4:05p.m. - Fictional Blogging Panel Notes (SXSWi 2007)

Rough Panel Notes:

Very interesting panel on fictional blogging as an art form, and the ethics of it. Again, my rough, not cleaned up notes because I don't have time.

Fictional blogging: art form vs. lying/hoaxes?

it raises issues of truth, openness, secrecy

fictional blogging is not just putting a chapter of your book online. Can be:
blogging as your novels main character
role-playing - collaborative fiction
creative ecospheres
blogging memoir - lightly fictional
obvious lies - shakespeare's blog
identity experiments
j.t. leroy

infiltration and depth
harry potter fanfic - sock puppets
lonelygirl 15
ben franklin's prudence goodwife

Plain Layne - fictional, bisexual internet chick
- written by panel moderator Odin Soli

transgression of truth, honesty generates a huge reaction

Fiction used as Marketing
example - psp2 blog - fake teenager
publishers might want to use to promote a book as an extention
fan fiction - the science of play, mmorpgs are collaborative fiction

Ethics - violation of the social contract
Consensuality - warning people of the content before they read
authenticity violations - replacing the voices of someone who actually is that type of person

fictional characters should establish deep online presence

There is not a currently a financial market for long-form fiction online. Need more monetizational models.

Do we want to make fiction online illegal? No - we shouldn't. But people should do it with messiness and thickness - keep it consensual, create deep worlds.

Lost and other hollywood media establishing fictional sites & creative play.

Allows people to explore ideas - what would harry potter say to genghis kahn and caroline ingalls?