First Time’s Disappointment, Second Time’s Enlightenment

November 22, 2022 By Joanna Chu

When I first set out to do this Twitter assignment, I tried to incorporate elements of short-form storytelling but found it oddly challenging and the results left me disappointed with myself.

I wanted to tell a story about a topical event that was happening to me which was receiving my MRI, finally after waiting 3, almost 4 months. I thought that this would be a good story to tell because there might be people who resonated with the long wait times, receiving a major injury and also find it educational. However, after I was re-reading my tweets and story, I found it very messy, at points un-engaging and honestly, rambling. This is the link to my first attempt. I wanted to keep it on my Twitter account as a great lesson and an example to learn from while putting the elements of snippet storytelling to life.

What I was able to determine and critique from my old tweets is that it didn’t do the job of capturing audience attention in a short span of time. It also did not have a clear focus or purpose. I jump from one topic of my MRI to the next topic of how I started playing hockey, etc. I thought that I was doing a good job of tying the story together but I think that there are ways I could’ve cut it down into less tweets that are more purposeful.

This is the link to my second attempt at live-tweeting. I think that this story does a better job of conveying a message in snippet form because it captures the audience’s attention and each tweet is short, sweet and purposeful.

Nick Reese thoroughly explains in this article, which important elements of storytelling we should include in Twitter threads. The setting, characters, plot, conflict and the inclusion of the story arc.

In my second set of tweets the following elements of story telling are outlined:

• Setting is established at beginning of tweets: bathroom/at home-this is a setting that many users can resonate with and may capture attention due to familiarity
• Characters in the set of tweets serve a purpose for the story. In this story, I am the narrator and Ryan, my partner and Penny, my unnamed dog are established as the main characters.
• The plot is established with the goal of bath time for my dog.
• Conflict arises when we run out of shampoo!
• The arc is complete when we end the story with a clean and beautiful dog.

In this story, I also strategically decided to cut down copy (compared to my old story) and use more photos, videos and gifs to evoke emotion and engagement. This is a true testament to how digital mediums can enhance stories in a fashion that is brief, purposeful and relevant.