Fear of Being Committed, No Wait, That’s Not Right

[the_gneech]

This week I punted on a story that just wasn’t going anywhere; I hate doing that, and I especially hate doing it when the editor for whom I was doing the story seemed so keen to have it, but it was frankly not my best work and I suspect he would have had to reject in the end anyway. Better in the long run at this stage to let it go so both he and I

Comments

[huskyteer]

Sorry you're canning the short story (if it's that one, and I guess it is), but excited to hear of the YA project. Obviously this is an area dear to my heart and I'll watch your progress with interest.

[the_gneech]

If it's the Roar 4 story you're thinking of, yes, it's that one. :) Your suggestion for it helped quite a bit, actually, but it still wasn't really salvageable in its current form. I might revisit it later. :)

-TG

[huskyteer]

Ah well, I hope it will bide its time and emerge in due course!

[oceansedge]

Please tell me that Brigid and Greg aren't going away??? I look forward to each new episode with an unreasonable glee.

(but don't let the big pussycat eyes guilt you into keeping them or anything)

[the_gneech]

I expect B&G will stick around in their current form, as they're just things I toss off when a cute idea comes to me. :) I'm talking more about big projects here.

-TG

[rowyn]

I wanted to vote for B&G too. I wouldn't complain if they got upgraded to Big Project (eg, that book you've talked about that never jelled, or even just more frequent episodes). But no pressure!

[kylet]

Fairly valid reason; once you get started on a big, ongoing project, there's a lot of reader pressure for more, and more often. It's daunting.

As primarily an artist, MY goal was to have something up that was better-looking than my previous project...it's like, "dear lord I don't want to be known for THAT art." I'm not sure how it works with writing.

So where does "doing a project just cuz I'm passionate about it" fall into the equation? Mainstreamness and critical acclaim have varying overlaps with that. I'm mainly curious re: Arclight Adventures, which was going a direction you didn't want, but seemed like something you just thought was fun.

And what's YA?

[the_gneech]

YA = "young adult." :)

Re: Arclight, the constant "going a direction I didn't want" kinda sucked the fun out of it. I do think it's salvageable, but it's an intimidating project. If I can find a way to make it more fun and less scary, that will certainly increase its chances of actually happening!

-TG

[kensterfox]

You know, I didn't really intend a sting of truth in that comment, and that's an important distinction, as I often do intend them. And apparently it did sting, enough for you to remember the comment almost three months later.

I think an important thing to keep in mind is that epicness is relative. For a lot of us reading your comics, website, Twitter and Facebook posts, etc., having a body of work that people will want to shell out $100 (in THIS economy!) for is pretty damn epic already. Sure, you want more, and sure, you want to do bigger and better than you've done before, and there's nothing wrong with that. But you've already proven that you can do what you love and people will pay attention. I promise, SOMEONE is going to appreciate your sparkling and incisive wit, no matter what you do.

[the_gneech]

Well, I didn't think there was anything mean to the comment or anything like that. It was more of an "it's a fair cop" sort of moment. :)

I have a giant "you're not worthy" monster lurking in my brain; the main way I have of getting it to shut up is to do things I can point to and say "Oh yeah? Then what about THAT?" And it does help. :) However, that tactic is susceptible to counter-attacks of "what have you done for me lately?"

Unfortunately, that particular battle can end up poisoning what should be the real point of my work -- i.e., the work itself -- by making it be all about me instead. That's what I'm trying to fix here. :)

-TG