Thank you! Jesus, I thought I was crazy thinking am I really that far off with my reasoning and character role-playing (I used to get paid for it)- or am I
just blindly biased. And obviously, I am crazy to a degree to be so consumed with this -it's always been my favorite season of Survivor -real or unreal.
But that's a whole other matter.
I think it just boils down to you adapting a different philosphy to your approach with the project. Yes, the fact that you planned out a whole arc for Gretchen getting revenge is the very definition of fanfiction. Initially, the project with the five writers was taking it one day at a time and not knowing what would happen- as if it were a real game and unfolding in real time (just like my nerdy brother playing D&D in the 80s -he didn't know his knight was going to fall down that trap door etc.) You can only have each character live in the present moment- and not project what would make a cool storyline. That's what the editing team does with the final product after the game has finished with the material given. The fact that you didn't review what was written in the previous text negates the characters you've created, and resorts to your memory and usually the encapsulated version of the character in their season -ie. Colleen is a cuddy kitten, Gretchen remaining naive, etc. That's been my beef with this project this round.
In terms of your writing. It's great! And not just in terms of a lame gameshow. It's fantastic, tense writing. Taking each episode at face value and not comparing it to what came before it, they're steller, highly entertaining. Each scene compelling and exciting. Just first rate. I think you should continue writing, and ditch Survivor and start your own stories where you can plan out throughlines with the ending in mind.
My only notes in the series (up to episode 11, and then we disagree all the way to the end on everyone's part) -are Colby voting for Gretchen in episode six, or even Colby leaving. The Kekos were outnumbered and were heading into a merge 4 to 6. They needed to pull over a person or two. Colby is a strategist and knew this and knew Gretchen was close to Colleen and he was close to Tina- so it was selling point to keep him and Gretchen -to give them even a hope of numbers. I'd probably switch his vote to Kathy, with the only others being his Outback crew that he'd have a sense of loyalty to.
I also toyed with the idea that Rob's best move was to jump the gun at the merge and run right to Keko before Tina could and sell out his entire tribe (although probably take Colleen along for the ride) since he would see Tina and Frank jumping at it at the merge, or if not certainly by the 4-4 tie at final eight. Beat them to the punch, where he buys time and knows he will stay to final five in which he has time to work out the Keko dynamics and change them (in his mind)- especially since Kathy was a buddy, and he's never trust Vee or John completely anyway. That could have been fun.
I get the Gretchen as underdog/revenge plot. But in lieu of Colleen? She and Vecepia were your best characters in the first half with ten times the levels of complexity for more dynamic payoffs down the line. Gretchen was black or white -can she win or not; never really grappling with issues the way Colleen was. The hesitancy, and the not quite able to articulate her smarts is what made the Colleen creation soar. And then the coupling with Vecepia -who is essentially the same type of player but just better finessed for the job, was firstrate. I like that they both have each other's number but can't get rid of the other for their own game, and can't fully trust the other. That's the final two that I would have loved to read. Boring televised, since they're both quiet and reserved. But fascinating from a text standpoint where you can get into their heads.
And great job -with the writing and the scenes.
Still a fan of your writing and always will be.
I think it just boils down to you adapting a different philosphy to your approach with the project. Yes, the fact that you planned out a whole arc for Gretchen getting revenge is the very definition of fanfiction. Initially, the project with the five writers was taking it one day at a time and not knowing what would happen- as if it were a real game and unfolding in real time (just like my nerdy brother playing D&D in the 80s -he didn't know his knight was going to fall down that trap door etc.) You can only have each character live in the present moment- and not project what would make a cool storyline. That's what the editing team does with the final product after the game has finished with the material given. The fact that you didn't review what was written in the previous text negates the characters you've created, and resorts to your memory and usually the encapsulated version of the character in their season -ie. Colleen is a cuddy kitten, Gretchen remaining naive, etc. That's been my beef with this project this round.
In terms of your writing. It's great! And not just in terms of a lame gameshow. It's fantastic, tense writing. Taking each episode at face value and not comparing it to what came before it, they're steller, highly entertaining. Each scene compelling and exciting. Just first rate. I think you should continue writing, and ditch Survivor and start your own stories where you can plan out throughlines with the ending in mind.
My only notes in the series (up to episode 11, and then we disagree all the way to the end on everyone's part) -are Colby voting for Gretchen in episode six, or even Colby leaving. The Kekos were outnumbered and were heading into a merge 4 to 6. They needed to pull over a person or two. Colby is a strategist and knew this and knew Gretchen was close to Colleen and he was close to Tina- so it was selling point to keep him and Gretchen -to give them even a hope of numbers. I'd probably switch his vote to Kathy, with the only others being his Outback crew that he'd have a sense of loyalty to.
I also toyed with the idea that Rob's best move was to jump the gun at the merge and run right to Keko before Tina could and sell out his entire tribe (although probably take Colleen along for the ride) since he would see Tina and Frank jumping at it at the merge, or if not certainly by the 4-4 tie at final eight. Beat them to the punch, where he buys time and knows he will stay to final five in which he has time to work out the Keko dynamics and change them (in his mind)- especially since Kathy was a buddy, and he's never trust Vee or John completely anyway. That could have been fun.
I get the Gretchen as underdog/revenge plot. But in lieu of Colleen? She and Vecepia were your best characters in the first half with ten times the levels of complexity for more dynamic payoffs down the line. Gretchen was black or white -can she win or not; never really grappling with issues the way Colleen was. The hesitancy, and the not quite able to articulate her smarts is what made the Colleen creation soar. And then the coupling with Vecepia -who is essentially the same type of player but just better finessed for the job, was firstrate. I like that they both have each other's number but can't get rid of the other for their own game, and can't fully trust the other. That's the final two that I would have loved to read. Boring televised, since they're both quiet and reserved. But fascinating from a text standpoint where you can get into their heads.
And great job -with the writing and the scenes.
Still a fan of your writing and always will be.
