Tumblr for Writers

I while back I wrote a post about social media for writers. At the time I was pretty new to the wonders of tumblr, so I gave a brief summary of how it could be useful for writers.

Now that I'm more acquainted with the magic of tumblr, I can tell you that not only is it a fantastic resource for writers, but if you haven't tried it out, you should.

What is tumblr?

Tumblr is a social media site where people can share anything and everything from text, pictures, videos, music files, links... you name it, there's probably a way to share it on tumblr.

Why is tumblr useful for writers?

Besides being another social media time-suck (which, as addicting as it is, doesn't fall under the category of "useful"), tumblr is chock full of inspiration. You can find anything from full-length blog posts, to poems, awe-inspiring pictures, music and links, to great sites all on this one fantastic social media resource.

How does it work?

Once you've made an account (which, like most social media sites, is free), you create a blog. Your blog is basically the page where everything you share will show up, and it'll look a little like this. The style you end up with will depend on what template you choose (there are many different free options), but they all work basically the same way.

If you have a Twitter, I highly recommend linking your Twitter account to your new tumblr. I've had quite a few Twitter followers really enjoy what I tweet out from tumblr, so not only is it a great way to share your finds with your Twitter friends, but I've found I get quite a few retweets of my tumblr goodies. Win-win.

After your blog is set up, it's time for you to start following people. For writers, I recommend Quote Book , Better Book Titles , PrettyBooks , The Final Sentence and Teaching Literacy (you could also follow me , you know, if you want to).

Are you following people? Great—now it's time for you to reblog.

For my Twitter users, reblogging is the tumblr equivalent of retweeting. Once you see something you like, you hit reblog and it'll show up on your blog and allow anyone who follows you (as well as your Twitter followers) to see it.

Tags!

This last point is something I didn't take advantage of right away, because I didn't realize quite how they work. If you're familiar with Twitter hashtags, tags on tumblr work nearly the same way. Anything you post (or reblog) can be tagged with a few words of your choosing. Once you tag them, they will show up in a stream with other posts tagged with the same word. For example, a post tagged with "NaNoWriMo" will show up if someone searches "NaNoWriMo" in the tumblr search bar, just like Twitter.

Tags allow you to give your posts a little extra exposure, so you can share them not only with people that follow you, but others who check out those tag threads--definitely something you should take advantage of.

So that about covers my tumblr summary. Although it's not for everyone (no social media site is), I've really grown to love tumblr as a writer, and I think you could, too.

Have you ever tried tumblr? What are some of your favorite tumblr follows?