10 Sided: Dissecting a Disaster Part VI (The Good Stuff)

This is now my sixth post in the Dissecting a Disaster series. Follow the link for the beginning.

I saved the best for last. Not everything in Ten Sided was a total disaster. This can be seen in the romance that developed between the writer of Smooth Blue, Toni , and the writer of J-Meister, Jez. Their stories are so intertwined that you can't talk about one without talking about the other.

At the beginning of the story, Jez starts out as the typical gliding through life bachelor who's looking for something more. Toni is also seems unsatisfied with life. Presumably that's what led her to her online gambling habit and eventual decision to runaway away with Jez - but I get ahead of myself.

The J-Meister blog starts out kind of funny. It definitely sets the tone that Jez does not understand blogging. He goes on to a couple posts that make it sound like he belongs with the house arrest blogs, with all his hallecunation of blue women (obviously, a reference to another Ten-Sided blog).

Meanwhile, Toni is introduced to us as a lonely, timed woman who uses the internet to reach out to get away from her life.

During the first 3 weeks both blogs stay pretty isolated with only fleeting references to the other people in Ten-Sided. However, April, the two blogs start getting intertwined into a story that's not only readable, but enjoyable.

Everything started with a seemingly through away comment by Jez back in mid-march.

Oh and another thing Tim. Next time you mention that nurse from Manchester I met at Martin's party and how I might have been married to her by now if I hadn't lost her phone number I really am going to hit you.

April 2nd things get interesting when Toni makes a direct reference to Jez.

Then I met this guy at a party. Jez his name. He was a right laugh and I thought we’d make a great couple. When he said he’d call me I believed him and, like a fool, I sat in waiting for the phone to ring. But it didn’t.

And again on the fourth:

Back home I thought I’d try ringing Jez to cheer me up. He was out but his mother was in. That woman certainly can talk. She went on and on and on about nothing in particular. Not only that, I forgot to leave my number and I’m definitely not going to risk calling again. Couldn’t face going through that again.

By the next day, Jez decided to respond.

she mentioned something about a lovely chat she'd had with a friend of mine on the phone, and why couldn't I be more like that - a bit more human (yawn yawn). I asked her who she meant ( I knew it couldn;t be Tim) and she said it was a nice sounding girl, who said she was a nurse or something. God, my stomach lurched then. What was her name? Did she leave her number? What did she say? Of course, my bloody mother couldn't tell my anything useful - no number, no name. She'd been too busy telling the poor girl about her latest trip.

From there, Brim took on the role of matchmaker. Each of the characters had already connected with Brim, so Brim "connected" the two of them together. This partially happened through comments and blog posts.

From there, the two of them go on to a long, complicated romance. If these two blogs were pulled out of Ten-Sided and stood alone, I'd call the project a delight. I won't give away the ending. Some of you may enjoy reading the rest (though to warn you, it does get a little weird for a couple weeks of posts).

To conclude the lesson here is how these two authors connected. One referenced the other to offer an opening for a connection(Jez talks about Mandy). The other then made a very strong attempt to connect with the other(Calls Jez's Mother). Jez and Brim take it. Jez and Mandy (AKA Toni) go on to tell the story of a romance from both viewpoints. That's definitely a lesson that a group blog fiction could learn from.