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Kickoff
Aug 22, 2014 6:55:28 GMT -5
Post by C_Miller on Aug 22, 2014 6:55:28 GMT -5
Hello all, we're waiting on Jackalope to either join us or not join us. He's working on a big move, so I'm sure that's taking up a lot of his time. We're going to send him an email confirming his interest and then, I don't see what's holding us back from starting. I'm thinking around the beginning of September.
I don't see why we would need a hard start date though since we're kind of working through our claims lists via discussing rather than a draft. So yeah, around the top of September is when I think we can get started.
I also took down the front page until we start getting some content to put there. It was kind of just creating a roadblock to get to the forum.
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Kickoff
Aug 22, 2014 7:23:46 GMT -5
Post by hawksmoor on Aug 22, 2014 7:23:46 GMT -5
Sounds great to me - So, in the discussion thread we've had thus far...have there been any issues or any potential pitfalls/characters which aren't allowed? Or are we just going to blast through as is?
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Kickoff
Aug 22, 2014 17:47:17 GMT -5
Post by C_Miller on Aug 22, 2014 17:47:17 GMT -5
That's something I'd like to bring up for discussion. Personally, I think the idea of board wide claims was a failure on the last iteration of the site. And I'm definitely interested in allowing the New Gods to be claimed, which was something we didn't do on the last site. There are good points on both sides, but I don't think there's ever a good reason to say not to a character.
If the reason for denying them is because the New Gods are a massive concept is the issue, I look forward to the creativity that comes with the person doing that title. If it is because they are gods, I think that would disqualify most magic characters as well.
So yeah, I'm very open for there to be as much freedom of claims as possible.
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Kickoff
Aug 23, 2014 1:41:26 GMT -5
Post by hawksmoor on Aug 23, 2014 1:41:26 GMT -5
I do think that makes a certain amount of sense, not just because I wanted to use Mr. Miracle and Barda.
Although I'm not necessarily sure I agree with the way DC are using the New Gods currently, they're certainly the most used they've been for a long, long time, and that's a good thing.
As far as board wide claims go? You almost need to completely establish a character before you release them into the wild. Like, and this is a purely hypothetical example and not a suggestion, Dr. Fate. Three of us have said we'd enjoy using the guy. So, perhaps MRP would build him up, establish his lore and his character and then release, and others could use him as outlined by MRP. Not just "Amorphous mass what is Dr. Fate".
But, I'm down for the New Gods (and old).
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Kickoff
Aug 23, 2014 8:19:37 GMT -5
Post by C_Miller on Aug 23, 2014 8:19:37 GMT -5
Agreed. Sharing characters was one of the paramounts of the site when it was at its best. The main board wide claim on the old site is Amanda Waller and likewise on All-Star Marvel, it's Nick Fury as well as SHIELD (despite DOB writing a SHIELD title...). All Star Marvel it would seem like DoB is spearheading the establishment of SHIELD, but he can't really say no when other people want to use them. It's nice because someone gets to establish them, but you're really at the whims of everyone else. Either way, I'm not a fan of that. I don't think any character is so important to the universe that the staff can't trust the writers to establish characters properly or so important that the universe can't function without their existence. If that were the case, Superman would be a boardwide claim. And, no. That won't be a thing.  |
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Kickoff
Aug 31, 2014 3:52:26 GMT -5
Post by The MRP! on Aug 31, 2014 3:52:26 GMT -5
Right, claims are live and some of us have them up, so when is the deadline for the first issue?
-M
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Kickoff
Aug 31, 2014 10:17:20 GMT -5
Post by buck on Aug 31, 2014 10:17:20 GMT -5
First issues are due by the end of October I edited Miller's first post in the claims thread to indicate that.
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Kickoff
Sept 3, 2014 2:44:28 GMT -5
Post by The MRP! on Sept 3, 2014 2:44:28 GMT -5
Just committed the first 1300 words "to paper" essentially the first scene, and not a sign of the protagonists anywhere yet. There's a very real chance that none of them will appear on screen in the first installment, as I set things into motion for the longform of the story telling, as I know the aftermath of the first scene is protagonist free (though the dialogue discusses one of them) and he second scene has none of them in it either, though one of them is a catalyst for that scenes off screen. Depending how long those two go none of the protagonists may appear before the first "commercial break" (as I outlined the approach to formatting the issues) which would be what appears in the first posted issue. The second act (i.e. the material between the first and second commercial breaks), has them in spades though... so I may just get both installments done and post them in rapid succession the first month to get the ball rolling before finding a regular release rhythm. I don't want any installment to exceed the 4K word mark (preferably closer to 3K words) as I want each "episode" to clock in between 10K-12K words ideally over the 3-4 parts, but that may be an impossible standard for me to achieve. We'll see.
-M
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Kickoff
Sept 5, 2014 15:29:46 GMT -5
Post by hawksmoor on Sept 5, 2014 15:29:46 GMT -5
Sounds like you're doing a sterling job there, MRP. I said before that I'd started writing my first issue of Sentinels, and I had, but I'm not actually sure I'm happy with it - mostly because there's a lot of assumed things in there. If we're starting a new universe, then, I guess nothing is established yet - so trying to actually establish Mr. Miracle and Barda in an issue and then progress the plot is a big ask, and it means that I'm sacrificing certain things to get the plot in and then move it a long, and I'm not happy with that...so I'm coming at it from a different angle, and having Miracle and Barda appear a bit later on in the story. So, I am driving myself a bit mad second guessing everything - realistically...I just need to get something down and commit to it, instead of being a bit of a tart about it all.
