Twitter welcomes you to a world of virtual storytelling
Lemony Snicket, Margaret Atwood and Jackie Collins will all experiment with micro-publishing during the third Twitter Fiction Festival, which has been announced for May 11-15.
Lemony Snicket, Margaret Atwood and Jackie Collins will all experiment with micro-publishing during the third Twitter Fiction Festival, which has been announced for May 11-15.
When Twitter hosted its first Fiction Festival in 2012, it had already been home to virtual storytelling experiments by authors such as Jennifer Egan and Teju Cole who had shared new work one tweet at a time. The festival puts that storytelling trend in the spotlight and last year featured authors such as Alexander McCall Smith, who offered up four short stories over the course of the festival.
Among other 2014 highlights, American comedians Jim Gaffigan and Michael Ian Black improvised a tale of a trip through Scotland, and Tom Mitchell led a choose-your-own-adventure-style story through London.
On board for 2015 is a roster of more than 20 featured authors, including Chuck Wendig, Beth Cato, Matthew Dunn, Sophie Jordan, Lauren Beukes and Jonathan Evison, with a collective expertise that extends into spy fiction, politics and graphic novels.
Through March 2, anyone can submit an idea for a chance to be a featured participant. Once the event starts, of course, all can take part using the hashtag #TwitterFiction.
The website offers suggestions of formats and tools to use to create your fiction, including generating collaborative fiction via crowdsourcing, launching several handles to tell a narrative through multiple viewpoints or using images and Vine for a multimedia experience. Last year saw Eric Smith create an 8-bit story with illustrator Juan Carlos Solon, while Ankur Thakkar told a love story using Bollywood screenshots.
Inspiration from some of last year's contributors can be found archived on the festival website. An Instant Story Generator provides an option for the less creatively inclined.
Follow developments and the festival itself via @twfictionfest and using the hashtag #TwitterFiction.
For more information, visit: twitterfictionfestival.com