A plot twist can make or break a piece of literature. If done right, it offers readers a thrilling re-entry into the story. If done wrong, a twist can be clumsy and confusing.
We've been thinking about plot twists this month, as we read James McBride's abolitionist satire The Good Lord Bird in Mashable's social book club MashableReads. As the story follows the adventures of Little Onion, a rescued slave who has to pose as a girl to survive, readers are often confronted with narrative twists and surprises.
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For this month's MashableReads challenge, we want you to write a Twitter short story that surprises us with a significant plot twist. Submissions can be silly, like this:
The defendant sat in silence for 3 hours. Frustrated, the prosecutor screamed "Admit the murder!" The horse responded, "nay." #MashReads.— Socrates (@sockismyname) April 23, 2014
Or serious, like this:
They'd met in the kitchen. Married in the parlor. She'd miss the house, but lit the match anyway. #MashReads— Matt Shipman (@ShipLives) April 15, 2014
How to Enter:
Tag your short story tweets with the hashtag, #MashReads.
Each short story must be contained in a single tweet. No story may be longer than 140 characters (including #MashReads).
You can submit up to five stories (five tweets). Any additional submissions will not be judged.
We'll also be retweeting some of our favorite pieces of Twitter fiction from @mashlifestyle over the next week. And don't forget to join the online MashableReads discussion on Goodreads and Facebook.
You can find the official contest rules here.