One of the things that has taken me by surprise in the run up to our Edinburgh fringe shows is the sheer amount of activity on Twitter. I dipped my toe in a couple of months ago and felt an enormous surge of tagging, listing, retweeting…. I’ve been paddling since.
There is some lovely stuff going on. The #womenoffringe tag especially has created a group of shows with a really supportive vibe, and there is a spirit of generosity around it all.
But I’m not one of the twitterati. I don’t entirely understand how this stuff works. And I am unsure about how to promote something without seeming shouty, or about what is the ‘right’ amount of engagement.
I want to join in. But I’m juggling and uncertain. So I shilly-shally between bouts of activity, and longer times thinking that I SHOULD be doing something. Doing more. Building presence. Dare I say it – selling some tickets….?!
There’s a critical inner dialogue. “I’m rubbish at this.”, “If I don’t do more, I’m going to fail.” “Everyone else is so much better at this!”. Some of this might be true, but it’s not very helpful.
So I write a blog. Get it out there. And perhaps some of the power of the “Anxious Shoulds” subsides.
Different Theatre’s shows Sary and Metamorphosis open at Edinburgh Fringe on 2 August. Please come 🙂
image from Sary taken by Peter Williams
