Settings Day--Using Twitter To Improve The Craft

Let's fly away, shall we? Let's make twitter do it with us.

Huh? Well, writers tend to use twitter for publicity or communication, depending on the size of our heads and our stage in the writing process. Let's take a break from that. Let's do a daily series this week using twitter for mind-travelling. I'll be exploring, seeing how far away I can get in just 140 characters, how much I can hone my craft--and you're welcome to join in or watch the trainwreck of humiliating/fabulous prose, your choice.

Today's twitter-game was settings. Can I transport us to a different place in 140 characters? Here's what I've got:

Rain trickles across a fading green dumpster in a narrow alleyway. A dark shadow, a superhero gone bad, stalks the rooftops above... ^_^
— Petre Pan (@petr3pan) April 3, 2013

The porch-swing creaked. The magnolias drooped. The withered hound dog melted in the shade, ears spilling over tree roots like wasted rum.
— Petre Pan (@petr3pan) April 3, 2013

Sand flicks across the sky, over the faces of the twin moons. It slips under my feet, my gaze, my skin, for miles. "Dumb droid." #guesswhere
— Petre Pan (@petr3pan) April 3, 2013

Blood drips from stalactites in flickering torchlight. Bones jut through piles of torn horseflesh. It reeks of smoke, iron, & dragon dung.
— Petre Pan (@petr3pan) April 3, 2013

A rainbow bolts thru cotton-candy pink clouds above lavender homes like gingerbread houses. A pegasus dances in the treetops. #guesswhere
— Petre Pan (@petr3pan) April 3, 2013

Kudos and a free critique to anyone who guesses where those #guesswhere places are.

So yeah, good practice. I think I do better when I'm writing scenes I feel an emotion about, rather than just describing a picture. The last one was kind of an 'eh...'? Tomorrow I'll work on dialogue.