If you’re thinking about writing a piece of flash fiction for a contest and trying to figure out how to tell a story in less then 1,000 words, Arjun Basu will be an inspiration. Arjun has developed a strong following writing 140 character stories daily on Twitter. Here, this master of micro-fiction reveals how and why he does it.
You’ve created a new literary form, 140 character stories you call “Twisters.” What compelled you to do this?
I wish I could answer that properly. The simple answer? I don’t know. The long answer? My first few tweets were typically banal. And then I was staring at the Twitter box and I had this image of a child trying to reach a cookie on a table and decided to write a “short story.” It was a few characters long and then it hit me that the only way to do something on Twitter—and be relevant to the form—was to do this at 140 characters. And then I gave it a name (Twisters) and I’ve been doing it since. I’ve written over 900 so far.
What other writing do you do?
I published a collection of short stories last year and I’m trying to finish up a novel. So I can write more than 140 characters at a time. Though these days, sometimes I wonder.
Do you have any plans to publish the stories in print or as an eBook?
Once I started the Twisters and it became obvious that I was going to keep at it, I started to get attention. Galley Cat made a small mention of me and then an agent wrote me and I signed with him. He’s shopping a book proposal but it’s obvious there’s a major ebook component to this. I can see a book on cellphones as well. This project is going to need a publisher who is comfortable with book projects in different media, as well as selling a book in non-traditional venues.
From some of the comments we’ve received from publishers, you get the sense they don’t know what to do with or about Twitter. But my agent is convinced this will find a home and I am as well. And we see a series of books for sure. Not just of my own work, but potentially of an anthology of other Twisters written by a diverse group on Twitter.
The other interesting thing that has happened, and perhaps points to another direction for possible projects based on my Twisters in the future, is that teachers have been using them to teach writing, to stimulate their students’ own creativity and even in english as a second language classes. I would never have foreseen this, but I have to say teachers telling me about using my work in their classes has been quite a gratifying aspect to this whole thing.
What does writing stories with such amazing restraint teach you as a writer?
I’ve worked as a magazine editor for a number of years now and I thought I could get a story down to its nub. Well, I was wrong. This project has allowed me to explore how much mood and meaning I can get into almost nothing. It’s allowed my longer work to get more dense, and to get to the point faster but without cutting corners. Does that make sense?
Any advice for other writers who are interested in taking up the challenge of micro-fiction?
Don’t be discouraged. Writing in 140 characters is difficult at first. Micro-fiction in general is a great, great exercise. We all know that it is much harder work to write short. It’s easy to tell a story in 10,000 words. It’s much harder to tell that same story in 1,000. And it’s another thing altogether to write in 140 characters. But it’s fun. And it helps your longer work. Absolutely.
You can read more about Arjun Basu and the art of microfiction here.
-Maria Schneider
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Thanks for the fantastic interview! I never would have thought about using micro-fiction as a teacher, but it makes perfect sense. As a former highschool teacher, I observed a range of writing capabilities and interest among my students, but I think they would all be interested in micro-fiction because it is a new, unique challenge. Thanks Maria and Arjun!
I’m not sure this guy ‘invented’ twitterfiction (which is what everybody else calls it) but it’s not important. Lots of writers saw that 140 character limit as a challenge.
More important is that there are now *paying* ‘twitter magazines’ out there. @thaumatrope was the first, then @outshine, @tweetthemeat, and some others I’m blanking on.
The other paying twitterzine you’re thinking of is @nanoism, the one with no genre restrictions.
But yeah, though I read Arjun’s stories daily, he in no way invented twiction. He started writing them in October, which is way before this new recent rush of nano-writers, but there were people writing at least as early as March (not that it matters, of course).
I do, however, love the form. Nice interview.
@Ben – Thank you! @nanoism was the third venue. (I guess I just outed myself as a genre writer.)
Also, via @tweetthemeat: @escarp and @picfic.
Thanks for the comments. Just one thing everyone: nowhere do I ever say I that I invented anything. Short short fiction existed long before Twitter, of course. I only applied the word “Twister” to what I was doing. Now others are using the word as well. That’s all. Appreciated the interview Maria!
@arjunbasu
Arjun–didn’t mean to imply that you were taking credit (not at all!), just pointing out that the statement (that it is a new literary form) is incorrect nonetheless. Keep pumping them out my friend, great stuff.
Out of curiosity, why did you call them ‘twisters’? Nanofiction, picofiction, twiction, tweetfic, twitterfiction–those are pretty obvious.
So glad I found this article (via Goggle Alerts). I’m not ready to write twisters just yet, but I have started a flash fiction blog—with an odd twist.
The first story, by a great writer named Margaret Finnegan, is up now.
I first heard of 140 character fiction when I stumbled on Brian Clark’s Twitter Writing Contest of last winter (too late to enter). I blogged about it around the turn of the year, but more recently I’d lost touch with the spread of this great little form. I don’t care whether or not Arjun “invented” Twitter fiction (and he sets that straight in his comment)–I enjoyed the interview. He’s dedicated to the point of obsession, and that kind of focus and effort always produces wonders. Twitter fiction, Twific, Micro Fiction, whatever you call it, is just a rewarding venue for writers any way you look at it. Great teaching tool as well as an effective warmup for anything else you want to write. I particularly like the 140 char limit because it’s not arbitrary–if you use Twitter it’s real. 1 char over and you’re in minus territory (or with Tweet Deck, everything turns blood red!) And Twitter, of course, is the logical place to publish. I have a dedicated Twitter account @truevoice for mine–just posted new ones last night. Friends like Jeremy Griffin @tweettales have similar setups. This is something everyone should take a crack at because it virtually rules out disappointment. Some Twitter fics will be great, some will suck, but either way how can you begrudge a bracing 15 or 20-minute mind workout?
Another one like this I’ve found isTwistories. They write five part stories. One part each day. I think I prefer it, as the stories are much more fleshed out.
Creative juices are flowing!