Clifford Fryman

Over the last few days I’ve had first hand experience with both crazy ideas and wonderful tweeple (Twitter talk for people for those not in the know). What an experience it was! It reconfirmed two things for me: That motivation drives you beyond your normal routine and that Twitter is full of awesome people.

Here’s the deal. On Sunday morning, while showering, I had an idea. I started the #storystarters hashtag on Twitter some time ago as a way to give back for all I’ve been given. It has slowly been catching on, but I really wanted a way to raise awareness of it. Amidst the warm water and soap bubbles a crazy idea came to me. Why not do a challenge?

Fresh from the shower, I tweeted my challenge: If the people of Twitter added twenty-five new #storystarters Sunday, I would add fifty myself on Monday and if they added fifty, I would add one hundred. I normally add three per day, made up on the spot, so either one was going to push my creativity if the challenge was accepted and met. That, my friends, was the crazy idea.

Now, this is where the wonderful tweeple come in. Jessica Rosen was the first to respond and she led the charge in making sure I would have to coax at least fifty #storystarters from my muse. Many other terrific people started adding and before long there was a slew of great, new #storystarters adding up and awareness was rising. How awesome is that?

While I watched the numbers adding up, I had another idea. I asked two authors I greatly admire, J.C. Hutchins (author of 7th Son) and Scott Sigler (author of Contagious),  if they would each add a #storystarter to help in the crusade. Reconfirming I respect them so much, they both agreed, sending me two wonderful #storystarters that I then tweeted, stating they were contributions from @jchutchins and @scottsigler. That they would do that for someone they don’t even know just goes to show what kind of people they are.

By the end of the day, there was over thirty new #storystarters added and I began sweet-talking my muse.

So, Monday morning I started tweeting #storystarters in batches of five at a time. People tweeted to cheer me on as well as to add their own. I also received a DM (Direct Message) from Annetta Ribken asking if she could ask me a few questions about #storystarters for a blog post she was writing. Of course I said sure and was amazed at how well she does interview type questions. She made me feel like a celebrity or something. When finished, she posted an amazing blog post talking about #storystarters. Again, how awesome is that?

By the end of Monday night, I had pushed my muse to the limit and added fifty #storystarters. I’ll admit that I’m not happy with all of them, but I did it and they may provide a starting point for someone to use to kickstart their muse. But what I was most pleased about was the level of awareness and activity that had been brought to #storystarters. They are all about helping people find creativity when it doesn’t want to reveal itself, as well as being a great writing exercise that helps others at the same time. Now I hope the momentum we started keeps going.

To everyone that took part in this crazy little idea I had and helped in getting the word out, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. You’re all wonderful tweeple to help with a crazy idea to support what I think is a good cause. My hat off to you all!