Embarking on the journey through Edgar Allan Poe’s gothic masterpiece, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” my Twitter live-tweet thread aimed to capture the essence of suspense and unravel the dark tapestry of the Usher estate.
Twitter Thread: x.com/sa125559/status/1725638128105623968?s=20
Initially inspired by the Wilde quote in this week’s TEDTalk video, I thought about recounting someone’s first reading of The Picture of Dorian Gray. But, this would have been far too ambitious. A natural, and maybe easy, way out was to take the intrinsically imbedded suspense built into the horror genre as the framework for my live-tweet saga.
The live-tweet thread commenced with a sense of anticipation, reflecting the excitement and trepidation of exploring a classic work of literature. This opening was to capture the audience’s interest from the start, aligning with Gary Vaynerchuk’s advice on hooking the audience.
The tweets strategically unfolded with the plot developments; the escalating tension within the tale transferring to my own reception and recounting. This technique was used to keep the audience engaged and eager to discover the next twist.
The thread followed a (somewhat) coherent structure, dividing the story into clear sections—beginning, middle, and end. Each tweet contributed to the overall narrative and provided a progressive flow while maintaining suspense and intrigue.
Applying the principles of the 8-point story arc from the Educational Tutorials, the Twitter thread’s tone highlighted the heightened stakes and suspense in the story. Elements of the crumbling mansion, Roderick Usher’s parallel fate, and the foreboding prophecy added layers of interest.
I was expecting Eric Goldschein’s article to hammer home the importance of plain language, but was pleasantly surprised with his advice that resonates with my writing philosophy: Writing for your readers. I also tried to include visual elements, a most fun perk of the writing assignments for this course.
Live-tweeting Poe’s dark tale allowed me to experiment with storytelling in a condensed format. The challenge lay in capturing the atmosphere and suspense of each plot development within the character limit. The thread aimed to bring the haunting narrative to a digital audience, combining classic literature with the dynamic nature of online storytelling. Digital advents like tagging, gifs, and hashtags foster a sense of community and engagement, an additional layer to storytelling I think Poe would have enjoyed.
For the full experience, check out the live-tweet thread here.
EXSM 3989 - Digital Storytelling Class Blog 