I want to warn you if you’re about to read the words that follow. It’s long and it’s honest.
Dustin Reese of ‘Plus One’ emailed me some questions he wanted to ask. Aside from being I’m flattered, I figured if I could help someone out while talking about myself, then why not? 
As I was replying I wondered if Dustin would mind if I posted this on my blog so if other artists were wondering, it would help them out too. Although, I’m really giving up on the opportunity to talk about myself in the future… Maybe I should rethink that… Regardless, as you can probably tell, Dustin was cool with the idea. So here it goes. His questions were great and I’ve bold and italicized them. Oh and if you get a chance, go check out his comic and wish him a happy birthday (earlier this week).
1. Writing a gag-a-day comic but with a longer story arc is tough, how do you go about keeping the story going while telling jokes? What is your inspiration for jokes? Is your story planned out word for word or do you just go by the seat of you pants?
Gag-a-day & Storyarcs: I have an overarching story arc that serves as the focal point of the comic. It’s not set in stone, but I try to stay true to the premise. The problem has been when I want to fill in more of the story that’s not gag-based. People haven’t responded well to shifting gears. They care more about the gag than the overall story arc. I blame myself because I think I have a great premise, but I haven’t executed the one thing that I think really draws people in and keeps them coming back: CONFLICT. The comic is based on a stickman in a cartoon world. There is organic conflict built into that, but I haven’t connected 100% with that. I’m getting closer now that I realized where I want to be, but I couldn’t just jump from point D to point M. I hope that makes sense.
As far as gag-a-day, I’m trying to build more upon that conflict, because that’s a central part of humor. So my latest routine is starting with an arc for the week – then I ask myself what would Rick do in this situation, what wouldn’t he do and when I can determine that, at that point I’ve started to try and throw absurdities into the mix.
For instance: in two weeks, Rick goes to the hospital to see his boss who’s suffered a heart attack (caused by Rick). Regardless, he’s denied access and finds a conveniently located “uniform closet”. Inside there’s a outfit for a nurse, doctor, janitor and a fourth one that he takes. I thought Doctor was too easy and by using the other option Rick could end up doing something sillier that is in line with his character or whatever. It opened up more possibilities. Now, that may not be knee-slapping humor and I probably could have taken it further, but that’s where I’m at in the process. There’s no skipping steps. I’m learning every time I saddle up.
2. When selling your comic to an audience, back story is required sometimes. Have you figured out a nice balance of letting the comic speak for itself while giving needed details for people to get the jokes? (PS – I saw your post about the new intro page you made. It’s really awesome, not going to lie to you. That page kind of answers that question).
I’m assuming by “selling your comic” you’re referring to getting the audience to buy in and invest their time in your comic and returning. Thanks for your comment about the New Reader’s page. I had a couple of problems I tried to solve with that page. The first is over 700 comics of backstory. No one has time to read all of them in the format of the website. Second, I’m not extremely please with the way those old comics look. Progress or not, it’s not the image of the comic I want to present – and actually it’s the first time I’ve said it like that and it feels right. So I’m pulling them down as soon as I can figure out how to do it without ruining the site overall. Third, I wanted a fun, dynamic way to tell the story without using flash that would give my comic’s site a unique touch. For the record, using flash limits your access to some mobile devices, specifically Apple’s iPhone and iPads (and the iPad is an ideal tool to view comics). It may not be perfect, but it’s done.
3. Are you going to publish a book of you work? If so, are you going to do a random, best of collection or print them in order? Will your book focus more on the story or the jokes? Are you going to add in strips that help tell the story if your original ones didn’t tell it how you wanted?
I have two books, both with over 250 comics – I think I could publish one per year with the amount that I produce and I think the book is a better format for reading in bulk. You get a better idea of the story and can tie in the story arcs a little easier. I try to keep that in mind with the storyline. For the first book, I literally just had the first 265 comics in order. I separated them a little bit with images from the strips themselves and wrote a little bit about the process of building the comics. Since I’m a designer, putting the books together isn’t a major challenge, finding the time with my publishing schedule is hard. With the second book, I thought it would be a better read if I placed everything from the various sub-storylines together. It all still worked in the larger scheme of things, but it was a little more cohesive. I broke it into chapters and used artwork I already had for those pages. I think with the next book, I’m going to progress a little farther – and that book will end before the 2011 calendar year. So I will probably add never seen before content. I think with three books, I’ll be able to bundle them at cons or online so people can have the whole collection. Again, I may not be pleased with the earlier work, but I think in book format, you can forgive some of that because you can read so many at one sitting.
4. When do you find the time to work? I have a daughter, fiance, paying work and time when I just want to relax, so fitting in comics seems like things reserved for 10pm and later. After so many years, is it starting to drag on you?
I’m with you – I have two sons, one turns three very soon and the other is only seven months old. When they are awake, I rarely ever do anything with the comic. I spend most nights bathing, cooking and doing the dishes as well before eating with my wife and getting in about an hour of television. So I usually don’t start until after 10pm myself. I’ve had to figure out ways to be extremely efficient. I work on my comic during lunch at work. Setting up posts for the site, sketching out the roughs and scanning them. If I’m having a good week, I can get some writing done too. Throw in the work I do for the Webcomic Alliance, which lately is an article a week, the Character Challenge and Webcomic Workshop podcast and time is tight. I’ve fallen asleep at my computer more times than I care to admit although not as much recently. The baby is sleeping a little better. Whew.
To answer your question: yes. It is starting to wear on me – physically. I’m concerned about my health and to be honest, if I were to get sick with any potential of long-term or life-threatening implications, I would quit the comic in a heartbeat (no pun intended). I want to be a pain in the ass when my kids are older and in order to do that, I need to be around! Haha!
Aside from the physical aspect, one thing that I’ve struggled with, is confidence. I think the lack of sleep compounds what I internalize and the stress that goes with it.
But I’m not complaining. I love doing it and I wish there was a better way to be successful at it, but I think I’m close to a tipping point where I will have to make a decision about the future of the comic. I won’t have regrets either way because I’ve given it more effort than I ever dreamed I would – and it’s been personally rewarding as hell for me.
I’d like to be clear though – when people comment, laugh, buy a book whatever it is, that thrills me – literally. As cliche as it sounds, producing the comic is not about the money. Well, in one regard it is – I want to do THIS for a living. I want to be a professionally paid comic artist. For now, it’s not essential because my wife make very good salaries and we’re grateful for that. We’re not rich by any means, but it helps to not have to worry about making an extra buck or struggle for an extra nickel. Sometimes I wish I did worry about that more (because it would drive me more), but I paid my dues in that regard most of my life so I won’t apologize for being where I am now.
Yadda, yadda, yadda. Finally, I think there are four things that you need to be successful. Talent. Work ethic. Luck. Personality. Not in that order and definitely not in equal parts. There are many times where I wonder whether or not I have what it takes because I am only strong in one of those four – work ethic.