Met in 5th grade. Broke up in college. Married after 'Nam. 3rd pregnancy, 1st born. For 50th, hospital food. Twin graves: only 2 with ferns.
140 characters, if that. But it spans a whole lifetime (ok, almost a whole lifetime: I didn't include birth, but I figured the omission was forgiveable). Now, whether it's actually good writing or not is debateable, but with the power of the imagination, something that has to be this concise can really mean something to the right person at the right time. There's a lot of potential questions that this short story brings up, but it still gives enough to guide the imagination in the way that I, the writer, initially intended.
That is why I find 'tweeting' short stories interesting and fun. Each story is low committment for both the reader and the writer. It also teaches me that in my more serious writing, sometimes the most complex of things can be said with just a few words. It tells me that at times the writer's biggest job is to let the reader do some of the work. Because, when you get right down to it, that's where most of the magic in a book--a story--really comes from.
At the end of the day, I'm going to continue writing these and experimenting. I'm sure there will be duds, but hopefully something special will pop up every now and again. And, hey, it's a great way to store a hell of a lot of potential ideas for future works!
Happy tweeting and stop by some time.
-Justin Key
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