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I live tweeted Season 10, Episode 7 “Festival Week” of the Great British Baking Show on Thursday night. The Signature Challenge was making twenty-four festival buns and it was a tight schedule. Paul Hollywood gave handshakes to Steph and Henry which is a rarity.

For the technical bake, the bakers had to make twelve Sicilian cassatelle which look like hot pockets filled with ricotta and chocolate. No one knew what they were supposed to look like and Alice and Michael’s burst open in the fryer. Rosie won that challenge.

The bakers had to design and bake kek lapis Sarawak cakes for the Showstopper. Sarawak cakes have many grilled layers and look amazing. Rosie and David burned some of their layers. Henry was named Star Baker and Michael was sent home.

There is one thing guaranteed to catch my attention no matter what I’m doing, whether I’m scrolling through Instagram and TikTok, or just strolling down the sidewalk — an adorable dog. Given the amount of social media accounts devoted to four-legged friends, I’m certainly not alone in this. So, for my live-tweet storytelling, I decided to focus on my dog Oliver’s trip to the groomer.

I always make sure to cut his fur short before true Edmonton winter hits. This way, he has a chance to grow back some of his coat by the time the snow falls, but I’m also not forced to deal with a tangled Chewbacca lookalike come February.

Telling the story from the perspective of the dog allowed me to play with some of the elements of suspense shown in the video we watched this week. As the video stated, the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. To a dog, basically everything is unknown — though he knows that a car journey means we’re going somewhere, he has absolutely no clue where it will be.

I started by establishing stasis, and shared a picture of Oliver at his daily post — perched on the arm of the couch, snout nudging the curtains aside as he monitors what’s going on in the street in front of the house. From a car parallel parking to a woman pushing a stroller on a mid-day walk, there’s a lot to monitor!

I introduced the ‘trigger’ of the story by showing a close-up of his paws on an iPad, open to a calendar.

I was reminded of the concept that stories should be universal, and thought that the idea of a calendar invite would be something that a lot of people are familiar with. I mean, who isn’t overloaded with Zoom invites and meetings?

In order to mix things up a bit, I opted to include a short video clip to kick off the quest portion of the short story arc and show his excitement at heading down the deck stairs and towards the garage. I also introduced some tweets from Oliver’s perspective, implying that he strongly felt the plan was to head to the dog park. I felt this would be a way to highlight the surprise element of the story. There’s a tweet in which Oliver realizes something fishy is going on, and finally, he recognizes that the trip isn’t to the dog park after all.

The spot was bustling, with two other dogs there for lunch-time drop-off. They had a new display of different seasonal treats, including a frosted snowflake cookie. In order to respect the groomer’s social distancing rules, I didn’t take any pictures while I was actually dropping him off — it’s quite a small space and Oliver was busy sniffing around the big golden retriever nearby! Instead, I decided to get creative and look for a GIF that I felt would express his emotions at the climactic moment of realization. I quickly found one from The Office, which I obviously selected because who doesn’t want a little Michael Scott in their Twitter thread?

I also introduced the idea of bargaining for treats as a way to show Oliver navigating the critical choice. While the reader of the thread knows that the grooming appointment is inevitable — worst case scenario, a 12 pound dog is quite easily scooped up and carried in — from Oliver’s perspective, he’s making the choice of whether to go in or refuse and stay in the car.

I built to a climax with a tweet showing Oliver’s fear that he may never emerge from the appointment.

For the reversal component of the 8-point story arc, I included a picture of Oliver, post-haircut, and I resolved the treat-focused element of his critical choice by showing a picture of him sniffing the cookie.

Finally, I brought the thread to a close by returning to the scene of the first shot to establish his new stasis — he continued his favourite activity of looking out the window and watching what’s going on in front of the house, but he did so with a new ‘do

You can see the full Twitter thread here, including a picture that shows off a seasonal Halloween bandana that was removed approximately 15 seconds after the image was taken, hence the lack of wardrobe in the final image of the thread.

Full story thread

Short Summary: The protagonist gets a text message from their husband late at night and goes to pick them up with their dog.

My livetweet thread is based off of an old story I wrote back in 2018 for a Creative Writing class. It was a 4.5 thousand word monster that, even to this day, takes 600 years to read and all my willpower not to jettison my only digital copy into the sun.

Despite this, I figured that I might as well put all those hours I’ve spent workshopping this story to good use.

Some of the feedback I got regarding my story were the following:

• the writing was too extravagant
• not knowing the gender of the protagonist distracted from the reading experience
• the middle to end of the story was confusing to read

I thought by transcribing my story’s middle into a livetweet format, I’d be able to address all of the issues, while creating an engaging story for Twitter.

