A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Julie Gray of justeffing.com.  Among the topics we discussed was the growing use of social media as a tool to help writers network and brand themselves.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but those words made quite an impact on me.

I’m not the most avid Twitter user.  I check it from time to time on my phone, and occasionally from my laptop. Probably because I’m writing, and want to focus on that.

Most of the people I follow are screenwriting or film-based.  A lot of them, like me, are working hard to achieve success.  It’s especially cool that they’re scattered all around the world. (Hello UK and Australia!)

I can’t help but notice that some people tweet A LOT. Sometimes about a project they’re working on, or posting a link to an article, or maybe messaging with somebody.

Like I said, I don’t tweet that often, and seeing these makes me feel like I’m missing out on something.  Not being LA-based, it’s tougher to become part of that community.  Tougher, but not impossible.

I’m going to start making a more sincere effort to change that.

I’ll follow more people.  I’ll make more comments. I’ll retweet something I like, rather than thinking about doing it later and not.

The only person who can build my brand is me, and this is the first step towards making that happen.  I’m not expecting instantaneously huge results, but you never know…