The Twiller. Using Twitter to write a thriller

Matt Richtel for Bits Blog explains wonderfully how he's using Twitter to write a novel.

"... Recently, a handful of creators (present company included) have scrapped pen and paper for mobile phone and keypad, and started texting their novels — in real time, just a few characters at a time. Our medium is Twitter, a service that lets you broadcast bursts of 140 characters at a time to be read by people who subscribe to get your updates.

... The appearance of my story on this new medium has apparently confused some people. But many of my newspaper colleagues write novels. I’ve already published one. This is just an experiment in a new medium.

Plus, it’s a short story with a proverbial long tail — albeit a short, long tail. Only about 400 people are reading the story — a few get added every few days. It’s whatever is the opposite of mass market."

I don’t know if the story will catch much attention, but, then again, it doesn’t require much attention at all."

emily | 6:00 PM | Twitter |
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