Eleven Lives in Twelve Tweets
A collective self-portrait of ENGL 143N
As I’d done last year, I asked each student in my fall 2018 creative nonfiction workshop to try encapsulating their lives or sense of self in 140 characters or less — in a tweet, that is. The idea behind the exercise was to encourage the students to think of how they might sketch themselves, quickly, as a character, with the understanding that they might be both boxed in and liberated by the absurd constraint on the length of their self-portrait. I added two tweets of my own to the mix. Here’s what the exercise produced.
Strong affinity to capybaras. Will over-quote your favorite song. “Sees both sides like Chanel.” Will one day empty out his drafts folder. Fully online and hating it.
A growing bubble of conflicting thoughts and emotions. Ready to burst any day now.
Throughout my life my best friends have been indulgent listeners.
Traveling on the scenic route, he carves his initials into trees and sneaks pictures of fruit. On the map, he discovers deeper vineyards.
A decidedly empathetic miss with a, like, super chill vocal fry and frizzy big curls ready to mask her day-to-day anxiety disorder.
Big huge baby who makes him tuck in the sheets and everyone know who was responsible for mom’s birthday slideshow
A virus paralyzed one of my vocal cords last year, and I’d love to write a song cycle — Melodies for a Single Vocal Cord. A limited range is still a range.
Will often complain about the ‘boring suburb’ I grew up in but also credit my writing — a need to imagine elsewhere — to exactly that.
Stacks of half-read, well-loved books on the bedside table — Didion, Cortázar, Zoller Seitz. Naturally, I give Mad Men a fifth rewatch.
Has a bad habit of forgetting things — socks, shoes, jackets, texts, appointments, and friends. But always remembers to smile.
Obsessive planner who strives to live spontaneously, but can’t seem to find an appropriate place to pencil it in on her planner.
I believed in Santa Claus longer than I believed in God.
