How to run a thriving "writer gram"

Whether you want to admit it or not, social media is a great tool to help writers build a community.

Now that’s all good and fine, until you notice that the BIG writing accounts with tens of thousands of followers tend to have one thing in common:

They recycle content from Tumblr or twitter, or their advice is pretty much all the same.

It can be daunting because the first thing you think is that perhaps the best way to go about building your writing account is to do what they did.I’m here to tell you that is not the case.

You do not need to be a recycling, aesthetic genius to have a successful writing instagram account.

Here are 5 steps you an use to see success in your IG:

1. Define what a successful writing instagram account is to you.

⇒ Seems pretty basic, but if I didn’t suggest it, would you actually think about it? Would you question your idea of success?

For example, maybe you think that you want an account for 100k followers, but what you want is a close-knit, intimate community where you know pretty much everyone by name, you regularly engage in conversations and it’s a place where you, and whoever follows you, meet other like-minded individuals.

HUGE accounts do not mean more engagement, more likes, more saves or more…anything, really. You can have someone with 1000 followers and have more engagement than someone with 100k followers. You can also have less followers and make more money, too.

It all comes down to one thing: connection.

People want to connect.

They want to become invested in you…that sound a lot better in my head, but you get what I mean.

I hope.

*looks around*.

Anyway, figure out what you want from your account and build from there.

2. Create your content pillars

⇒ These will be known as your saviours. When in doubt, refer back to them.

Your content pillars are the general ideas of what you post about.

Choosing 3-5 pillars will help you generate regular & consistent content that feels great to you AND is what your audience will absolutely froth over.

They also help your audience find you in the first place because you’re sharing content that they can relate to in some way, shape or form.

For me, my content pillars include:

-Writing tips (particularly around contemporary & historical fiction)

-My own writing

-Mindset/Wellness

This allows me to get clear on what I’m sharing and maintain consistency with what I post.

3. Find your why.

⇒ Sounds fairly self-explanatory, but finding your why behind building your account is what will get you started and keep you going. The more intrinsic you can get, the more likely you’re going to be able to stick to your account.

4. Set your mood & create your vision board.

⇒ What type of mood do you want your account to have? Have a think about what you love, what aesthetics you’re obsessed with AND what kind of mood you want to create. Yes, you could just use what you think is pretty, but I highly recommend considering colour psychology too.

Have a bit more of a meaning to what you post can help create a more succinct vibe.

To start off with, create a Pinterest board with the vibe of your page. You can use the board as space to save all the photos you need as your backgrounds for IG.

5. Comment on other people’s accounts.

⇒ Comment on bigger accounts. Comment on smaller accounts. Build community and connection through supporting others’ work. This is something I’m personally working on more. You’re not stealing followers from someone else. You’re engaging with like-minded people. When they find your account, they’ll be excited because they found YET ANOTHER awesome account to follow!

Also, don’t comment on these accounts for the sake of commenting. Actually put some thought into it. Don’t be that fake person that’s like omg #loveit (ya know the type). Be real. Say what you think. Something I like to do is dedicated 10-15 minutes a day, or comment on 10-30 accounts almost every day!

Building an IG account as a writer is simultaneously harder and easier than ever before. I hope these tips helped you out and made creating a thriving account lean more in the direction of being easier than ever before!