Advice to aspiring writers usually includes these words: "Write more." More words. More pages. More chapters, poems, articles.

But I have a different suggestion: To become a better writer, write less.

No, not less frequently. But with fewer words. Lots fewer. As in... no more than 140 characters' worth.

What? And why?  Continue reading...

If your interest is piqued by Nancy Friedman's introduction to TwitterLit (TwitLit? Twitterature?), check out more on these "byte-sized stories" from Ars Technica.

"Theirs was a New York love, a checkered taxi ride burning rubber..." So begins the winner of the 2008 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, in which competitors write incredibly bad opening sentences to incredibly bad novels. Read the full results here.

It's Bulwer-Lytton Contest time! Catch up on "the funniest opening sentences from the worst novels never written."

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

Son of It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

Bride of Dark and Stormy

Dark and Stormy Rides Again

Hanzi Smatter is a blog "dedicated to the misuse of Chinese characters in Western culture." Find out what that tattoo really says.