Hobbyists Story
Matthew Ryan Fischer
It seemed like a good idea at the time. In a moment of
do-it-yourself internet fervor three great friends, Dan, Pete and Mason,
decided the best thing they could do was to indulge their hobbies and just make
things. They would document it, blog about it and present it to the world.
There was no specific goal or aspiration in mind. They weren’t a group or a
team or trying to set themselves up as such. It was just supposed to be three
friends having fun and making things.
Problems arose. Problems were inevitable. There was no structure
or proper goal and they were three very opinionated and creative people. Of
course there would be problems. They foolishly thought they could handle
whatever came their way. And so they didn’t plan accordingly. That was their
first mistake.
Peter was an artist, but he was interested in selling out and
making money. Dan was only in it for the purity of the project. Mason didn’t
care what they were making, only that they were making something and that he
could for the most part be left alone for long periods of time to work. Peter
wanted to be a star, to be famous if possible. Dan want to make something that
was pure and honest and true and might strike such an emotional chord that it
could be well regarded and remembered. Mason was into puzzles and problem
solving and if possible to be left alone while he did it.
They wanted different things and they failed to address these differences.
That was their second and bigger mistake.
And so they made things. It was a simple enough idea. They made
anything that came to mind – comics, short stories, movie reviews. They
experimented, which helped with the quantity of creations, but not the quality.
But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that they were making things and they
were making opportunities for themselves.
What did matter was that they wanted different things. So when
fans and followers started coming in the problems began. Peter had always been
an outgoing person. When they filmed something, he was the one that was filmed.
They could put proper accreditation at the end of a video, but no one really
paid attention to that. Peter got the credit and the recognition and the fame.
Dan didn’t need the fame, but he certainly wanted the credit.
As Peter became more and more recognizable, he took over the role
of front man. He made decisions for the group without asking. He added to their
websites and removed whatever he found to not fit in with his taste. He was
making a marketing machine and was gearing it towards mostly marketing himself
and his efforts.
It was only a matter of time before this would alienate the other
two.
Dan and Peter had their conflicts. They had their battles. They
fought for control of what they did and what would be done to monetize their
efforts. It was part artistic difference, part arrogance, part pointlessness.
There was so little to be had, there was no reason to waste such energy on it.
Mason, for his part, simply withdrew. He liked making things. He
liked figuring things out. He didn’t need any of it to be broadcast to the
public and he certainly didn’t need to make any money off it.
The whole thing fell apart rather quickly and ended up creating
mostly unfinished projects and lots of hurt feelings.
Peter got his shot at fame by becoming an online “personality,”
whatever that meant. He made short videos where he reviewed products and films
and interviewed other creative people. His popularity relied on the people he
interviewed having enough friends and followers that they would all check out
his videos and add to his numbers.
Mason disappeared. He moved away and stopped returning phone
calls. No one heard from him for a long time. Dan later found a video for an
attempted crowd-funded project that Mason set up. He was trying to get people
to donate time, money, or labor, or all three, to help him in his attempt to
build a full sized house out of Lego bricks. At the time that Dan saw the
video, Mason was millions of bricks and millions of dollars away from
completing his goal.
And
as for Dan himself, he was the one with the longest list of projects, the most
ideas, the most desire and vision. But he never had Peter’s ambition or Mason’s
ability to just do something whether it was practical or artistic enough. Since
the time that all three were still speaking, Dan had completed a little under
half of his first novel. He was still trying to get the opening just right.
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