Lots of details had to be cut for the twitter story, including some key genre elements, but since Twitter has a 280 character limit, I’d thought it’ll be better to simplify everything. In addition, since one of the advice given in the readings was to write the way you talk, I went for an even more focused approach and tried my best to show and not tell using practices that would most engage a digital audience.

_{The original story can be read here but I don’t recommend it as the tenses are all over the place.}

The Story Spine of The Twitter Thread

Once Upon a time… there was a person with a twitter account (we shall name this unnamed protagonist: P).

Every day… P liked to sleep through the night uninterrupted. Like a normal person.

But, one day… P woke up to a text from their husband, Quinn, begging to be picked up from an unknown location after getting assaulted by another unknown person, named Betty White.

Because of that… P has to leave the comfort of their bed to go pick up a drunk Quinn who has inconvenienced a senior citizen.

Because of that… P enters a wooded area to pick up Quinn when they lose their dog.

Because of that… P runs through the woods in a frantic state of mind, trying to find their dog in almost pitch black. The light from their flashlight doesn’t help as much as they’d like

In the mean time, they’re trying hard to remember an old jumpscare video that took place in the woods, much like the ones they are in now

Because of that… P gets even more scared and extremely paranoid about all of their surroundings. They are now almost an hour in the woods and alone with only a sliver of light for vision.

Until finally… P starts to think there’s something behind them when it gives chase. 10 minutes later, it is revealed it is only Quinn, their husband.

They are still paranoid, which leads to a cryptic

To which they do not update the twitter thread for 20 minutes, whereas they were previously updating every ~10 minutes. When they do update, they reveal that the two of them are now back home and P is going to take a Nyquil, presumably to fall asleep as soon as possible to escape their night out in the woods

And, ever since then … life returns to normal except P’s dog is still missing.

I decided to do a story on Halloween, there was just so much content that I could find. 

I went on a road trip and started taking pictures, taking you through what most people go through with their families to get ready for one of the Biggest days of the year Halloween.

This year I noticed the decorations and pumpkins started appearing after Thanksgiving, and some really go all out with full displays of whatever is scary.   

In Grande Prairie there are 2 massive warehouse stores both set up and they have every costume imaginable for purchase.

The old favorites are still front and center, as Batman still has a costume out and so does Superman, they really have stood the test of time. 
Masks featuring Chucky, Jason from Friday the 13th Fame, plus all kinds of clown masks and T shirts.

Wherever your imagination takes you I am sure you will be able to find a costume or mask 

Being the city has an average age of 32 Halloween is a Big Deal every year but especially this year, even with the pandemic people feel caged up and want to get out.

I have seen several online polls and I believe it will be busy on the streets with the youngsters gathering up as much candy as they can find.

Some might not be aware of this, but Halloween is a huge economic driver it is one of the largest shopping seasons of the year.

I tried to have fun with this story using humour to help engagement for the overall story, I feel that people have enough pressure right now, I wasn’t into making it too serious.

Enjoy  

 Halloween

How Amazon Prime’s star-studded TV series — and non-stop sob fest — sets the bar for an exceptional narrative

I confess that before this weekend, the sum total of my Anne Hathaway viewing was in 2001 when I humoured my sister by going to see The Princess Diaries, an infuriatingly trite rags-to-riches tale about an awkward American teen who suddenly becomes, well, a princess. Let’s just say that while my sister appreciated my willingness to accompany her to watch her guilty pleasure, she could have done without my snarky “oh, c’mon” after each cliché I had to endure.

I’m happy to report that American storytelling — and Anne Hathaway — redeemed themselves over the weekend with a harrowing story of love that at once entertained, challenged and completely surprised me. A rare feat. Here are three ways the Amazon Prime series Modern Love did it. (And yes, spoilers galore will follow.)

Make the everyday relatable

In episode three, “Take Me as I Am, Whoever I Am,” Hathaway plays Lexi, a over-achieving New York entertainment lawyer looking for love. And why not? She’s quirky, beautiful and — it appears — can sing and dance like a Broadway star. (Yup, definitely shed her awkward Princess Diaries years.) Our story opens with Lexi in an agonizingly familiar moment for those of us who are single — staring at her computer about to update her dating profile for the umpteenth time. It’s that classic “Once upon a time” setup, but also what storytelling savant Kenn Adams would call an “Every day” moment — the context we need to understand this protagonist, her universe and her motivation.

Dating profile aside, things seem to go well for Lexi one morning as she chats up an irresistible beau in the produce aisle of a supermarket, then quickly agrees to an impromptu and flirtatious breakfast.

Then … disrupt the everyday

Lexi is on Cloud Nine. Her post-breakfast saunter to her car literally turns into a song-and-dance number — a visual metaphor for the irrepressible delight of this character. As she gushes to her work friend, Sylvia, we sense, however, that Lexi and love don’t last. “I thought you were seeing that musician guy,” Sylvia asks, puzzled. “It wasn’t a match,” says Lexi, to which her friend snaps, “You’re way too choosey.” Unphased, Lexi gets ready for her next date with produce guy — a hint of what Adams would call a “But, one day …” moment.

