Telling a story in 140 characters or less

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2009

NEW YORK (AFP) — Arjun Basu writes short stories. Very short stories.

"I'm doing 140-character stories on Twitter," said Basu, one of scores of authors, poets and other creative types who are downsizing their literary talents to the limited format of the hot micro-blogging service.

"I call them Twisters because everything on Twitter has a stupid name," the 42-year-old Basu told AFP at the 140 Characters Conference, a two-day talkfest devoted to all things Twitter held in New York this week.

"Each story has a beginning, a middle and an end," said Basu, a Canadian, who readily acknowledges that he has developed a greater following on Twitter than for his more traditionally published works.

"I'm now at over 6,000 followers on Twitter," the Montreal-based Basu...