This past fall, the Guardian posted a great little article in which they featured 21 well-known authors using a Twitter post to write a novel. The challenge proved to be very provocative, funny, and interesting! A few of our favorites:
Ian Rankin:
I opened the door to our flat and you were standing there, cleaver raised. Somehow you’d found out about the photos. My jaw hit the floor.
Jeffrey Archer:
“It’s a miracle he survived,” said the doctor. “It was God’s will,” said Mrs Schicklgruber. “What will you call him?” “Adolf,” she replied.
Helen Fielding:
OK. Should not have logged on to your email but suggest if going on marriedaffair.com don’t use our children’s names as password.
Rachel Johnson:
Rose went to Eve’s house but she wasn’t there. But Eve’s father was. Alone. One thing led to another. He got 10 years.
I (Amy) got to thinking…this is a pretty useful little exercise in writing the first line of a really great novel. To be utterly enticing in 140 characters is a lot like writing a really fantastic first line, isn’t it? The theory: If you can’t be intriguing in one sentence, how are you going to do it for an entire book?
So I tried it. Here’s mine:
Crawling, clawing, staring, sighing. Lick. Open eyes. Oh good, you’re up. Let’s eat.
OK, so mine wasn’t great. It was my dog in the morning, by the way, in case you didn’t notice. The alliteration was alright though, no?
We’d love to hear your 140-character novels, Wise Ink followers! Post them below! You never know the potency of your creative juices until they start flowing…
Some of these are great. Very witty. I especially liked Ian Rankin’s and Rachel Johnson’s. With 140 characters, you really have to insinuate rather than flesh a story out.
I wrote this a long time ago and have only now realised (Australian spelling) it could be a twitter novel:
I open a vein and scrawl you a message, using the tendon as a sensitive brush: “I’ll be gone by the morning. Please feed the cat.”
The look on her face made him smile. Perfect. He picked up the phone. “Hello Dr Lewis? John Hilton here, I’m afraid my wife is dead..”
The explosion rattled the glass so loudly everyone’s ears began to ring. “Dag-nabit!” Bessie shouted, “Abner you get in hear this instant!”
(140 characters)
And once again I submitted my comment too soon, and I find errors, oh well. Just found your blog today, I’m enjoying the tips.
Dear child, we can save up smiles for a rainy day to fill our hearts with love and joy when the sun has gone away.