Description
The advent and ubiquity of modern social media such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram have reduced readers’ attention spans. Social media has also opened other avenues for storytelling. There are now, in Western literature, significant journals that publish flash fiction. There is also an anthology of hint fiction, as well as Twitterature, and a host of outlets for short or serialized storytelling catering to the new reader mindset. Although these other avenues do not necessarily lend themselves to long essays or stories, they do allow for a more robust reader/writer interaction, encourage new opportunities for serialization, and promote the use of photos and graphics. Stories told through social media can stand on their own or link readers to longer and more in-depth writing.
In this workshop, we’ll examine some examples of social media, serialized, and very short writing. We’ll consider narrative arc, character development, and plot options as applied to these novel outlets to tell a deep, meaningful story. Writing exercises will help us develop ideas into multipart, brief, social media posts or serialized essays.
