago via webChris Jones
MySecondEmpire

On conjunctions, from Rob Reinalda, executive editor at Ragan Communications:

I know starting a sentence with a conjunction sometimes helps the rhythm of the text, but the practice has spread like dandelions. Pls stop.less than a minute ago via webRob Reinalda
word_czar

On punctuation, from Stewie Griffin, from the cartoon “The Family Guy”:

Writing. Like. This. Doesnt. Make. Your. Point. Any. Stronger. It. Makes. It. Look. Like. Your. Computer. Has. Asthma.less than a minute ago via webStewie Griffin
LordStewie