In my attempt to find something worthy of blogging about this week, I began to stumble, randomly and haphazardly about the internet, and came upon a very interesting new concept that I couldn't have fathomed, had I not found it! At creativenonfiction.org, the website for the Creative Nonfiction Foundation and their publications, I found among their submission calls a unique one. The call reads, "Can you tell a true story in 130 characters (or fewer)? Think you could write one hundred CNF-worthy micro essays a day? Go for it. We dare you. There's no limit. Simply follow Creative Nonfiction on Twitter and tag your tiny truths with the trending topic #cnftweet. That's it."
My curiosity piqued, I followed a link to their "favorites" of this category (found here), and found a world of fascinating little stories. This is a project that seems quite interesting to me, as it combines the unique elements of Twitter (which, of course, we've been working with in Communications) and the world of creative nonfiction to create a very interesting set of limitations. This set of limitations forces writers to think in terms they obviously would not have to otherwise. I think that it would be quite an interesting experiment to see just how many "micro essays" I might be able to come up with, and I am considering making this concept into a personal project. Of course, this concept works not just for creative nonfiction, but for all types of writing. What kind of stories would any of us write, limited to 130 characters?
I'll give my best shot at coming up with one of these micro-essays here:
#cnftweet 10 years old, he lay sprawled out, arms and legs lazily rest on wood chips, motionless; I worry, tap the glass; he moves. Relief.
So now, tell me what I've written about (if I've done a good job, you should have a basic idea), and see if you can write your own 130-character story.
I love reading long novels, but there is something special about short stories (and only 130 oh my!). Every word needs to be important and every detail impeccable. Short stories will have a powerful quality that a novel can never have, simple because you are forced to focus all that energy.
ReplyDeleteBrowsing the twitter link you posted this stuck out at me
I think short stories are wonderful to read. They allow your thoughts to just run and get so into what your reading. Makes you want to read more and more. I love the chicken soup for the mother's soul book with all the short stories in there. It gave me so much joy when I became a mother for the first time. I really enjoyed reading your post!
ReplyDeleteThese microblogs were inspired and invented by twitter. Matter fact, there are people who are tweeting their entire novels, that is long novels, on twitter. It's quite an interesting phenomenon and it gives a serial type feeling to the stories themselves. So if you maintain your twitter account after this course, you might want to do some searching about writers who actually use twitter just for this very purpose.
ReplyDeleteI think you are writing about your pet lizard or gecko?
ReplyDeleteI am really enjoying your blog, I, too, am an aspiring writer, and creative non-fiction is probably a good way to describe what I write. I have no skill for fiction or character development, but am pretty good at writing about my own life / travel / work experiences.
I would like to be able to chat with you more, ask you about your Pastry degree, and about your writing.
I can't find an email to send a direct comment. Please write to me at Afrikachef@aol.com. Thanks, and keep up the good work.
Peace, Robin
Thank you to all those who responded. And to Robin, you're absolutely right. I was writing about my pet leopard gecko. Nicely done. :)
ReplyDeleteI'd love to talk to you more, I'll send an email.