I will take interest in the lives of
people who are no more than words on a screen to me if those words
draw something unexpected or undeniable out of me.
Some things don't need long posts or
explanations. 'It's a boy!', 'Doing my happy dance', 'people can be
so mean', 'It's cancer', post those and I'm in your story in a
heartbeat.
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Some stories take longer to build, a glimpse at a time. A photo, a meme, a memory and then silence and I may find myself anxious for more while some people spill everything all at once and I'm done. Understanding that gives me permission to kill my darlings, leave some details in the reader's mind instead of trying to cram all my own in hers. Social media doesn't work if it's just all outgoing. It's always a conversation even if the other half is just mental.
Often I am 'just mental', so no
judgment here.
Seeing the power of a single post
makes all those days sat mumbling words over and over to myself
trying to pick the right one seem less persnickety. Words are a
writer's tools. If you use the wrong ones, at some point, something's
gonna fall apart.
Yeah, even on Facebook.
“I'm in pain” doesn't carry the
weight for me that “I'm in need” does, maybe because at my age I
know most everyone you meet is in some kind of pain but it takes
something big for most of us to admit we need help. “Send good
thoughts” doesn't strike the same chord for me as “please, pray
for me” and nothing hits the mark like “My dog is in pain and
needs help, please pray for him.”
You may be different. That's why social
media has followers and books have genres.
Not sure of the history. Skipped that
movie. But suspect the term Facebook was supposed to be about putting
faces with people. I like that over time it's really become more
about putting together a kind of book of everyone's life.
Some days reading that book makes me a
better writer. Other days, it may just make me laugh enough at cats
not to want to strangle my co-workers. All around, I'd say, that
makes it worth checking in now and then.
