The Daily Davis

A couple posts from a forum thread I have started, that will likely be updated for a while. Posting my two major posts here thus far as blogging because I am scrounging for content. The thread is titled “I am giving up on webcomics. I am going to do web comics“.

Yes, you read that correctly. I’m no longer doing a webcomic. Instead, I am going to do a comic that is posted on the internet.

I’ve struggled with the webcomic model for years, and it’s never really clicked. Perhaps I lack the discipline, or maybe I’m just not cut out for it. How do I justify my decision?

I am crafting a long-form, episodic narrative. The page-by-page update style of a webcomic is non-conducive to this. In many narratives, in order to enjoy a story, you must digest it in larger “chunks”. I face the problem that a sequence in my story, or a scene, can go on for a number of pages, and this page by page system will break the flow, ultimately forcing me to make compromises, or confuse readers because pages do not end on a clear note.

Thus, I have decided that instead of a page-by-page comic, I will be drawing/writing full stories to post at once, in full chunks. What this means is that I won’t update very often, but the updates will be large when present. Ideally, I am bringing an actual episodic and publication model to my stories, which I feel might work in my favor.

Am I going to have a popular site with a comic that is checked on daily? Likely not. Instead, I hope to have a tighter narrative in larger installments that I just happen to post online as a distribution model.

I think many more narrative comics can and should take advantage of this method. Instead of dragging stories out over time, just post and entire story or episode, rather than dragging these events and adventures over time. Non-narrative comics benefit more from a page-by-page structure. You wouldn’t watch a TV show in one minute installments over a week, why do something similar with stories? Imagine if Novels were given to you, a page at a time, a couple times a week. Would you bother reading it?

Followed up with another plan later that includes brainstorming and continuing thoughts.

Ultimately, I am kind of lazy, and would rather post a complete product, even if it takes a while, than force myself to adhere to any sort of schedule and do “progress reports”. I can tell you that I am much less stressed out now. Even though I always say I do my comics for myself, trying to do the page-by-page method always struck me in the back of my mind as doing comics for others. This is a bit of a breath of fresh air for me, one I feel I needed.

The real problem now, however, is if Comicpress is the right solution for my posting needs. As of now, I am considering very low-tech specialty webpages for each story, decorated and designed to match the corresponding episode.

So my Egg MacGuffin story site would be decidedly low-tech as far as it’s technical construction, such as simple html and hyperlinks between pages, but I have the opportunity to use the website itself to enhance the story.

This excites me actually. Instead of having a stock layout for all my stories, I can mix things up quite a bit. Each collection of pages for a storyline can be themed to reflect story content, or maybe even reflect the beats of a story. The site itself, potentially, can become part of the reading experience, as design and color cues can influence a reader’s experience of the pages within.

It’s exciting stuff to think about really. I won’t sacrifice ease of navigation and readability, of course. However, perhaps the site itself should be an extension of the narrative experience.

Am I lazy or what? Your thoughts are appreciated, as always.