Ephemeral Creativity
Wednesday, January 14. 2009
I've begun a small experiment: I'm impersonating a well-known character on Twitter.
No, I'm not going to tell who it is. That would have the potential of spoiling the experiment, since the zero or so people who read this blog might wander over and follow my appropriated avatar based on this post. I want to see how well I can build a group of followers by the "old-fashioned" method of being witty and following likely audience members.
It's an interesting and quite satisfying creative outlet, playing at being a character the public is already familiar with in a open forum. It's a bit like Twitter fiction, which has apparently even become a paying market. Of course, Twitter fiction as referenced here is intended to be standalone, each story complete in 140 characters or less. This limitation necessarily means that much of the narrative must be implied. The problem I have with the Twitter fiction I've read is that it almost invariably leaves the conflict resolution implied. To me, these efforts are more vignettes than actual stories. Still, these look like a lot of fun to do, and they can be entertaining.
My output as an established character is different, but still fiction. I have the advantage of a shared backstory—everyone knows who my character is. So my "fiction" consists of little scenes (yes, "vignettes," not really stories) wherein I share an amusing insight into the character's persona, or a twist on current events by re-interpreting them through the character's eyes. My success at this endeavor will be measured in the size of the following I eventually attract.
Side benefit: if I do build a nice following over the next year or so, I can then use that medium to point people to my "conventional" fiction. Darth Vader currently has over 25,000 followers. I'd be pleased with a tenth of that.
I've begun a small experiment: I'm impersonating a well-known character on Twitter.
No, I'm not going to tell who it is. That would have the potential of spoiling the experiment, since the zero or so people who read this blog might wander over and follow my appropriated avatar based on this post. I want to see how well I can build a group of followers by the "old-fashioned" method of being witty and following likely audience members.
It's an interesting and quite satisfying creative outlet, playing at being a character the public is already familiar with in a open forum. It's a bit like Twitter fiction, which has apparently even become a paying market. Of course, Twitter fiction as referenced here is intended to be standalone, each story complete in 140 characters or less. This limitation necessarily means that much of the narrative must be implied. The problem I have with the Twitter fiction I've read is that it almost invariably leaves the conflict resolution implied. To me, these efforts are more vignettes than actual stories. Still, these look like a lot of fun to do, and they can be entertaining.
My output as an established character is different, but still fiction. I have the advantage of a shared backstory—everyone knows who my character is. So my "fiction" consists of little scenes (yes, "vignettes," not really stories) wherein I share an amusing insight into the character's persona, or a twist on current events by re-interpreting them through the character's eyes. My success at this endeavor will be measured in the size of the following I eventually attract.
Side benefit: if I do build a nice following over the next year or so, I can then use that medium to point people to my "conventional" fiction. Darth Vader currently has over 25,000 followers. I'd be pleased with a tenth of that.
No, I'm not going to tell who it is. That would have the potential of spoiling the experiment, since the zero or so people who read this blog might wander over and follow my appropriated avatar based on this post. I want to see how well I can build a group of followers by the "old-fashioned" method of being witty and following likely audience members.
It's an interesting and quite satisfying creative outlet, playing at being a character the public is already familiar with in a open forum. It's a bit like Twitter fiction, which has apparently even become a paying market. Of course, Twitter fiction as referenced here is intended to be standalone, each story complete in 140 characters or less. This limitation necessarily means that much of the narrative must be implied. The problem I have with the Twitter fiction I've read is that it almost invariably leaves the conflict resolution implied. To me, these efforts are more vignettes than actual stories. Still, these look like a lot of fun to do, and they can be entertaining.
My output as an established character is different, but still fiction. I have the advantage of a shared backstory—everyone knows who my character is. So my "fiction" consists of little scenes (yes, "vignettes," not really stories) wherein I share an amusing insight into the character's persona, or a twist on current events by re-interpreting them through the character's eyes. My success at this endeavor will be measured in the size of the following I eventually attract.
Side benefit: if I do build a nice following over the next year or so, I can then use that medium to point people to my "conventional" fiction. Darth Vader currently has over 25,000 followers. I'd be pleased with a tenth of that.
Craig on :
I won't tell, but I will promote, if that is okay.
Brent on :
Jimmy Anderson on :
"posted via" is the only clue I can find - could be a rhet herding...