Whether you’re an enthusiastic participant on social media, a regular silent visitor or a sporadic super-stalker who sometimes reads Twitter feeds in place of books, the artful tweets of these six accomplished authors are bound to include something to strike your fancy or fire up your creative juices.
1. Maggie Stiefvater
For fans of her celebrated contributions to young adult (YA) literature following the young American author Maggie Stiefvater on Twitter is an absolute must. For those who have never heard of her, Stiefvater’s Twitter bio reveals everything you need to know. “I write novels. Some are #1 NYT bestsellers,” she writes, “Funny ha ha or funny strange. I like things that go.”
Stiefvater’s tweets are generally about her works in progress, the creative process and cars. Sometimes, she dishes out meaningful and startlingly profound advice regarding writing, living or both; longer threads are apt to involve impromptu narratives derived from commonplace story-lines, for example, an engaging biography of the family of finches living outside her house.
https://twitter.com/mstiefvater/status/998564432132308993
Or even a knock knock joke in which her cat knocks on the door of her house with an impressively large dead rodent for 10 lines.
https://twitter.com/mstiefvater/status/985879459818590208
The YA writer is a paradigm of creativity, and Twitter is just one of her many exhibition spaces. When she describes the many qualities that render the Hefty trash bag her true role model, she not only entertains but also inspires readers to mull over their own quirks and foster their own bizarre ideas regarding maturity and beyond.
https://twitter.com/mstiefvater/status/1013147643667795968
2. J.K. Rowling
Beloved author J.K. Rowling produces a contentious literary masterpiece of a Twitter feed that everyone should check out once in your life.
Perhaps most inspiring about Rowling is her apparent courage to speak her mind precisely and her ability to do so with impressive articulacy. As an opinionated commentator on heated political and social issues with a celebrity status, Rowling faces heavy criticism and trolling on social media, but her responses are legendary.
Sweetheart, if you read the whole of Harry Potter and thought the author would support an authoritarian braggart who's too dumb to know how dumb he is, burn away. And so will I. pic.twitter.com/6U9PNqx0rK
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 3, 2018
She absolutely destroyed a Twitter troll in response to their comment that Rowling knew nothing about American politics, ought not to express her beliefs regarding said issues and whose books ought to be burned as a result.
Rowling occasionally reveals groundbreaking “Harry Potter” details on Twitter, to mixed responses. Some followers revel in the additional details; others condemn her tweets as shameless efforts at propaganda.
If you fall into the category of an aspiring creator, you’re already following the footsteps of the great Rowling herself. Whether or not you feel she’s bringing ruin upon the legacy of “Harry Potter” with belated disclosures, Rowling’s determined voice is inspiration enough for many to focus on creating their own compositions instead of spending time criticizing someone else’s treatment of the world they brought to life.
3. Nnedi Okorafor
Nnedi Okorafor, is an award-winning Nigerian-American author of fantasy and science fiction, according to her Twitter biography. Wikipedia concurs.
On Twitter, Okorafor sparks interesting discussions and asks thought-provoking questions for writers. She establishes a distinctly personable and approachable online presence, welcoming questions about her works, herself and the world of writing at large. One notable example is when she answered a query for recommended African-American literature from a professor of a World Lit class with a list she generated off the top of her head.
Off the top of my head:
Famished Road
Wizard of the Crow
Beasts of the Night
Beast of No Nation
Woman At Point Zero
Fresh Water
Ghana Must Go
The Palm Wine Drinkard
She Called Me Woman: Nigeria’s Queer Women Speak
Efuru
Destination Biafra— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD🕷️ (@Nnedi) July 12, 2018
Okorafor is currently writing three issues of Marvel’s “Black Panther” comic series, having picked up where previous author Ta-Nehisi Coates left off. She is also a consultant for an upcoming TV series based off of her novel “Who Fears Death,” which was picked up by HBO under George R.R. Martin as executive producer.
Follow her on Twitter to conveniently stay up-to-date with these exciting projects.
