Between you and me, a LOT is up in the air when it comes to these two characters. Long term I could see them going to many interesting places within my story world...but I also could see one of them dying even within this first story arc.
I'll never tell what I decide to do....
If this comic book ever gets published and totally takes off, never let it be said that I knew exactly what I was doing and where the series was going haha.
I have an idea for four major story arcs in this world, some characters I know I need alive at certain points, others...well this is a Lovecraftian world, we shouldn't be expecting a plethora of happy endings here!
Writing in this style (of not being entirely sure what's going to happen until I get there) has been interesting and exciting for me. In the past, the stories that I've mapped out meticulously have failed. I guess they collapsed under the weight of all my planning.
"Ithaqa", and my short story "Assembled" are my two forays into a more spontaneous style of writing, and they're the best things I've written to date. Not that this style doesn't have its drawbacks!
I'm very prone to continuity errors since I'm not following a granular master plan. Tonally I also run the risk of being all over the place because without a perfect blueprint, my mood on any given day could drastically alter the events of the story. It's also dangerous for me to take a break from writing, because the more time that has passed, the more likely I am to forget about little side clues/scenes I wanted to sprinkle in. In order to combat this I attempt to re-read large portions of my work before I sit back down to write again, and I take copious amounts of notes. Any time I decide to stop writing for the day I usually write down the next 2-3 scenes I have in mind on a notepad.
It's also so important that I have an editor, she reminds me when I've dropped interesting plot threads, or written scenes that serve no purpose haha. She also asks me fantastic questions, questions that lead me to better plot points than I would have ever discovered all by myself. In fact, the coolest part about the climax of this story arc came when Lisa asked me:
"So why is it important that Mookie is here for all of this? Why did we follow him into the story and not somebody else?"
I won't spoil what I decided, but it lead me down a path that I think makes the story so much stronger than it was originally. That's one of the positives towards this style of writing. I don't bring my ego to the editing room, since I don't really know what's going on. This isn't my perfectly crafted magnus opus, it's a story I love telling, and plenty of people can help me tell it better.
It's also nice when your stories take on a life of their own and surprise you :)
If you're new to this comic I strongly recommend you check out our instagram page, as I'm currently uploading pages from issue 1 there every day (this is issue 2).
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ithaqacomic/
Theresa Chiechi's (The Artist @la-fumettista) website is here: http://www.theresachiechi.com/
Sign up for updates on our website: https://www.ithaqacomic.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pg/IthaqaComic/about/?ref=page_internal
Twitter: @IthaqaComic
the tension and dynamic between the two characters is so palpable even without words! very interesting~ would love to really find out more about them!
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I'm glad it translates even without dialogue :) You should check out the instagram if you want to scroll through issue 1 fairly quickly!
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Oh! Yes! I shall :D I dont really use insta a lot but I shall, for this <3
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I hope you will publish this story on Kindle. Sometimes you need both a bit of planning and a little spontaneity. But different things work for different people. For example, Lynda Barry writes all her stories on the spot with a chinese brush. Followed and upvoted. Good work! Love your sincerity and openness.
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I'm certainly hoping to get onto the kindle store, and once it's available for purchase I'll be telling everyone every which way they can download it.
I agree, you need a healthy mix of planning and spontaneity. On the one hand I have a fairly detailed plan for the major plot points of 4 graphic novels, but there's a lot of wiggle room, and I often let scenes unfold rather than plan them out.
Thanks for the follow and upvote man, back at ya!
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While characters can and should "choose" certain details during the writing process, I'm not able to start writing anything definitively without having the broad strokes of the story laid out. Especially when the story involves art that isn't easily rewritten if I run into a dead end. Are you moving forward with the art before the script is finished? If so, you've got bigger balls than me! :)
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I do have the broad strokes for sure, and i've made sure to stay at least 2 issues (48 pages) ahead of Theresa's process. We also don't move forward with a script until I've edited and redrafted several times with my editor. Once the art is finished it's finished, and maybe I could shuffle around some dialogue bubbles to tweak the audience experience, but I wouldn't scrap what's already been locked in.
As I debate restructuring the comic to be a graphic novel (in response to the publishers I've been submitting to) The only thing I would consider doing would be to add a few pages here and there to flesh out some scenes and transitions. However if its been colored, it's going to be in the comic haha.
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Your comics are really great 😃😃😃😃😃😃👀👀👀👀👀😏😸😸😸😸😸😸😸😸
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