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Adding layers of meaning through the use of a variety of different twiction techniques.

Read the following six words which Ernest Hemingway claims is his greatest ever story:

‘For sale: baby’s shoes, never worn.’

In pairs, write down a list of questions this would prompt the reader to think about.

What images did this give you as a reader?

We can see what Hemingway is trying to say – it gives the reader countless questions to ponder and imagine the answers to in their minds!

'Micro-fiction' develops precision, efficiency and allows us to consider the effect of each aspect of our writing with careful consideration.

There are different ways you can show your reader different things about the characters in your story and the relationships between them.

The first way you can show your reader something about your main character’s (and other characters’) personality is by choosing a TWID for them (Twitter ID) which can be a combination of LETTERS and NUMBERS!

For example, the character of the arrogant doctor with a god-complex and main character in Frankenstein, Victor, could be: @NotoriousDOC

WHAT DOES THIS SHOW US ABOUT HIM?

Or in Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet could be:

@DarcyLover1815

Pick three characters from the images below and come up with a TWID and a list of reasons why you chose that TWID and what it shows us about them:

Last lesson, we covered Tweets and what they showed us about a character’s state of mind.

Today , we are exploring different ways we can add layers of meaning to our characters – to show the reader what they think and feel about others in different formats to give variety to our writing instead of just tweet after tweet after tweet.

These give us an insight into a characters thoughts, actions, mood, situation; where they are, what they have been doing, who they are with and what they think about ALL it! N.B Tweets are usually in the first person and are announcements/comments from the main character's viewpoint/perspective (me, I) but you can use a variety of techniques to show these emotions (making comments about people or aiming your tweets directly at another character). Think of it as your character's VOICE! You are limited to 140 characters including spaces so don't be afraid to use abbreviations, emoticons and CAPITAL LETTERS to get your character's thoughts across.

From Hamlet (he tweets) Why is Claudius telling me what to do again? YOU'RE NOT MY REAL DAD! In fact you killed my real dad. :(

Direct Message (conveyed by putting a D before the username) - this can give us insight into the relationship between different characters and is more private than 'mentioning' them. You could even have a story where two characters send each other direct messages from time to time. This might be particularly appropriate in a romance. (see below)

From Romeo and Juliet (Romeo sends Juliet a message to symbolise the balcony scene)

D JulieBaby: What do you mean 'where am I?' I'm right under the balcony!

3) Mention - your characters can mention other people in their tweets and this can enable the reader to see more about the relationship between them –the openness of this function enables this!

From Macbeth (Macbeth, whose TWID is Big MAC, mentions Lady Macbeth in a tweet)

@LadyMac: THERE'S NOTHING ON YOUR HANDS! YOU'VE WASHED THEM 100 TIMES ALREADY!

Using the 'hash' key marks a post as being in a certain group or relating to a certain theme. Posts that share the same hashtag can be listed and viewed together. This can be quite useful for allowing us to see how a character feels about something that has happened, embellishing their thoughts on a particular situation by linking them to an abstract concept (hashtag winning, for example) or showing a sense of belonging to something (hashtag Team Edward) etc.

When used effectively at the end of tweets, the hashtag can be a tool for showing something extra about your character.

In pairs, spend 15 minutes writing some twiction involving at least two famous characters from a TV programme or film that you know.

Try to use a variety of techniques in your writing, including direct messages, mentions and hashtags to convey each character’s thoughts and feelings about particular situations or other characters.

◦ Let’s hear a selection of your efforts

◦ What do we learn about: Each character? Different relationships between characters?

HOW HAS THIS BEEN ACHIEVED?

Write down 5 tips you would give somebody whow as about to write some twiction.

You can email these tips to info@teentwiction.co.uk and they could feature on our website.