Well, your idea sounds feasible. I expect it's even been done -- just not on television. On the other hand, this kind of thing bothers me a little. It's a little like slam poetry or 9-ball, in that it's got some fundamental differences from the "actual" thing, yet gets accepted as an equivalent by the spectators.
Put another way: The skills required to create a scene in a few minutes are quite different from those required to create a larger work. (They're much more akin to the skills you need for sketch comedy writing, I should think.) I'm getting a mishmash of things running through my head. If anybody's seen *Staying Alive* [that ur-crappy *Saturday Night Fever* sequel], you might remember that it revolves around a "Broadway show" that seems to involve a bunch of random dance numbers and a lot of smoke -- it was like a full-scale foreshadowing of "So You Think You Can Dance" or "Dancing With The Stars". Or "American Idol", for example, where people get to pretend that skipping over the part of your performing career where you gradually develop skills and fortitude is a good thing (who needs experience?). Now, if the show were about sketch comedy, that would be fantastic and I'd probably watch. But it would bomb because everybody would know the payoffs by the :15m mark... On Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 3:24 PM, cd <[email protected]> wrote: > > Greenlight was about which finished screenplay to make. This would > be, who's the best playwright? You make them put something together > on the spot. And plays are better than TV or screenplays because they > would not come packaged with expectations of special effects. > > On Jun 30, 3:09 pm, Jonathan Sherwood <[email protected]> > wrote: > > That would be pretty cool. Wasn't there something like that a while back. > > Project Greenlight, or something? I never watched it, so I don't know. > > But the idea of doing fiction on a blog rather than a TV show would work. > > Imagine having a say in promoting good writing over dreck as it's > > developing. Put a literary contract as the prize and you'd get people > > writing hard for it. > > > > -- > > Jonathan Sherwood > > Sr. Science & Technology Press Officer > > University of Rochester > > 585-273-4726 > > > > On Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 2:58 PM, cd <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > That's a bad decision, frankly. Fiction production is boring from > > > beginning to end. What they should do is a playwrights reality show. > > > At the end of each episode, we would see the scenes by the > > > playwrights. People could literally watch the rehearsal process, the > > > (re)writing process, and watch the finished product. Only difficulty > > > is that the scenes would have to be 2 minutes long at the beginning. > > > > > On Jun 30, 2:42 pm, Jonathan <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Okay, this kind of thing may be one future of published fiction. If I > > > > were asked to participate, I think I'd do it. > > > > > > Sent to you by Jonathan via Google Reader: Victoria Strauss -- Fourth > > > > Fiction: (Yet) Another Literary Reality Show via Writer Beware Blogs! > > > > by [email protected] (Victoria Strauss) on 6/30/09 > > > > Regular readers of this blog will know that I have a small obsession > > > > with so-called literary reality shows. (Amazed that such things could > > > > even exist? See this recent post for a recap.) To date, seven of > these > > > > suckers have surfaced. Five never got past the planning and > > > > announcement stages. The jury's still out on the sixth (I'm not > holding > > > > my breath), and the seventh is still embryonic (not holding my breath > > > > there either). > > > > > > Now, however, there's a literary reality show that might actually go > > > > all the way. > > > > > > Fourth Night, a blog maintained by writer Constantine Markides, will > > > > launch FourthFiction, "the first blog-based literary reality show," > on > > > > July 4. Twelve writers will write original novels, which they'll post > > > > in tri-monthly installments, according to literary guidelines > provided > > > > by Mr. Markides. Readers will vote to eliminate one contestant per > > > > round. On December 4, the single survivor of all twelve rounds will > be > > > > announced. What does he or she win? Well, maybe nothing, apart from > the > > > > sense of achievement in having completed a novel in five months. But > > > > maybe a small-press publishing contract. Mr. Markides says that he > > > > approached several small presses at BEA to discuss the possibility of > > > > funding limited publication of the winner's novel. (Writer Beware-ly > > > > caveat: some small publishers are no prize, and a number of really > bad > > > > ones were at BEA. I hope Mr. Markides has thoroughly checked them > out.) > > > > > > The writers are anonymous--and some, apparently, have never written > > > > fiction before. They'll be Twittering at will during the month of > July, > > > > as a way of warming up and letting readers get to know their styles. > > > > The contest proper will begin on August 4. > > > > > > In my opinion, this is really the only way a literary reality show is > > > > possible. The writing process simply is not interesting to observe > (nor > > > > are writers--or if they are, it's generally not because of their > > > > writing), nor is it easy to come up with telegenic challenges > involving > > > > authoring ("Writers, give us 5,000 words on love and death while > > > > sitting at a sticky table in a noisy Starbucks with a latte that > isn't > > > > hot enough, using only one hand! You've got two hours--now go!"). > > > > Attempting a televised literary reality show is a recipe for failure > > > > (as Tony Cowell, Simon Cowell's brother seems to have discovered) or > > > > ridiculousness (as demonstrated by announced plans for The Ultimate > > > > Author, in which contestants were to vie hotly for supremacy in such > > > > vital authorial areas as spelling and arranging a room attractively > for > > > > a book club gathering). By putting all the emphasis on the writing, > and > > > > cutting image and identity out of the picture entirely, Fourth Night > > > > has come up with a literary reality show concept that actually seems > > > > workable. > > > > > > You can participate, or just observe, by subscribing to free email > > > > updates or Fourth Fiction's RSS feed. > > > > Things you can do from here: > > > > - Subscribe to Writer Beware Blogs! using Google Reader > > > > - Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your > > > > favorite sites > > > -- eric scoles ([email protected]) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. 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