Rope365 Storytime

Adding Content and Resources

In the following years, I added the full descriptions of Week 7: Rope (rope care and properties) and Week 8: Body (nerves, breathing anatomy, and mobility), and went back to the earlier chapters for some much-needed updates. The section on nerves was particularly important, actively including doctors’ opinions on it, too.

When I looked at Week 9 and beyond, these were more soft skills and concepts that could be achieved without having an in-depth tutorial. I decided to create a different page format; it would still be a list of challenges, but with added pictures and references. And that would be the website’s final form. My intention at the time was to keep the detailed tutorials in the book format, to prevent a never-ending website update spiral.

This made the whole website way more useful without the incredibly time-consuming detailed writing of each activity. Very often, other people had already made tutorials, and just linking to them enabled people to explore the topic. I believe an important side effect of this was the inclusion of a diversity of approaches, something I could never achieve by writing all the tutorials myself.

To expand the website’s content, I wanted to include at least one good picture for each concept and prepare the tutorials for the book project. 

I started having sessions with my partners focused on a topic, taking pictures of everything. Every time, we ended up with new ideas that changed the structure, and, more importantly, we had a lot of fun and a deeper connection. 

I hit the limit with pictures that required more than one person in the frame. So I started recruiting couples. I shaped it like a mini class, where I would give them instructions and capture the moment with my camera. It was always a lot of learning for all of us, and a ton of fun.

When travelling, I was also recruiting people to shoot with to get a wider diversity of humans. Sometimes I was doing the tying, but it was even more interesting to meet established couples and capture their dynamic. This is why you’ll often see hotel room and outdoor scenery, as they’re the best options when I don’t have access to my studio.

Adding Videos and Patreon

Years before Rope365 became an idea, I explored making video tutorials. I used to be part of a short-film collective, so I had the knowledge and equipment. I did shoot a few tutorials in 2013 but didn’t post all of them (the ones I did are still available on Fetlife).

I tried a few approaches but ended up with three main problems:

• I only felt comfortable making videos for ties that I designed or ancient techniques like lashings that have no lineage. Anything else would have required the approval of their creator, and I didn’t always know who that was, or had the necessary connections.
• To reach a certain level of quality, it would have required a stage with a full team, lighting equipment, and microphones, which would have taken more time and cost more money than I could invest.
• As soon as I finished a video, I had ideas for improving it and wanted to start over.

It was actually a relief when I started to do the picture and text tutorials for the book and the website, as I could add/correct without having to start from scratch.

It was during the pandemic lockdown that I started taking my origami practice seriously and discovered Jo Nakashima’s tutorials. The ASMR video with written instructions in the subtitles allowed for a slower rhythm, accessibility in several languages and easier updates, as the subtitles can be replaced without reuploading the video. I wanted something similar for rope. It felt different enough from the typical tutorial videos with live explanations that were more mainstream at that point, and had a narrower scope of work, too.

I started with the content from Week 1, and launched the first series of videos along with the creation of the Patreon. Many people had mentioned wanting to support the project financially. I wanted to keep the project free, but I had tons of other content sitting on my computer to share, like my creative projects, class notes, and private play. I think adding videos gave me the confidence to take that step, since it is more expensive to maintain. Plus, it was important to make the project financially sustainable, as relying on my day job wasn’t a good idea in the long run.

From there, I added more videos, including chest harnesses and book reviews, and I have ideas for more!

New book idea

I think at that point I had given up writing a book. The website was proving to be a much better medium for the project’s encyclopedic nature. I felt overwhelmed by the idea of writing all the 365 concepts, and started thinking that maybe making videos for those that didn’t already have good references was a better time investment. 

That was until someone wrote me, raving about how they were using the website in their community. But it was also a limitation that the order of activities wasn’t ideal for complete beginners. And I agreed. I had spent the last few years building our in-person class curriculum, and it was quite different from the website.

Cue new idea: a book would be a better format than the website for curriculum. It would be organized as a class, with explanations, exercises, and variations depending on whether the reader is solo, partnered, or in a group. I also added some teacher notes to help budding communities around the world that don’t have access to professional coaching.

So this is where I am now, writing this book, iterating. It’s way more work than I thought, but it’s nowhere near as overwhelming as writing the whole Rope365 cycle. I think this is the right choice; the website and the book serve different purposes yet work in synergy.    

I can’t wait to hold it in my hands.

Where it’s Going Next

The book is my top priority right now, but it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Its synergy with the website and video channel is essential to the project’s completion. Some structural improvements of the website are required so I can link to the pages in the book. This will be the website’s priority for the next few weeks.

Once the book’s text and image editing are final, I will start bringing over some of the edited text. They’re much higher quality, given all the work we’ve poured into them. My vision is that different sections, especially Week 1, will be excerpts from the book with bonus material. I will also do a revision of Week 1 to match the book structure it in a way that it has all the essentials, including tension. Fun fact: the single-column tie might be going to Day 2.

I’d like to set up a shop on the website so people can buy the book directly from me. Eventually I could add other things like some swag, and recordings of virtual classes. Not a short-term goal but definitely something for the end of the year when I start the crowdfunding. We learned a lot from setting that up for our rope space, so doing it again won’t be as difficult.

I would love to make more videos. I have so many ideas. I wanna focus on finishing the book, but as soon as I’m done, I’d like to make a new series that covers the important bits of the book. From there, I’d like to cover much of the rest of the Rope365 content, especially those without references or for which I have my own special twist. And I still have the vintage book review and rope processing material sitting on my computer, waiting to be edited. I see another challenge in the future 🙃

I often get asked about suspension resources, and to be honest, I’m still not ready to put it out there. Even though I’ve been practicing suspension for over 15 years, the accident a month ago showed me how much I still have to learn. But like all things, people will do it anyway, so I’d like to start by adding some equipment and safety resources. I do have a draft of 365 ideas with a hardpoint… maybe one day. 

Another thing that will start sooner is going back to translating. I have been holding off on doing it because of the massive content update that will come from the book. But that text will be close to a final form, so translating it will be worth it. Also, the website’s block feature should let me share references across different languages without updating every page, which should reduce workload.

So here we are, 10 years of publishing content online. Helping people around the world to find their voice in rope. I hope you enjoyed this challenge, and hopefully learned a thing or two. Share it with the world, and let me know what you think in the comments!