Andrew vs. The Collective
A Fiction project in San Francisco, CA by Andrew Fitzgerald ·
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Update #7: "Search Engine Optimization" - Andrew vs. The Collective #3
Posted on February 23, 2010
Story #3 is live! You can download the PDF here or read it as HTML here.
This week presented a unique challenge. In order to attain the ultimate search engine optimization for the story I wanted to name-drop a lot of Internet people and institutions. Usually when I write these stories I have an Excel document open with all of your inputs. I map out on an outline where those all are going to go, and then I start plugging them in as I write. Having this list of proper nouns to name-drop meant that the list on my Excel document was twice as long this week!
I enjoyed writing about the present this time around (though it was sometimes difficult to remember to stay in the present tense). A lot of the people featured in this story are friends and acquaintances and it was a lot of fun to move them around in a fiction. Hopefully they're all pleased with how they came off.
My measure for success for this story is how many people we can get to read it. As I explained when I asked for submissions - this one is partly an exercise in drawing as many people to this project as possible. I'd be much obliged if you could post a link to the story on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or whatever - if you've got one. That's all part of Search Engine Optimization.
Awards this week:
Most villainous: This goes again to Craig Blalock who insisted upon an autobiographical element to the story as well as the scene at The Bayou Salt Lounge where I personally must be betting on Chicken Drop.
Most creative: Saheli Datta submitted a picture!
Submission about the Internet it took the most work for me to figure out:: Admittedly, I don't know everything about the Internet. And so it took a bit of research to tie Jayson Lorenzen's submission to the founding of Linux. (Jayson, let me know if I missed something with the Dover angle?)
My favorite setting this week: Amish Country! Great thinking Kevin Jackson. The most essential element in a story about the Internet is the setting in which there is absolutely zero Internet access.
My favorite character this week: Two way tie. Ninja of Die Antwoord (from Andrew Clark) was the most fun to write dialogue for. But C1alis (from Josh Heller) is the best character name I think I've ever encountered.
My favorite sentence this week: From Pam Torno: "If you were to invent a dish called Wu Tang Clams, what would you put in it?" Pam told me she was going to change her submission this week to be more Internet-related, but I'm glad she never did. This fit with Ninja like sugar and coffee.
My favorite word of the week: Actually from a sentence submission - Nick Lamb introduced me to the "unbrella": "The world's most expensive umbrellas and outdoor gear. You CAN'T afford it."
This week's soundtrack: Admittedly all I listened to this week was Dr. Dog. Here are a few tracks:
Ain't it Strange
The Breeze
And they've got a new one out: Shadow People is on this page.
We're halfway there! I've still got another three stories to write and you've still got three more chances to try and stump me. I'm not sure yet if there'll be a theme to Story #4, but I will be traveling cross-country while I write it - so if that inspires anybody, let me know.
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on March 12, 2010.
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CHALLENGER: You get to submit one adjective per story. // You'll receive: You get to follow along with the project with all of the emails and digital PDFs backers receive. (But that's it. No novel.)
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ADVERSARY: You get to submit one noun per story. // You'll receive: All the emails and digital PDFs AND a copy of my very first novel The Collective.
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FOE: You get to submit one sentence per story. (Think about the power you'll wield!) // You'll receive: Emails and PDFs, obviously. And I will mail you a SIGNED copy of my book.
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ENEMY: You get to submit a character. Give me a name and as much or as little of a description as you want. (You can have some fun with this one: Your friends or family, historical figures, even yourself!) // You'll receive: Emails and PDFs and the signed copy of The Collective.
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NEMESIS: You get to submit a setting in which some of the action has to take place. As with the character you can give me as much or as little as you want. // You'll receive: Everything above AND (here's the big one) a signed printed book of the six stories making up Andrew vs. The Collective! I'm not planning on making this one available for sale - so this will be a very rare commodity (that you helped to write!).
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EVIL DOPPLEGANGER: Send me an email. No, seriously. You can give me any direction you want. Anything you can come up with. Just send me an email. // You'll receive: Everything above and I will include your name in the acknowledgments of The Collective as you are truly a giving benefactor for my writing career.
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I'm a media-creator and journalist. I've been trying to write novels since I was five years old (Hardy Boys: Case of the Pirate Treasure) but I just finished my very first one (The Collective). When I'm not excitedly hammering out first drafts or slogging through re-writes, I do online news for San Francisco-based Current TV.
Loved the inclusion of Grabblin for catfish in the Pearl. That was genius!
Loved it. Especially that bit of Deus ex Machina at the end :)
Too funny! You should hyperlink the viral YouTube videos. And dang me that I did not submit the "I Like Turtles" zombie!