What am I talking about? Cell phone novels, fad du jour. I'm 1,5011 words into my first attempt at writing one, having chosen one of two text novel applications I know of: Quillpill and Textnovel.
I've gone with Quillpill for one specific reason, although the latter appears to have far more features. Before I continue, let me disclaim that I possibly a) have missed or misinterpreted a feature here and there and/or b) either of these applications could add or change features at any time, as both appear to be in beta form. Feel free to learn me in the comments if either is the case. (Also, if there are other competing apps I've missed.) Both applications deserve a comprehensive review, which this is not.
That said, onward.
First, Textnovel. It seems to have a whole mess of features: reader rankings, the ability to assign a genre to your piece and create and title chapters, a coherent catalog from which to browse stories, a $1,000 contest and editor's picks list, reviews, hell. There's tons more. (Don't ask me about the cell-specific features, since I am accessing both of these apps from a browser on a regular old computer, owing to the fact that I have a prehistoric cell phone that pretty much works only as a phone). I intend to give this site a try, for sure. There is only one reason I chose Quillpill instead, for my first cell novel attempt, and we'll get to why in a minute.
Quillpill. Quillpill restricts each entry to 140 characters. Like a Tweet. In Textnovel, you can blather on per usual, without any character limit per chapter that I can discern. Quillpill has none of Textnovel's features I've mentioned above (in its current incarnation, anyway) which is rather frustrating in a number of ways. However, it is easy on the eyes (lovely design) and, owing to the 140 character restriction, actually makes you restructure your writing for mobile consumption, which is excellent practice for any writer who isn't in denial about the immediate future of fiction. What do I mean by that? Well, I wager that future fiction will prize brevity above florid language, owing to the micro-format in which it will be consumed. Writing a novel phrase by phrase makes you choose your words with care. It allows you to imagine a reader stopping and starting at any point, as (particularly mobile) readers do, and not just by arbitrary chapters the book form has imposed. If you're long-winded and prone to run-on sentences that flout the laws of syntax (cough cough), this form will shape you up quick. It's like running with hand weights (not that I would know anything about either running or hand weights, to be clear).
This structure actually got me writing, which is something I haven't done since 2005. A blank page has just seemed too Wild West for me, I guess. I don't have time to settle the prairie, I tell myself. But writing 140 words at a time? That I can do.
I'll close with the words of E. L. Doctorow: "It's like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way." (As it stands, I am pretty sure this particular car is as likely to end up in a gully with a blown tire as it is to reach any sort of literary destination, but you get the point.)
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