Twitter Guide For Authors & Illustrators > The Basics > I'm intimidated by a blank screen! What should my first post be about?
Index of topics: Main Twitter Guide For Writers & Illustrators page. To go back to my blog for kidlit/YA writers and illustrators, see Inkygirl. You can find me on Twitter at @inkyelbows (focus: writing and illustrating children's books) and @DebbieOhi (livetweets, chat, photos, personal ramblings). Also see my list of Other Useful Twitter Guides For Authors And Illustrators and Twitter Lists of: agents who represent kidlit/YA, kidlit/YA editors, children's book art/creative directors and K-12/teen librarians on Twitter.
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Q. I'm intimidated by a blank screen! What should my first post be about?
"But what do I post about? How do I start?" My suggestions, if you're stuck:
Post about your current WIP progress. e.g. "Worked on my YA novel today." or "Met my 1000 word goal today!" This shows people that you'll be making at least some posts about writing.
If you're an illustrator, post a daily sketch or a photo of your workspace. Don't just post the image; add a short description/comment as well. Avoid the "Check this out: xxxlinkxxx" tweet. And never ever post ONLY the bare link URL.
Post something personal and clever.
Don't start off by just pointing people to your blog or your book page. People will assume that your feed is just going to be an announcement/promo feed. This is ok, if they're already interested in you, but you'll turn off a lot of potential followers.
Don't post anything that could come across as spammy.
Until you've posted a few tweets, I'd avoid following anyone. That way, when someone decides to check out your Twitter feed, they'll get more of a sense of what you're going to be posting about.
Last updated on February 26, 2014 by Debbie Ridpath Ohi