9 Tips on 140 Characters or Less, Part 1

Many things can be intimidating about Twitter (creating your profile, gaining followers, starting a conversation, etc.) but the most daunting can be the 140 character limit. On Twitter, tweets are limited to 140 characters or less. I hated this rule when I first signed up – not because I wanted to write novels, but because I didn’t want to have to work so hard to make it fit. But the 140 limit is the beauty of Twitter; people have to say what is most important and leave it at that.

The first time you post on Twitter, you will probably go over the 140 characters, and then proceed to stare at your sentence, convinced you can’t cut it down any more. You can. 

I’m a writer and editor by trade with my training in Professional and Technical Writing – it is my job to make writing as clear and concise as possible. But even with my profession and training by my side, I still struggle with the character count at times, mainly because I can’t stand to spell in “funky” ways or misuse punctuation (although, I’ve loosened up a teeny, tiny bit.)

To start, just get out what you’d like to say. Don’t try to fit in in 140 or less right off the bat. Sometimes you will, but not often (until you get good at it.) Get your words out and then cut, cut, cut.

Here are some tips to help you make your characters count:


1. A thesaurus is your friend – and choose shorter words. You’re probably super smart, but skip saying "derivation" when you could just say "source." Actually, please just don't ever say "derivation" unless you have on a smoking jacket and a monocle.

2. Remove "that" or "which".  Use this tip in most of your writing, it’s usually unnecessary.

“This is the best tip that I’ve ever read.”

“This is the best tip I’ve ever read.”

3. Often you can eliminate “that will”, “which will”, and replace it with “to.” This is also another tip to use in your writing. This also makes your writing firm and clear; this is important, especially when you are being persuasive.

“Here are 5 tips that will improve your chances of success:” 

“Here are 5 tips to improve your chances of success:”

4. You don’t matter. Aw, that was mean of me. Of course you matter, just not in your own tweets – we know it’s you saying/doing it.

“I can’t wait to get 7,000 followers!”

“Can’t wait to get 7,000 followers!”

5. Use ampersands (&) instead of “and.”

“I love my left arm and my left leg.”

“I love my left arm & my left leg.”

6. Use contractions. It's Twitter, not tea with Emily Post.

“Cannot believe my dog just ate my phone.”

“Can’t believe my dog just ate my phone.”

7. If it doesn’t fit, drop the Oxford comma. Now, this one pains me (I am an avid user of the Oxford comma), but if it’s the difference between a character, I’ll do it.

“I love avocados, balloons, & nun chucks.”

“I love avocados, balloons & nun chucks.” Ouch, that hurts my editing heart.

8. Creative Spelling…

Now, I am guilty of using “U r” instead of “You're” once (one time, people, one time!!) and I cringe even thinking of it. I hate “text” talk, but sometimes it’s necessary. Many people on Twitter use “u” instead of “you” and “ur” instead of “your.”

To be quite honest, I hate it. Hate. It. I will twist and change my sentence as much as possible before I will resort to speaking in letters. That being said, it’s up to you, and trust me you will not be the only one doing it. I’m just a little neurotic about spelling – once an editor, always an editor.

9. Shorten your links. There are several sites that shorten links for you.

bitly

Tiny URL

Here are a few more example sentences of things I’ve actually tweeted for work, from the original form to the tweeted form:

Original: “Happy Headline! A 6-year-old girl found a 160 million year old fossil – from the Jurassic period – with her little plastic shovel. She calls “him” Spike!” 155 characters

Tweeted: “#HappyHeadline 6-yr-old girl found a 160 million yr old fossil with her little plastic shovel. She calls “him” Spike! http://ow.ly/6Fmso” 136 characters

Original: “Saturday Social: Let your kids be cooks for the night! Make pasta, put different ingredients into small bowls and let your kids choose what to "mix" into their pasta dish.” 173 characters

Tweeted: “#SatSocial Let your kids be cooks tonight! Make pasta. Put fun ingredients into small bowls & let them pick what to mix in their pasta.” 134 characters

Original: “TGIF! Today is World Smile Day, started by Harvey Ball, who created the smiley face in 1963. Join the celebration: “Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile!” http://www.worldsmileday.com/” 192 characters

Tweeted: “#TGIF World Smile Day, began by Harvey Ball, smiley face creator (1963) "Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile!" http://ow.ly/6QK22” 138 characters

Now if you’ve tried to cut it down and still can’t fit it, and have decided you absolutely have to say it all (and it better be good), there are several sites you can use that allow you to break the rules.

Look for more posts from me on this subject, there are a ton of different tweaks you can do to fit your tweets. Finally, I’ll leave you with two terrific posts on writing great tweets.

How to Write Better Tweets from @smallbiztrends

Five Tips for Writing Better Tweets from @MediaFunnel