Webcomic Week Day 3: Kooky Character Development

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Characters are my favorite part. I love me some gorgeous backgrounds, and slow-moving storylines, but characters are truly the bees knees. I've been watching a lot of Gilmore Girls re-runs lately and there's something about the combination of every single weirdo in Stars Hollow interacting that just does it for me every time.

Anyway, enough about those Lorelei's. When I set out to create a cast of characters for my webcomic, I started off with real people influences. My first two years at college I lived at home. When it was finally time for me to move out and be closer to campus, I was dismayed that I was too late to actually live on campus. A friend of mine, who I viewed as glamorous, fearless, beautiful, and punky, had a place on campus with a fellow member of the school swim team. I'd imagined that maybe, somehow, I'd luck into being their third roommate and they would teach me how to be as efforlessly cool and athletic as them.

Thus, I had created two characters. The awkward newcomer and her cool, worldly roommate. I wanted the reader to be introduced to a year living on campus along with the main character, Lelaina, so within the first few pages I rapidly introduced her new social world:

Lelaina - the heroine. I wanted to make sure she stood out in some way that made her both noticeable and self-conscious. She would embody the characteristics most people feel when they're fresh on a new    scene - insecure, naive, and shy.

 

 

Anneke - the first person Lelaina meets on campus. Her role for much of the first part of the story, is to introduce Lelaina to her new life. I wanted to make sure Anneke was the opposite of Lelaina - casually confident in a way that Lelaina envied yet couldn't quite understand.

 

 

Anthony - Anneke's older brother. Being the adopted single child of a single parent, Lelaina has no experience with siblings and Anthony represents the link to an unknown world - family.

 

 

 

Lucy - Anneke's other roommate. Lucy and Anneke already have an established bond and Lelaina must figure out where she fits into their dynamic.

 

 

 

Neil - the first of the three roommates who live on the lower floor. When Neil is introduced, it's clear he's a favorite of Lucy and Anneke, so Lelaina trusts him.

 

 

 

 

 

Sloane - the second roommate, who immediately sets herself apart as being bitchy and critical of Lelaina. She's the first real antagonist we see in the story.

 

 

 

... Aaaand finally, Linden - the third roommate, and our man meat for Lelaina to gaze upon. You need a love interest, right? Like most people who go off to college, Lelaina latches on to the first (okay, third after Anthony and Neil) as her crush-to-be.

 

 

 

 

So now you have all these characters, then what? When I started writing the story, I didn't plan out: Okay, I need 1 main character plus 3 girls and 3 guys. I knew I wanted Lelaina to get thrown into a social scene as an outsider, and see what happened from there. Then, as she was finding her way and making new friends and they started trusting her, I would add a Greek God or two into the mix.

This allowed me to really play with the characters - instead of the story following just a slice-of-life thread, I could figure out how each character would react to abnormal circumstances. Say, waking up to a drooling Fury crouched over you in the middle of the night. Y'know, stuff like that. But first I had to get to know them.

The important thing, for me, about character development is that you can only set them up so far. When I planned out my characters, the list above is as far as I got. Once I started writing the scenes, they started to develop and separate from one another on their own. It wasn't necessary for me to make a smart one, a pretty one, a sarcastic one, a bitchy one (well, okay full disclosure - Sloane's the bitch). They could all be all things at any time, depending on what situation they ran into.

So I try for a simple set up and then let the personalities roll out from there. I've created more extensive character sketches before writing the story, but the result is the same - as the story continues, they all morph into whatever they want to be, which doesn't necessarily have anything to do with my intent in creating them. Weird, right? This is why it makes perfect sense to me when Daffy Duck gets into a fight with his animator.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttmHmy6svWs]

How do you guys go about creating your characters? Any particular philosophies you apply to them before you start, or do you just wing it, like me?

 

Webcomic Week Day 2: Story Planning

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After graduating from college, I lingered in the academic world for a few months, holding desperately onto my receptionist job in my school's Art Department for as long as I could muster. When there were lulls, in between buying posters of The Royal Tenenbaums or checking out a Lord of the Rings blog (told from the perspective of all the guys competing with Legolas's prettiness) I explored the wonderful, wide world of webcomics. Each of the ones I regularly checked in on left me with a Format Idea, in one way or another:

I kept pulling little influences from the various things I was reading, trying to piece them all together into a story that I wanted to write. Not just write - but read. And convince myself this was a worthy thing to do. (Note to future webcomickers - never let yourself worry about what's already out there or everyone who's better than you is already doing it - just keep going and dig yourself a little niche of your own!)

