Tuesday 4 December 2012

reading & writing reflection #10


Writing:
                When we were first introduced to Twitter Fiction, I wasn't too fond of the idea. Short stories alone aren't exactly my thing. Which is why as we started writing, I thought it would be easier to write a series of Very Short Stories, each being their own individual tweet. However, thinking of 30 didn't come very easily either… So I changed my plan, and began writing an extended Twitter Fiction Story. Only when I was about halfway through, it still was not quite satisfactory to me. What next? Looking at my work, thinking about it, I really enjoyed the first Very Short Stories I had written. With that, I changed my mind one last time and wrote the remainder of my Twitter Fiction in that form. Getting started was rather frustrating for me, deciding what I’d like to write and where to go with it. That's something I've come to learn though, about myself as a writer. The first step is always hardest. Until I get going, then the ideas just flow. As for publishing myself and my work on Twitter, it didn't really matter to me. I simply found it as a fun thing to do, making our work worthwhile – since people could see it.

Reading:
                I never got around to reading an entire Twitter Fiction story. Although I did read bits and pieces of Harper Collin’s story, as well as Taylor’s. I found them both to be very intriguing. From what I did read, the plot lines were excellent! I probably could read their entire stories for those reasons. Tay’s story had so much description and emotion, making it almost impossible to not get into. However, I’m not a huge fan of the fact that it’s on Twitter. Reading sections at a time, having to scroll, almost reading everything backwards (from the bottom of the page up.) Perhaps I have a short attention span, or something to that effect, but I really just found it annoying more than anything – spending an entire class “reading” continuous Twitter. The only thing I did like about the whole “one or two sentences at a time thing” would be the suspense it creates. If the story really is interesting, readers will come back. It’s almost like a cliff-hanger after each tweet. Seeing as Tay’s Twitter Fiction is also posted on his blog, I’ll definitely have to check that out, to finish what I've read so far.

Twitter:
                I've always seen Twitter as more of a social network for people who feel the need to have their every move documented. However, this assignment changed my perspective of Twitter. That could be because we’re using it as a professional account for academic purposed, and aren't being naturally exposed to those parts of Twitter. Or, because I’m noticing that it can actually be somewhat resourceful. Depending on who you follow, we’re able to get updates from different things we’re interested in. For example, I follow the Boston Celtics, my favourite NBA team. That enables me to get the latest news on them. Also, hash tags can be pretty useful if you’re looking to know more about a certain subject. Or how several ideas can be related and associated with one another through a couple words. Again, like Twitter Fiction, it’s a cool way to get your ideas and your work out there. Anyone can see our tweets, worldwide. I’m not too sure how else we can use Twitter for classroom purposes, other than to promote our ideas or our work. Only I do think it’s a neat idea how we've done that already.

No comments:

Post a Comment