The long and the short of marketing stories
Posted by Sandra Cosser on 10 Sep 2008 | Tagged as: Search Engine News
Some people don`t like short stories; they think that they don`t tell a complete tale and that the 10 or 15 minutes it takes to read them are a waste of time. I love short stories. I think that there is a lot to be said for brevity, plus it`s very convenient to be able to read a complete story in the time it takes for supper to cook or your better half to finish reading the news on the net. Some enterprising individuals have taken short stories to the extreme, however, as Ryan Paul reports in Ars Technica. These people are using microblogging services – Twitter and Identi.ca – to write short stories in episodes to 140 characters or less. Matt Richtel, a writer for the New York Times, is a pioneer in this field and has dubbed his project “Twiller” writing, as in a cross between thriller and Twitter writing.
I`ve had a look at Richtel`s efforts and I have to confess that I am not terribly impressed. It`s very disjointed and a little too avant-garde for me; although this is the very quality that Paul says he appreciates in the work. Brave New Fiction is trying something similar with a web application that allows writers to create stories 140 characters at a time, writers are only allowed to write one line a day, which presumably is an attempt to draw readers in and keep them hooked. Again, it`s a concept that, while original and interesting in theory, doesn`t work for me. It seems like too much hard work to keep track of a story that only progresses by 140 characters every day. I`ll admit that it probably takes a great deal of skill for writers to maintain, but as I reader, I lack the skills necessary to stay enthralled.
Instead I like the idea of very short stories, like the kind published in Wired magazine in 2006. The idea was based on a 6-word story written by Earnest Hemingway that he claimed was his best work. I`m not too sure if it qualifies as his best, but it certainly is compelling:
“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
Wired asked a number of well known sci-fi, fantasy and horror writers to come up with their own 6-word stories. Arthur C Clarke cheated and wrote a 10-word story:
“God said, ‘Cancel Program GENESIS.’ The universe ceased to exist.”
Which is pretty cool anyway, but the rest of the authors managed to stick to the 6-word limit. Some of the efforts were very clever, other less so, but they all prove that great writing doesn`t have to mean epic writing. For example:
Computer, did we bring batteries? Computer?
- Eileen Gunn
Gown removed carelessly. Head, less so.
- Joss Whedon
I`m your future, child. Don`t cry.
- Stephen Baxter
The baby`s blood type? Human, mostly.
- Orson Scott Card
Bang postponed. Not Big enough. Reboot.
- David Brin
Mind of its own. Damn lawnmower.
- David Brin
Copyblogger also launched a version of the very short story competition when they invited Twits to compose stories in 140 characters or less. First place went to Ron Gould for his time travel story:
“Time travel works!” the note read. “However you can only travel to the past and one-way.” I recognized my own handwriting and felt a chill.
And second place, which I actually think is better, but I prefer this kind of thing, went to Anthony Juiano:
Tony was a snitch, so I wasn`t surprised when his torso turned up in the river. What did surprise me, though, was where they found his head.
Where am I going with all of this and what does it have to do with SEO and SEM? It`s fairly obvious, super short stories are the perfect vehicle to spread brand awareness, introduce brands to the public and establish a reputation for originality and creativity, and just think of the viral potential of a really clever story. They`re quick, they`re easy, they`re attention grabbing and the memorable ones will linger long after a reader/consumer has moved on. Just off the top of my head, for example:
After a long day in the killing fields, John liked nothing more than relaxing with an ice cold coke.
Maybe not the precise angle that coke is looking for, but you get my drift.
Consumers` attention spans are shorter than they`ve ever been before, which means that the demand for innovation and creativity has increased. What better way to capitalise on a fidgety market than with micro-pocket-size word bites?
From Ars Technica: Wired's Very Short Stories
