My 3 month long experiment in 140 character fiction posts ended on Sunday. You can read my serial fiction #futureJer on the Thaumatrope website here. The premise was pretty simple: I attempted to imagine my life 2 years into the future if our economy doesn’t get any better. It’s fairly grim, but has a touch of hope to it too. The cast were barely fictional versions of my family and friends, and it takes place in rural Kansas.
The Genesis of a Twitter Serial
Back before I was actually laid off, but knew the threat was looming, I was experiencing a lot of anxiety. On a whim, I decided to imagine how bad things could get to externalize my fears, and I started twittering this in the form of #futureJer. Within a couple of days, Nathan Lilly, the editor of Thaumatrope, direct messaged me and offered to pay me to do what I was already doing, at pro rates no less. It was an easy decision to make.
Postmortem
I never had any intention of telling a story when I started out doing this, but once I was offered money, I had to give it an arc. I introduced the elements of the pregnancy and the growing violence to develop the drama. I was happiest about the project when I was simply imagining our lives as essentially subsistence farmer/hunters. I find something deeply compelling about a life without work, where you simply grow your own food, maintain your own home, and enjoy life. I think we’re hardwired more for the hunter/gatherer or farmer life more than we are for working in offices.
The tone probably got even darker when I was actually laid off at the end of January. I sat down a few days later and wrote the entire month of February in an afternoon, plotting out the remainder. I suspect the final bit felt slightly more cohesive than the bits that led up to it.
Overall, it was an interesting experiment in writing on the fly, and hopefully I didn’t screw it up too much. Also, I hope it doesn’t turn from fiction to reality, because I don’t actually know how to build or repair wind turbines or castrate bulls, although I’m willing to learn if someone wants to teach me!
Obviously, asking you to write a #futureJer where things turn out for the better (I remember you even musing about this on Twitter) for @outshine is pointless?
I pay a measly $5 per tweet…;-)