Nein Rooms
You may remember I had an idea for a blog-based sitcom drama called Nine Rooms, based around the postings of a bunch of characters living in London.
I wrote the plot and produced/directed it and had one of the five characters. The rest were taken up by writers in the States and the UK.
It never really took off, and here’s why:
1. I can not write for women
In the plots they either came out as nymphos or victims. Or nympho victims. I’m not the best fiction writer anyway, but I suck at writing for women.
2. I do not have time
This blog is getting some readers, which is an amazing validation, but it takes time and I don’t have the time to put into doing another online project as well as family life, work and other creative stuff I enjoy doing.
3. Inclings
My satisfaction at churning the script out every Tuesday slowly turned into a palpable sense of relief at getting shot of it, often well after the deadline. That’s a sign, right?
So. Would I read a blogcom drama? No. I would think it’s a great idea, but I wouldn’t. And it was a great idea, but then so is liquid soap, but how many people actually bother?
My point is:
I overestimated the level of reader committment.
And it’s not them, it’s me. People don’t want high committment, and there’s no point in continuing doing something just because you’ve put a lot of effort into it. Any investment is all and only about the future and its cost to you.
Would I go someone to read something on a set day of the week and then have to go and read something else so I could make sense of the first thing? And then go and read a third thing to find out what the other person thought of that thing that happened?
No I would not.
In Buddhist terms: know what you know, know that you don’t know.
People want quick posts. Ironically, this is not one, but they want (I think) posts about stuff, like, I don’t know, the thought process of quacking at ducks.
——————–
Three Word Story
“You don’t understand your power over the common man,” said Alistair Campbell.
The words seemed to echo endlessly around their cell. Digging a tunnel had proved fruitless and oddly phallic. Finding a vein had been the laborious task ahead, but they opted to forge ahead while singing “We Are The Champions”.
It wasn’t until they stopped singing that they realised
Latest three words by mike @ troubled diva
What happens next? Up to you.
One story, three words at a time.
Email your three words
October 5th, 2006 at 9:03 am
Yes, the reason that I didn’t go for Nine Rooms was that I had to look at five different sites to get the jist. And there was a lot of repetition as well, because multiple characters would be detailing the same events.
Perhaps if each character had updated on a different day of the week, it would have been more digestible. I dunno, good on you for giving it a go though.
October 5th, 2006 at 9:14 am
I’m too linear-minded, and want information revealed to me in a pre-determined order. Also, it felt awfully complicated, requiring quite a lot of memorising of characters and details so that differing accounts could be compared with each other. So you never got a sense of “completion” at the end of any one post, just a weary feeling that you had to go and read a whole load more. I’m afraid that I gave up almost immediately, sorry. But, yes, good on you for trying something different.
October 5th, 2006 at 9:30 am
It needed a lot of committment and concentration. Two things that blogs don’t instill in many people.
I’m not sure I would have read it after a few weeks, so that’s saying something. So people didn’t go for it. If they had, I would by now be sitting on top of an amazing project. At least I’m not wondering what would have happened if I had tried.
Thanks fellas.
October 5th, 2006 at 10:06 am
Woo-hoo Dude! LOL! Awesome!
October 5th, 2006 at 10:52 am
How many of us wish we could say ‘well, tried that, but it didn’t work’?
Quite a few I bet. Most of us have musings that turn into ideas and plans and hopes but rarely action.
You should be dead proud of yourself, to have got so far.
Maybe you could ask a woman to help you next time?
October 5th, 2006 at 11:45 am
I had two women working on it - and it still didn’t work.
There were five of us.
October 5th, 2006 at 7:04 pm
Oh. I liked it.
Can it not be adapted?
October 5th, 2006 at 7:56 pm
Well since you already said it yourself (about writing women), I really feel like Claire would have had an awful time at the football match (I felt like you wanted Nick to be this awful guy but then you kept pulling back because you also wanted him to be likeable because it was YOU writing him)…haha but for my two weeks it was a fun ride to write something a little different.
But I think it’s a concept that still has almost limitless potential and you will always be a trail blazer!
(I think at this stage, it might require a group of known fiction writers who already have a fan base to bring and who have more autonomy over their individual character…and enable the audience to pick one primary character, each with their independent storyline, but with a “B-story” that involves the others, that they focus on instead of having to read five different entries to get the gist, but not quite really…I also think the minute we took a break from posting it was doomed, because any potential fan would click on it and say, “Oh, they stopped doing it, why bother.” And also the “big things” you were withholding until traffic picked up could have been the very things to *cause* traffic to pick up…but anyway. What do I know?)
But I enjoyed my very brief participation and think it was a pretty ballsy and commendable project for you to undertake!
October 5th, 2006 at 8:27 pm
… and I enjoyed my very brief participation as a reader. I wish I’d stuck with it. I guess one problem with something like this is that it probably wasn’t best suited to people who just want to dip in and out of things.
It must have been worth it, even if only for this blog entry title. I’m almost wondering if you orchestrated the whole thing because you couldn’t think of another reason to use “Nein Rooms”. Genius.
October 5th, 2006 at 8:46 pm
Thanks Christie - it wasn’t for lack of you rocking.
Potential is a big leap of faith, but one that we can be proud to have made.
Sorry Sooz. There is talk of a stage version, but we’ll see what happens. Thanks for sticking with it.
Wend - You’re right. But I’m a dipper. That’s what I do. I dip. I’m not that different from you or Mel or Mike or Murphy. OK, maybe not Murphy.
Point is, I don’t have that much commitment to websites and I’m a regular schmoe. If I start reading and it takes up too much of my time, I feel suffocated. I have to get out.
Once, I visited one website (let’s call it the BBD) and I didn’t even read it. Then, I opened another browser and read another website in a different window. I have been known to visit several websites in one night. I am not proud of this, but at least I can admit it.
October 5th, 2006 at 10:57 pm
I enjoyed it while it lasted. I thought Joey and Alan were wierd though.