full circle, 2 of 2: 2.0 literacy & literature

i forget how, exactly, or rather who, first tweeted me about @smallplaces, but i figured it was worth a look. "small places" is to my knowledge the first Twitter-book. it's a novel(la?) written via continuous tweets, and the followers can read at their leisure.

this is not for interacting. it's a 'bestseller' straight to your phone (or browser, as the case may be). in this way, just as the book was revolutionary for its time, and now internet has revolutionized communication, the two have met in realtime.

as a student of the history of the book, and as a 'digital native,' i figure it's my duty to give my two cents on the matter.

1] it's a really cool idea, otherwise i wouldn't have followed.
2] it is an essentially flawed idea, as i'm discovering.

POSITIVES
> it seems to at once take on what the internet can do for literacy and novel expression, and,
> it also seems to pick up where Palahniuk left off, with the desire to tell a story through slips of scenes, the heart of the matter; to try to express through minimalism but still move the reader.
[don't know what i mean? read the Afterword in a post-95 copy of Fight Club. thank me later.]

NEGATIVES
> unless i'm hooked up 24/7, i lose part of the story.
> the story moves slowly due to the 140 char limit.
..."i tie my shoes." "i shut the door and walk." etc.
[this does not belittle the story itself; i think it could be an interesting plot.]
> if i don't wish to be hooked up 24/7, it's difficult to read on the smallplaces twitterfeed because it moves in reverse (ie, i have to go "back" however many pages until i found where i last left off).

so, in summary, it's certainly an experiment worth watching. however, the medium may make me unable to follow the story in a cohesive sense. it would be, perhaps, worthwhile to do a chapter a week, and let everyone catch up during the next week, and continuing writing another chapter the week after. or, take a total leaf from Palahniuk by tying in a refrain to ground me in understanding as it moves along. or, craft it in such a way, like House of Leaves, where i don't necessarily have to follow along (well) to appreciate it.

Break in transmission...@smallplaces is a twitter-form novel experiment by @nlbelardes: ABC newsroom twitterer, novelist, human coffeedroid.