You see (spoiler!), Lexi has bipolar — a secret she’s kept since she was 15 and one that leads to debilitating bouts of bed-ridden depression. Lexi tries to make good on a second and even a third date with her supermarket super-hunk, but the timing of her mood conspires against her. “I’ve had the flu,” she stammers on date number two, searching for one of many excuses she’s trotted out over the years. But this time, the excuses run dry and Lexi spirals, unable to bounce back. She loses her new love interest, her job and almost Sylvia’s friendship.

This conflict-riddled part of the story is what Adams calls the “dire consequences for having broken the routine” — the routine being Lexi’s perpetual rebounding and covering up the dark mystery in her life. Her pain is real and relatable as she sobs in bed, her date walking away into the night. “Surely there’s someone out there who will take me for who I am,” Lexi’s voice over pleads.

And finally … a refreshing surprise

At this point you might be thinking, as I did, that Lexi’s wish is about to come true. Produce guy will sprint back and take Lexi for who she really is. The end.

Not so fast! What elevates Modern Love here is that the climax — the penultimate ingredient of Adams’ story arc — completely caught me off guard in heartbreaking fashion. As Lexi grimly leaves her office for the last time, Sylvia asks, “Can we get coffee?” What follows is an agonizing scene in which Lexi can no longer escape the antagonist. Herself. “I’m bipolar,” she tells Sylvia, followed by an avalanche of reasons why she’s such an “impossible” friend.

Lexi’s bravery is rewarded. Sylvia holds her gaze and asks questions, ready to accept Lexi for who she is. Suddenly, Lexi no longer has to live her darkest moment alone. In the final scene — the moment Adams terms “And, every since then …” — Lexi is back at her computer. After baring all with her diagnosis, she confidently signs off her dating profile: “This is me. If this doesn’t scare you off, feel free to leave me a message.”

Modern Love succeeds as so many good stories do by getting us to care about the protagonist and the stakes she’s up against. What exalts this story from good to great is how it defies the “Prince Charming” trope by making Lexi the one who needs to save herself. Her courage is raw, honest and, most of all, real to life. That true-to-the-character plot twist is something that Pixar, the undisputed champions of animated storytelling, would applaud, and it made my weekend.

Incredible to think that Disney, creator of The Princess Diaries and many other predictable storylines, now owns Pixar. Now that’s another plot twist I didn’t see coming!

The Story Spine

Here is a quick summary of Adams’ storytelling format, the Story Spine — created in 1991 but still relevant today:

1. The Beginning: “Once upon a time …” The world and routine of the protagonist is established.
2. The Event: “But one day …” The routine is disrupted.
3. The Middle: “Because of that …” The dire consequences of the disruption play out.
4. The Climax: “Until finally …” Our hero seeks to overcome the adversity.
5. The End: “And ever since then …” The hero is victorious (or fails) and establishes a new routine.

One of my favorite movie is Buddy the Elf. This movie instills Christmas’s spirit and magic and takes you back to being a child and the excitement of anxiously waiting for Santa’s arrival.

Following Pixar’s storytelling rules, Buddy the Elf has a structure, purpose, and an underdog that will charm you right from the start.

Who else couldn’t help root for Buddy as he sets out on his journey to meet his dad, passing through the seven n levels of the candy cane forest, through the sea of swirly-twirly gumdrops and then walking through the Lincoln Tunnel?

Great stories have a clear purpose and structure, which are evident right from the movie’s start. Following The Story Spine concept created by Kenn Adams, Buddy the Elf’s story looks like this:

ONCE UPON A TIME:
A baby crawled into Santa’s sack at an orphanage, was brought back to the North Pole by mistake, named Buddy, adopted and raised by Papa Elf.

EVERYDAY:
As Buddy grows up, he believes he’s an elf, but struggles to do the everyday elf tasks like making toys when he discovers he isn’t an elf but a human. Papa Elf explains that his parents are Walter Hobbs and Susan Wells and that he was given up for adoption. Susan has since died, and Walter works as a children’s book publisher at the Empire State Building in New York City. He then learns the shocking news that his dad is on the naughty list due to his selfishness. Armed with a snow-globe of the Empire State Building Buddy sets out to meet his dad.

ONE DAY:
Once in New York, Buddy experiences the world’s best cup of coffee, then makes his way to his father’s office to meet his dad. Walter Hobbs dismisses Buddy as some crazy Christmas-gram, and he’s escorted out of the building. He finds himself in Gimbels department store where he’s mistaken for an employee and told to get back to work in the toy department, where he meets Jovie, who he is instantly smitten with. Learning that Santa will be arriving tomorrow, Buddy gets to work decorating. Once Santa arrives, buddy joins the kids’ excitement and immediately realizes this is NOT Santa. He goes on to tell him that he’s an intruder and smells like beef and cheese. As he removes his fake beard and calls him an imposter, a fight breaks out, and Buddy finds himself sitting in a jail cell; he calls the only person he knows, his dad. Walter bails Buddy out and takes him to get a DNA test, which confirms that he is indeed his son.

