My Mid-Life Brain on Twitter: Part II

This topic is a bit of a cross-over with the topic of my other blog, but it also ties into our recent explorations of schedules, goals, and social media.

Back in May, when I first joined Twitter, I wrote on Everyday Intensity about how overwhelmed I felt and the steepness of the learning curve, from the perspective of my recently having read a review of the book The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind, by Barbara Strauch (I have since then read the book and highly recommend it) . Last week, I wrote about the subject again, but from the angle of introverts and social media.

This morning, Drs. Fernette and Brock Eide on their excellent Eide Neurolearning Blog provide another piece of the puzzle in their post “The Most Creative Brains Are Slow,” pointing to research that shows that “creativity prefers to take a slower, more meandering path.”

I’m writing about this here because the point of the Eides’ post is an important reminder for any writers who are frustrated as they work to build their platform through the fast-paced tool of social media. We can’t change the fact that writers are expected to have an “online presence.” Platform building, online presence, social media—even the terminology is awkward from a writer’s standpoint. However, this new skill is necessary for the vast majority of us if we want to be successful. If writing is important enough, if it is the only thing we really want and need to do, we will find a way.

What we can do is to make modern technology fit our needs, rather than thinking something is wrong with us because we don’t always fit in with modern technology.