Can we Twitter a novel? The Jane Austen fan production A Ball at Pemberley (2011) proves it’s doable. “T]ogether, tens of people from six continents would go on to write a 100,000-word novel!”, they explain.
It reads like so:
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that no diversion on earth so delights young people as the prospect of a ball, and a ball at Pemberley, that fine and celebrated house, in the beautiful county of Derbyshire, was a recreation devoutly to be wished!
Janeites used the hashtag #A4T to identify novel bits.
The Darcys were but lately married, and the ball was considered by the neighbourhood as the culmination of the wedding celebrations. Invitations were sent with dispatch, and many a young lady went to bed that night with her head full of happy cares. Many an older lady too, for the groom’s mother-in-law was perfectly convinced the ball was given principally for her gratification.
Volunteers also read the entire thing, available for your listening pleasure.
It’s useful to compare this to the Million Penguins wiki novel (my book, 66ff), which also succeeded quantitatively, but not qualitatively.
