I think pieces like this are a lot of fun, similar in certain aspects to the one last week about the new trends in French fast-food. It shows the diversity of the market and what is possible with a little ingenuity and luck, and reminds me of the stories that were everywhere about the creators of YouTube when Google took over.
Considering the fact that these “fanboys” can make or break multi million dollar productions, I would like to see more about what they make. The article mentions that one group of writers makes a decent salary from adds on google, but there is no mention of real numbers, a surprise considering the number dropping that occurs throughout the piece.
The reference to the underperforming Grindhouse production was refreshing and pulled me back into the piece, although I had already lost much of my interest by the time I was reaching the end. It just goes on and on. I feel like there are too many examples, all of which feel very similar and not enough variation. I don’t need multiple sources of proof.
Earlier on there were a couple vivid descriptions, such as the first paragraph.
“He is the fanboy, the typically geeky 16-to-34-year-old male (though there are some fangirls) whose slavish devotion to a pop-culture subject, like a comic-book character or a video game, drives him to blog, podcast, chat, share YouTube videos, go to comic-book conventions and, once in a while, see a movie on the subject of his obsession. And he's having his way with Hollywood.”
I found this to be creative and telling. In a single sentence the author managed to paint a picture of the individuals he would talk about for the rest of the piece. Simple and effective.
Overall I find myself engaged and interested in the subject matter, but struggle to finish the piece. Something needs to change about half way through….
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2 comments:
I also thought it was a fun piece, which is why I picked it. After reading Writing For Story I can see how the piece lost the readers interest. The writer tends to focus on too many faces instead of picking just a few. The really good parts of the piece directly paint a portrait of a fanboy, and for me when it seems to slow down she is usually pumping out numbers, statistics and what movies did well or not.
Working in those tedious, boring but necessary details is one of the hardest things to do well. One must use a light touch and break them up well. . . .
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