Apart from webcomics, I was also heavily influenced by Terry Moore's Strangers In Paradise, which taught me that a world featuring an angry, beautiful, tiny yet vicious female protagonist was possible.

THEMES

Things I knew I wanted to include in the story (overall):

  • Strong female protagonist
  • Meddling gods
  • A snapshot of life as an outcast at college
  • Discovering who you are at the same time you're expected to map out your life plan
  • Comparing the similarities between modern life and greek mythology

STRUCTURE

So once I had my Format Influences, and my Themes to include, I had to think about Structure. I tried a couple of different angles to approach my story:

  1. Start off with a teaser scene - something powerful and random, that could slowly be revealed over the rest of the story.
  2. Start after a major incident had happened, then over the course of the story, refer back to it.
I worked both of them, and ran into the same problems. The story seemed over-dramatic for no reason. Why would you care about big things happening to characters you didn't know? Why would you cut out something interesting that happened, and work backwards from there if you didn't even know where you're going?
Once I'd moved on from my Art Department receptionist job, I had started working at a gallery. But not just any gallery - a water sculptures one. The trickling sound was so soothing (so relentlessly tempting to customers who practically lined up to ask me if it made me have to pee), that I soon realized I had to bring books - several books - to avoid dozing off. Before I'd realized this necessity, I noticed the gallery owner's son had left his copy of Harry Potter lying out. I had COMPLETELY scoffed at the whole Harry Potter craze right from the start, but since I was desperate to stay alert, I put my cynical 21-year-old self away. Shoo shoo. And just reading the beginnings of Harry exploring Hogwarts made me realize a third angle I could try to approach my story:
  • Start right at the beginning - introduce the main character as she's being introduced to a new school year and living situation.

After a lot of wasted paper and ink and notes (since I had so foolishly plunged headlong into #1 and #2), I started my 3rd attempt at story telling. I didn't bother worrying too much about planning out all the details, I just wrote. This was the first inkling I had as to what motivates me, personally, as a writer. If I'm dragging my feet on the story, or the dialogue, or the scene, then I'd better change it. There's no slogging through a part just to get to the cool ones - if you're slogging, your readers are giving up on you.

And again - this week is mainly about my process as a writer/comicker, and how I navigated through the process of creating my first webcomic. By no means is this a how-to for budding comickers! ... More like a cautionary tale. :)

Altogether, I had my format (utilize the vertical infinite canvas, add color, try to structure the panels as neatly as I could), my themes, and my structure. Next step - character development!

 

Webcomic Week Day 1: My Obsession With the Subject Matter

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I already mentioned in this post how I've been obsessed with Greek Mythology for a while now. I believe it started with this book:

And then it grew into an uncontrollable gorging every time I went to a thrift shop with a book section:

And peaked when I tagged along with my college's Ancient Studies Club to go to a trip to Greece in 2000.

Why was I so obsessed? Here's the thing. I was raised Catholic. Holy communion, weekly Mass, confirmation, awkward Sunday School taught by my father - the whole bit. And I knew I wanted to believe in some aspect of religion and myth and legend - just not all of it. Some parts were fun and story-tastic and awesome. Others, not so much. What I was really lacking in my religion was variety. All I saw were contradictions  - think this way but act another, strive for this even though you'll never ever get there, hate yourself, love everyone in theory but also judge them, etc. etc.

Then middle school and sixth grade English and Greek Mythology entered my life. Two elements getting it on, twelve titans, twelve Olympians, nine muses, three fates, three graces, three furies ... and a plethora of combinations and gods for every possible thing you were into. The more books and epic poems I read, the more I established my own opinion on what each of the gods were like. I kept trying to rationalize their behavior and give them personalities beyond what I'd read, so they'd fit into what I wanted them to be. It wasn't very difficult, which proves why they've stuck around in modern culture for so long.

