Social Media and Writing

Today’s highlight was the Ulumbarra session ‘Keeping Up Appearances: Story, social media and the story of social media’ with Gabrielle Tozer and Jaclyn Moriarty. The wonderful host Sue Gillett interviewed these two authors around this idea of identity and authenticity. This theme was definitely important when it came to discussing social media and how it related to writing.

I was captivated to comment on this topic because I myself am currently trying to build my online presence and so I thought this resonated with me in that way. It was also interesting to know how well-established authors like Gabrielle and Jaclyn are using social media to expand their readers.

The key take aways from this session about social media for me was:

- It’s okay to be a novice in social media: Jaclyn proved this to me when she said herself she is still adapting today

- How to tell if your tweet/post is too inappropriate is by asking yourself whether your grandma would approve of reading that or not: Gabrielle provided the example of the way she questions herself with her own Nanna before posting 

The insights I received from Gabrielle and Jaclyn also related quite well to the general concept of writing. Without knowing who your readers are via social media channels, it wouldn’t be possible to write a book or anything at all. Gabrielle mentioned the process of engaging with her readers on Twitter and Facebook, highlighting how they assisted her in writing her next book. The fact that she also goes to the extra length of responding to emails is truly inspirational. I can now see how social media can enhance ones writing and improve that rapport between readers and authors. Social media holds a lot of power in our writing and if everyone can engage with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snap Chat etc, than who knows where our writing will take us next.

On a side note, here are the sessions I am looking forward to tomorrow:

- Girls, Boys, Readers with James Maloney, Jaclyn Moriarty & Diana Sweeney

- Make it New with Sam Cooney, Briohny Doyle & Lauren Mitchell

- Inspired what writers read with Mireille Juchau, Anna Goldsworthy & James Moloney 

Pre-event Inspirations of the Bendigo Writers Festival

Tomorrow it begins, the Bendigo Writers Festival I’ve waited for about a couple months now. I don’t really feel as nervous as I thought I would, I feel more excited and curious as to the many discoveries I'll stumble upon. After attending the class seminars today, I definitely feel more prepared to what I could include in my assessments. However, I don’t see these as assessments but as little mini projects to compliment the various sessions I am interested in attending.

And speaking of sessions, I will be going to ones revolving around the following topics:

- passions

- impact of combining different genre elements

- developing skills as a writer and the opportunities in starting out

- ideas about book writing and the speakers’ persona

What are those sessions called though? I am not saying, I guess you’ll have to find out further along in my blog posts. What I can tell you is that tomorrow I will be attending the ‘Text Marks the Spot’ program which will immerse me in sessions focusing on Youth Writers/ Readers. I am most interested in the:

- Opening session, showcasing all the writers for the festival who are going to be introduced by none other than Sue Gillett and Sarah Major Cox who are both key representatives of La Trobe University’s Writers in Action (WIA) subject

- Keeping up appearances: Story, social media and the story of social media session with Gabrielle Tozer and Jaclyn Moriarty

- Misfits & Red Queens: My Life. My Stories session with Isobelle Carmody

- Story blasting session

I’m really keen for these sessions because they all have a common theme to do with storytelling and how to represent stories in an engaging and insightful way. The two of my favourite sessions I feel I will probably enjoy out of this list would be the social media and story blasting sessions. I feel as though they would challenge my thinking to implement ideas for my own writing and would encourage me to get my name out there. This comes from my aspiration to become a journalist.

I am so excited for tomorrow, I’m thinking I may not get that much sleep tonight. Go hard or go home as they say. By the end of the festival though, I’m hoping I will have gained a better knowledge of writing techniques, the authors behind words from their books, and the festival in general. The way I see it is as long as I have received an insight into each and every author’s personalities and have gained vital advice about writing then I’ll be a very happy WIA student. Overall, I’m sure this weekend will be fun, enjoyable and I will learn many things.