ngoziu
patreon
Micropod #4 - How I Write Check Please & What I've Learned 🖊️
🕑 Added 2019-06-02 21:19:25 +0000 UTCHeader Image: A scan from the notebook in which I planned Year 3. On the right is a very neat outline for the episodes that year--and on the left is where I created new plot points, ideas, pieces of dialogue to flesh out the year.
An example of the type of wackadoo scatterbrain outline I make before moving on to thumbnails. For Comic 3.16, I had a LOT of ground to cover. Where was Lardo going after Samwell? What were R & H up to? Who would be the new manager??
A fairly accurate portrayal of how I feel about a new chapter of Check Please...The fear of mediocrity never goes away, my friends. The only thing that I've gotten better at is working through the valleys and gutters--and coming out at the other end! 😩👍
PLEASE leave comments with ideas for new episodes. Maybe I should talk about how I developed each and every character? Where they started off vs. the characterization they have now?
Comments
Ngozi
WHOOF MAYBE I SHOULD 8^))) honestly, a lot of it for me was stepping away and getting a creative refraction period.
Ngozi
It's such a weird feeling that is 100% true, but feels too hokey to describe. It's kinda like improv??
Jesse
This was really awesome to listen to! I would love to hear more about your creative process. Maybe you could talk about how to maintain passion/avoid burnout when working on a project long-term?
Thank you so much for sharing! Getting to that place where you know your characters enough to let them lead you is the best feeling, and I love hearing other creators talk about that!
Ngozi
Really good question!! Hmmm, I think the connector between "college screenplay" and "published-on-a-bookshelf" is self-publishing via Kickstarter? Which is a pretty nebulous space, admittedly--I could definitely talk about that.
Ngozi
These are all really interesting topics that I should dive into!!
Honestly I'm really interested in the transition the comic made from "personal project" to "successful publication." All the interviews I've seen skip over that part and jump straight from "started from college screenplay" to "now you done it" haha. Did the popularity happen by surprise? Did you try to market it at all early on? When did you realize it could actually be profitable? All that middle stuff!!
Ngozi
Ohhh, good question! I'll ponder on that.
Yes, more on characters! Would love to hear about the main characters, but I would also really like to hear about characters that maybe you’re personally really fond of but don’t get as much screen time (panel time?). I was actually wondering the other day what kind of character info you might have that was part of the original development (may or may not be something you still consider part of the character) that has never been mentioned because there wasn’t an opportunity for its relevance or just got nixed at some point. If that makes sense. I really enjoy these micropods!
Would love to hear more about the characters! Would love to know which character has surprised you most along the way.
Ngozi
OH MAN good point. I will tell you a LOT of it is flying by the seat of my pants, but there may actually be a method to the madness?? I'll think on that!
Yes, definitely more on the characterization process. It would be so cool to see how you develop each “year” of characters in their little trios.