  • Zeus - the lecherous dad. All-powerful, but also full of heart. Has a lot of trouble saying no - to women, children, and humans. The stepfather you'd like to have.
  • Hera - the politician's wife. Established and wise on her own, but continually forced to react to her husband's distracting and obvious affairs.
  • Poseidon - the brother who disowns his family. The stories say Zeus split up the world and gave Poseidon the seas and Hades the Underworld - I say he chose so he could cultivate his own world. He basically packed up and moved to the opposite coast from the rest of his family, so he could use that as an excuse for never visiting.
  • Hades - the younger brother who wants to do something "different" with his life. Hades is often painted as evil, bitter, and jealous of Zeus and Poseidon. In my mind, he made it seem like he got the short end of the stick when all he really wanted was to explore his dark side and be feared.
  • Athena - the daughter Zeus is so glad he had. Burdened with being the responsible one all the time, never allowed to cut loose and randomly murder a bunch of people like her siblings.
  • Ares - the son who's belligerent and starved for attention. He makes sure everything he does is loud and noticeable.
  • Hestia - the quiet homebody. She tends the fire, she respects home life. Therefore, no one wants to talk to her.
  • Demeter - the hippie mom. So distraught by what happens to her daughter Persephone that she's forced to become the overprotective mom she always had in her.
  • Apollo - the golden child. Zeus is eternally proud of him and he manages to rock the poet/artist that every woman (and man) lusts after. Chill, bright, his life is golden.
  • Artemis - Apollo's realistic twin, she sees shit how it really is, and knew long ago to pull the cord and go live in the forest with a bunch of ladies. Lesbian to the core.
  • Hermes - the fun-loving gossip. Got to deliver everyone's news and was clever enough to pull practical jokes on the other gods and not get murdered for it.
  • Aphrodite - everyone's favorite. Cynical, business-minded, but also kind of a sap.

So what do you do with all this lovely subject matter, which has already been tackled to death in every possible form wayyyy before you were born? You find some way to express your love and interest in it, using the tools at your disposal.

Tomorrow! Turning ideas and wishful thinking and a love of comics into story.

Webcomic Week Day 1: My Obsession With the Subject Matter

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I already mentioned in this post how I've been obsessed with Greek Mythology for a while now. I believe it started with this book:

And then it grew into an uncontrollable gorging every time I went to a thrift shop with a book section:

And peaked when I tagged along with my college's Ancient Studies Club to go to a trip to Greece in 2000.

Why was I so obsessed? Here's the thing. I was raised Catholic. Holy communion, weekly Mass, confirmation, awkward Sunday School taught by my father - the whole bit. And I knew I wanted to believe in some aspect of religion and myth and legend - just not all of it. Some parts were fun and story-tastic and awesome. Others, not so much. What I was really lacking in my religion was variety. All I saw were contradictions  - think this way but act another, strive for this even though you'll never ever get there, hate yourself, love everyone in theory but also judge them, etc. etc.

Then middle school and sixth grade English and Greek Mythology entered my life. Two elements getting it on, twelve titans, twelve Olympians, nine muses, three fates, three graces, three furies ... and a plethora of combinations and gods for every possible thing you were into. The more books and epic poems I read, the more I established my own opinion on what each of the gods were like. I kept trying to rationalize their behavior and give them personalities beyond what I'd read, so they'd fit into what I wanted them to be. It wasn't very difficult, which proves why they've stuck around in modern culture for so long.

  • Zeus - the lecherous dad. All-powerful, but also full of heart. Has a lot of trouble saying no - to women, children, and humans. The stepfather you'd like to have.
  • Hera - the politician's wife. Established and wise on her own, but continually forced to react to her husband's distracting and obvious affairs.
  • Poseidon - the brother who disowns his family. The stories say Zeus split up the world and gave Poseidon the seas and Hades the Underworld - I say he chose so he could cultivate his own world. He basically packed up and moved to the opposite coast from the rest of his family, so he could use that as an excuse for never visiting.
  • Hades - the younger brother who wants to do something "different" with his life. Hades is often painted as evil, bitter, and jealous of Zeus and Poseidon. In my mind, he made it seem like he got the short end of the stick when all he really wanted was to explore his dark side and be feared.
  • Athena - the daughter Zeus is so glad he had. Burdened with being the responsible one all the time, never allowed to cut loose and randomly murder a bunch of people like her siblings.
  • Ares - the son who's belligerent and starved for attention. He makes sure everything he does is loud and noticeable.
  • Hestia - the quiet homebody. She tends the fire, she respects home life. Therefore, no one wants to talk to her.
  • Demeter - the hippie mom. So distraught by what happens to her daughter Persephone that she's forced to become the overprotective mom she always had in her.
  • Apollo - the golden child. Zeus is eternally proud of him and he manages to rock the poet/artist that every woman (and man) lusts after. Chill, bright, his life is golden.
  • Artemis - Apollo's realistic twin, she sees shit how it really is, and knew long ago to pull the cord and go live in the forest with a bunch of ladies. Lesbian to the core.
  • Hermes - the fun-loving gossip. Got to deliver everyone's news and was clever enough to pull practical jokes on the other gods and not get murdered for it.
  • Aphrodite - everyone's favorite. Cynical, business-minded, but also kind of a sap.