BECAUSE OF THAT:
Buddy continues to walk through the streets when he sees Santa’s sleigh in the sky, crashing into Central Park. He makes his way to Santa, who informs him that his engine fell off and that there isn’t any Christmas spirit anymore, and his sleigh can’t fly without it. As Buddy is off looking for the engine, he runs into his dad and Micheal. Walter apologizes, and Buddy brings them back to meet Santa and devise a plan to get his sleigh to fly. As Walter is distracting the Central Park Rangers, who all don’t like Santa for putting them on the naughty list, Micheal takes Santa’s list and gets the attention of the news camera that have gathered outside Central Park, trying to prove that Santa is real and he needs everyone to believe, so his sleigh will fly.
Jovie sees Micheal on TV and heads down to see how she can help. Recalling how Buddy told her “the best way to spread Christmas Cheer is sing loud for all to hear”, she starts singing “Santa Claus is coming to Town” to help lift the Christmas spirit.

UNTIL FINALLY:
Buddy gets Santa’s engine fixed, and they are trying to fly over New York City; Walter has now joined Micheal and Emily with the crown that has started to sing with Jovie. Realizing Walter is pretending to sing, Emily gives him heck, and he finally bursts out, signing as Buddy and Santa fly overhead, proving that the spirit is in us all.

AND EVERY SINCE THEN:
A year later, Walter has started his own publishing company with a best-selling children’s book about Buddy’s adventures in New York City. Buddy and Jovie have married and have a daughter named Susie, and they take her to visit Papa Elf in the North Pole.

Seventeen years later, I still start each holiday season with this movie, and my son loves it just as much as I do, especially the fantastic use of witty, comical one-liners. I’m relieved Will Farrow would not agree to a sequel; this story doesn’t need a new chapter.

A lifetime ago, an enormous part of my job was interacting with children and teaching them about humane education, dog bite prevention, kindness to animals, and the purpose of an animal shelter. Part of my strategy was to leave a lasting impression on the children I interacted with. Excluding live animals, the best way to do that was to include books that illustrated the important parts of those topics. Over the course of seven years, I amassed many books, some great and others, not so much. I did manage to find a handful of favourites that I would read over and over again, though. Every of those handful of favourites, one book still sticks in my mind (and sits on my personal shelf) more than ten years later. 

“Before You Were Mine”, by Maribeth Boelts, is a tale about a young boy and his newly adopted puppy. The boy begins the story by considering all the possibilities of what his puppy might have experienced before he was adopted. The boy imagines that the puppy might have had another name or even had another boy who loved him and was proud of him. He wonders if, perhaps, the family didn’t understand how challenging puppies could be or maybe, just maybe, they couldn’t keep the puppy because their living situation changed. The boy even suggests that the family didn’t realize, “if your dog runs away, you look for him… until you find him”. 

The protagonist discusses the loss of an old family dog and how he’s certain he could never love another dog like he loved her, but then… “there was… you.”

The story ends as the boy decides that it doesn’t matter where his puppy came from, because he has found a forever home with him.

It all comes down to emotion

Truth be told, I have never made it through this story without, at the very least, becoming rather verklempt. The first time I read it, I sobbed at my desk, which is exactly the reaction one is hoping for when auditioning books to be apart of a program that requires them to be read out loud… to group of strangers. I don’t remember the exact number of times I had to read it out loud until I could do it without blubbering, but trust me when I tell you, it was more than ten.

The line that always does me in is: “Before you were mine… they couldn’t have known what they had in a dog like you… or they never would have let you go”.

My visceral response to this story is a direct result of lived experiences and one of the main reasons why I connect with it so deeply. Some of my best dogs were dogs that were left behind when plans changed and things got tough. With love, understanding, and a lot of training, those dogs became everything they should have been and more than I could have ever expected. Over the years, I have often wondered about their first families and if they truly knew what they left behind and felt great sadness for all the love they missed out on.

Maribeth Boelts’ clever use of empathy, emotion, and relatability in this story is the winning combination for me. Yes, the plot is simple (though, great stories always have a simple plot when you get right to it), but this book allows the reader to stop and consider how their actions affect others and how the simple act of adopting a dog can change the world for more than just that dog.

If you’re ready to locate your own “Before You Were Mine” dog, the Edmonton Humane Society is good place to start.

(If you are too impatient to wait for the book to come in the mail, you can find a reading of the book via the Literature Guide Podcast here.)