Plus, I am spending an inordinate amount of time staring at Swamp Thing: Futures End
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Kickoff
Sept 11, 2014 14:42:34 GMT -5
Post by hawksmoor on Sept 11, 2014 14:42:34 GMT -5
So, had a bit of a breakthrough at work - got myself a good starting point, a strong focal character and I'm raring to go and chomping at the bit etc.
I see that MRP has drawn his version of Fate - If I was better at art, I might consider it, but I've not picked up a pencil in that capacity in years. I may still give it a go yet, show what I see of Traci, and Shazam, and Garbage Man in my head but...I might just write it instead!
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Kickoff
Sept 11, 2014 21:41:19 GMT -5
Post by C_Miller on Sept 11, 2014 21:41:19 GMT -5
I'm slowly working through Hawkman. I have a ton of ideas for the middle of my story, but I'm having a bit of trouble kicking off my issue. Just gotta get back on the horse.
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Kickoff
Sept 12, 2014 14:06:43 GMT -5
Post by hawksmoor on Sept 12, 2014 14:06:43 GMT -5
Excellent. The beginning, is always the hardest. That's what was taking me so long - trying to get something with Mr. Miracle that made sense. Then I did something logical.
Dropped Miracle from the start of the story!
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Kickoff
Sept 16, 2014 7:02:19 GMT -5
Post by The MRP! on Sept 16, 2014 7:02:19 GMT -5
I think I finally have all my ducks in a row for the first issue, figuring out what to include and what to move to later to make it all fit and work. I have one scene left to write in the first draft, but three-ish scenes beaten out and partially written got pushed back to later, so I have a good bit of material stashed for the next few issues as well. The current draft clocks in at about 2200-2300 words without the final scene, so should fit the size I was hoping for, and I have somewhere between another 1000-1500 of stuff that got pushed back, and will get used down the line. Of course it's all first draft and it could all change or wind up in the trash when I start revising and heading into the second draft, or the word count could balloon as I add description and setting details in-my first drafts tend to be very sparse focusing more on getting the narrative structure and the dialogue down, then adding in details, descriptions, etc. as I revise, but a lot of stuff gets cut and or reworked before I add anything to it.
-M
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Kickoff
Sept 16, 2014 7:05:54 GMT -5
Post by hawksmoor on Sept 16, 2014 7:05:54 GMT -5
Sounds good to me - is there a particularly length we're all looking for? I know in "Other Sites"™ they look for less than 2000 words as that is "a long issue" but I personally thing, if 1000 words is 4 pages of A4, then 2, 000 seems like an ideal amount for an issue of fanfic.
Let's be honest, we're all readers here, and we all want to read other peoples work to improve our own and to improve each others so...is 2,000 an unbelievable, unwanted amount?
Glad you're hitting the groove though, MRP
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Kickoff
Sept 16, 2014 7:15:03 GMT -5
Post by The MRP! on Sept 16, 2014 7:15:03 GMT -5
I don't think there is a prescribed length. It all depends what you are shooting for for an "issue" I think. If you are trying to emulate a 20 page mainstream comic's worth of content, even in the age of decompression and writing for the trade, there is no way you are going to accomplish that in 1000 words, or even 2000. At most you are going to get one or two well developed scenes in that word count which is at most a 6-8 page sequence in a standard comic. If instead you look at it as chapters in a prose novel or a short story, then 1000 is still a really short chapter are a very short, short story; 2000 is doable, but brief, but then you have to consider a novel chapter should be one sequence at most.
I am approaching mine as complete stories broken into parts in the presentation-so actually looking at the television model of what gets done between commercial breaks in an hour long drama as a guide as to how much content should be in each "issue" but not otherwise writing a teleplay or using a television style. I am looking at 3000 words as my target, but may miss it but remain in the neighborhood some issues, sometimes going higher sometimes going lower. I just want to give a substantial but accessible chink of story in each installment.
-M
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Kickoff
Sept 16, 2014 7:48:18 GMT -5
Post by hawksmoor on Sept 16, 2014 7:48:18 GMT -5
3,000 is a pretty decent chapter. While writing my novel, each chapter was 3,000 words. It strikes me as an appropriate amount. I've read a pretty decent number of UF novels in the last year, with a couple being my "model" for this series (Matthew Swift series from Kate Griffin - It's British and set in London for you American types, but honestly, WELL WORTH the price alone. Fantastic stuff.)
I've not quite broken down the thoughts and plans for each character yet, but have vague ideas. Issue #1 is plotted, so I just want to focus on a couple of characters before I bring more in. The primary focus of the first set of stories is going to be Traci 13, Miracle and Cyborg...and what it means for the world as a whole.
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Kickoff
Sept 16, 2014 15:11:22 GMT -5
Post by The MRP! on Sept 16, 2014 15:11:22 GMT -5
And I wouldn't say groove so much. It's been work. Transitioning back to prose has been difficult. So many things I have been working towards in letting the art tell the story I now have to backtrack on and make sure I am putting into words, almost feels like I am working at cross-purposes to myself. We will see how it all turns out though.
-M
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