change you like a remix

[reflectedeve]

Jeez, you guys. I just came out of a two-hour lecture/panel discussion (the third in two days) that basically turned into a debate about print and digital media and tools for artists, audience interaction, the internet, and so on. I feel exhausted and exhilarated. I can't decide if I want to have a thousand meta discussions about creator/audience interaction, fandom, crowdsourcing, the Veronica Mars kickstarter, Homestuck (which I should mention, I still haven't read) ... or just go lock myself in a room and draw until my fingers ache. I kind of have to do the latter (after a five-hour office shift), but you know.

Speaking of internet audiences and such, I have been debating something with myself. See, I'm working on the beginnings of a graphic novel right now. The first bit, which I'm doing for my thesis, is definitely a draft. In general, it seems clear that a pretty thorough revision/editing process is going to be important to me. Which maybe should sound obvious?

Only, here's the thing. I'm really attracted to the online format for its accessibility and audience-gathering capacity, you know? I think that for a variety of reasons, the webcomics that work best are things like short strips and punchline-based comics, BUT most of my favorite cartoonists right now are writing long-form stories that they post page-by-page online and then eventually collect into print volumes (usually self-published and often via crowd-funded preorders).

I think it's good not just for making a name for yourself, but also for the purposes of keeping yourself producing continuously, which is important. But it doesn't leave a lot of space for editing; even if you complete the script for your graphic novel prior to starting to draw and publish it, things change as you go. Comics take a long damn time to make, and if you want to be sharing them as you go (even with a buffer) ... you're just not going to be able to do the kind of editing that takes the whole work into account. Which is important.

SO. What I'm thinking is this: I'm thinking I'll do my graphic novel webcomic ... and that's the draft. I'll be up-front about it: my plan is eventually is to not eventually collect the story in print form, but to EDIT it in between formats. Perhaps extensively.

I'm slightly worried that an audience might feel ... insulted by this. And I'm not sure what the idea of a print version that differs from the free online version would do to the whole notion of people paying for work they already know they like. (I have seen the proof, repeatedly, that if you can get people to like your work for free you can get them to fund the thing they've already read. But this is a little different.)

Any thoughts, guys?



Anyway, apart from the meta thoughts I haven't had time for much of fannish anything, although I have been following Gerard's twitter posts religiously. (Nice popcorn tree, dude. God, how are you so charming?) And I still haven't watched The Phoenix video, but I'm finally listening to it. Repeatedly. (Young Volcanoes is great too! But um. Unf.)

I am dithering about buying a ticket to see Fall Out Boy in Lowell or Brooklyn this fall ... I'm broke and I don't know what I'll be doing then. Are people going? Ever since MJ I've been missing being around fans so intensely.

Comments

[rhivolution]

I'm pretty sure I've seen the edit-as-you-go thing done before, but I can't remember where!

[reflectedeve]

Hmm yeah, I dunno! I mean, it occurred to me that I could certainly have individual pages edited ahead of posting, as I go, or even chunks of script. But that's just not the same as being able to think about the whole book, and things change a lot between script and laid-out pages. It's tricky.

[lilacsigil]

I wouldn't find that insulting if the creator was up-front about it, communicated with the readers as the comic progressed and was open about constructive criticism. That would feel collaborative and like the audience is part of the comic's growth rather than "here's something I slapped up on the web to make you buy my stuff later"!

[reflectedeve]

*nod* Yeah, that's definitely the approach I was considering, at least to a degree. (There's a balance to hit when taking constructive criticism from a wider audience!) Thanks. :)

[zelempa]

I've thought about this before, mostly with writing, and never come up with a great solution.

Like if I post chapter 1 of a long story when I'm happy with it, but then when I'm working on chapter 5 I realize I need to make a change in chapter 1, what do I do? Do I keep going in the old version and put it on a "list of things to change for the finished version"? Or do I edit chapter 1 and make a change log for people who are reading along so they don't think it's an inconsistency? If they liked it better the first way, do I have to defend and explain myself? Whenever I improve things, personally, there's a certain amount of shame at how bad the old way was, so I'm glad when nobody else saw it.

My preference is to avoid all these issues by not posting WIPs, but as you say, you then lose out on the feedback and audience interaction and feeling of obligation to a community that might keep you going when things get rough.

I'm not sure I'd want to read a WIP novel that someone was posting in installments; I'd be like, "Get back to me when you're done." For some reason, I feel differently about comics. I'm more interested in seeing the process and the improvements, maybe because they're more visually clear. Or maybe it's just that reading a draft and then an edited version of the same story feels like work to me in a way that looking at comics doesn't, because of my own closeness or distance.

One way that I might present it is just to act like the draft/webcomic version is normal, then be all, "I've come out with an improved, edited version!!" You know--present the webcomic as the baseline and the print version is BETTER THAN, instead of the future print version being the baseline and the webcomic is WORSE THAN. Both spins are equally truthful but one is more positive.

[reflectedeve]

Hmmm, yeah, it's a funny thing; I mean, serialized prose is totally a thing, and so many novels were written that way back in the day, but I don't really love that format. Comics, though ... I grew up on comics as a serialized medium, and the difference between the issue-a-month model to the 1-5 pages-per-week model hasn't been too disturbing for me. (Of course, when it comes to webcomics I do think the strip/self-contained-update format is a little more perfectly suited to online updates, buuut I also read maybe a dozen graphic novels that are being serialized page-by-page online and enjoy them greatly. In fact, those are my favorites ... probably because I just prefer long-form comics, period. YMMV.)

Plus you're right; the visually trackable process/improvements are really interesting to watch as they go down.

From a creative angle, it feels a little bit like this choice between ... the graphic novelist who goes into seclusion for years and then publishes a finished, polished piece through traditional means, trusting that the audience will be there when it counts (Alison Bechdel, Craig Thompson) and the online cartoonist who is able to build an audience as they go by being constantly visible and entertaining (and then, if they want to create a print version--which I do--they have that audience to draw on and fund them). I see the appeal of both models, but it seems as though the second one is much more workable for people who are starting out (Bechdel and Thompson already had audiences; Bechdel even built hers through serialized storytelling). Although I also kind of worry that there's some ... attention addiction going on, there. (OTOH ... it's a good motivator. Much easier to fizzle out or drag your feet when no-one's watching.)

Thanks, I appreciate your perspective! I'll have to think about presentation more when I'm getting down to it, I think ... I need to also consider logistics and process stuff (like, how much do I want to script/edit in advance of posting, how does that work with having a buffer, selling minicomics, etc) ...!