So what do you do with all this lovely subject matter, which has already been tackled to death in every possible form wayyyy before you were born? You find some way to express your love and interest in it, using the tools at your disposal.

Tomorrow! Turning ideas and wishful thinking and a love of comics into story.

Webcomic Week

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  In order to welcome back regular updates to my webcomic Gods & Undergrads, this week I'm going to have a post-a-day about Why The Heck I Started Gods & Undergrads in the first place oh so many years ago. (Oh so many, I'm afraid I might've even officially started it in 2001, YE GASP)

A look back, if you will, on:

  • What inspired me to do comics in the firstest place
  • How I went about it
  • Things I learned
  • Things I never learned
  • And just what makes webcomics so wonderful in the first place.

Before I start, though, this is not meant to be some sort of how-to on how you should create a webcomic. I'm definitely going to share the things I've learned, but I do feel like over the years I've done everything I possibly could to prevent my webcomic from being regularly read and remembered. So I definitely can't condone my method. But! That's what processes are all about, right? The screwing up along the way?
We'll start off tomorrow with Part 1: My Obsession With the Subject Matter. Stay tuned!

STAY CALM

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I'm so glad summer is on its way out. Even though it's still 80 degrees today, I can feel a (for once) cool breeze wafting around town, promising me that I may no longer have to be sweaty as I get dressed for work in the mornings. So it seemed like the perfect time to bring up this outdated billboard advertising Ocean City I saw the other day and I remembered how much I liked.

It was a great campaign. And not only because it was bold enough to catch your attention when you were stuck on the freeway in endless traffic, with nothing but muggy nights in the city to look forward to. Or because it featured "Rodney" - the Lifeguard Angel sent to fly you away to the beach and forget all of your troubles. Rodney reminds me of visiting Rehoboth Beach last year and catching the lifeguard tryouts on the beach. One wonderful, perfect vision of lifeguards running laps, swimming sprints, hootin' and hollerin' and encouraging one another in their red uniforms while the rest of us pale, fat suburban beachgoers gazed on admirably. Wonderful, but yet reminded me of how skittish I am to even go near the water nowadays for fear of jellyfish.

No, I think I love this ad most of all because it's the exact opposite of what Ocean City actually is. Removed from it's uppity siblings, stuffy Bethany and artsy Rehoboth, Ocean City is a beach eternally locked in a time warp from when you were thirteen. Awkward, unsure, so excited to be at the beach but so not supposed to show it ... you'd put up with anything to be at a beach when you were thirteen. Anything just to get a chance to be out at night among teens you didn't know, play games, overdose at Candy Kitchen, get your fortune read, and buy some ridiculous neon fad you'd never wear again. Ocean City is always reminding you of that feeling, with its endless supply of offensive t-shirt stores,  black light paraphernalia, and chotchkey malls. Telling you it's okay to be sunburned for a week. Encouraging you to start binge drinking fruity drinks at a young age, because all the bars pimp out their waitresses. And if you're ever in doubt of your identity, there's a t-shirt store around the corner that verifies what an ignorant, misogynistic racist you really are.

It's hitting you over the head with nostalgia in such a way that makes you never, ever want to go back.

And yet, when I see campaigns like this I get excited that one day OC may shove off its identity as the cheap, sleazy younger brother of the east coast beaches and embrace a bolder, brighter, (cleaner) future as the BEACH THAT MEANS BUSINESS. The beach for those serious about BEACHING AND RELAXING AND NOTHING ELSE. That it will sweep away all the blinking, loud, screeching stores and remake itself as the BEACH OF ALL BEACHES. Yeah, then I'd go. And I'd have Rodney to thank for it.