change you like a remix
Apr. 5th, 2013 01:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reflectedeveJeez, 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.
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.