4. John Green
John Green, celebrated YA author and challenger of car races against fellow author Steifvater, is a model Tweeter. He tweets often — but not too often — with worldly thought, minus the gloominess, and expressive opinions, without causing serious offense.
Green offers helpful wisdom, mild political commentary and (of course) a few promotional links on his main account, but his Twitter attendance doesn’t stop there. On a peculiar sports commentary account, @sportswithjohn, Green works with a more limited selection of material and a lot more cussing, but his tweets still demonstrate his prowess as a writer. His recent world cup live tweets are quite literately engrossing.
https://twitter.com/sportswithjohn/status/1018530302434693124
https://twitter.com/sportswithjohn/status/1018157841771892736
https://twitter.com/sportswithjohn/status/1015616161055236096
Green’s Twitter feeds also provide helpful reminders to check out new episodes of Green’s podcast, “The Anthropocene Reviewed,” a unique show in which Green reviews different facets of a human-centered planet, such as a 17,000-year-old painting and the Taco Bell breakfast menu.
5. Alyssa Wong
Alyssa Wong is a Nebula, World Fantasy and Locus award winning author of speculative fiction.
Wong’s tweets generally constitute discourse of social justice, feminism and politics. Her writing advice is heartfelt, especially because of her devotion to young writers. She frequently encourages them to be proud, to thrive, to learn and to, above all else, give the middle finger to anyone who would shut them down.
So talk craft, talk process. Learn from the people around you of any age. Chase your weird, & don't let people tell you that you have to be successful before 30, or that you can only be successful once you're older.
& to the folks who'd shut you down, tell 'em: 🖕🏼🖕🏼🖕🏼
— Alyssa Wong (they/them) 💖🌈 (@crashwong) July 9, 2018
Wong’s Twitter constitutes just the right amount of emojis and rambling jokes to brighten any dark mood. Whether she is discussing rivalries in “Pokémon” games or recounting her observations of an antsy businessman talking on the phone and pacing so agitatedly that he accidentally walked into a wall, Wong’s tweets can only be cataloged as on point.
Sometimes, Wong even tweets or retweets internship and job alerts for writing-related majors, which is without doubt the highest form of help that can ever be offered to student writers.
INTERNSHIP ALERT! We're hiring a *PAID* intern this Summer/Fall! Remote candidates welcome! #lxpjobs
Internship Application https://t.co/JRmZaDmZ16
— Latinx in Publishing (@LatinxinPub) July 9, 2018
6. Stephen King
Stephen King is an iconic author of best-selling, bloodcurdling novels, so it might come as a surprise that some of his tweets are plain adorable, with his protracted documentation of the lives of his small dogs.
Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, takes a break to refill her bile ducts and the anger organ that serves as her heart. pic.twitter.com/LemEtY3BVc
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) July 13, 2018
On the other hand, King’s profuse political commentary assumes the form of smart punch-lines, the kind that tend to elicit an “ow” from sympathetic onlookers when shots are fired.
Impeach.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) July 17, 2018
King’s writing wisdom is also plentiful, and he frequently reminds his followers that the pursuit of writing can assume a variety of unglamorous forms. His advice may not be revolutionary, but nevertheless serves as a comforting reminder to all the young writers toiling away without the benefits of glamour.
My first paying job as a writer was the sports beat for a small town weekly. The pay was tiny, the experience was enormous. I learned more about writing in three weeks than I ever learned in school. https://t.co/vNXkOHQyXn
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) July 7, 2018
Although King’s political views are highly controversial, he often offers surprisingly elevated wisdom. On July 4, King instructed Progressives to go find a Trump supporting friend, one they probably haven’t spoken to since the presidential election, and give him or her a hug, and for Trump supporters to find their liberal-snowflake ex-friends and do the same.
And, of course, there’s more photos of cute dogs.
Leave the Frisbee. Take the cannoli. pic.twitter.com/NF33KwZuUz
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) June 28, 2018
