“Inspiration”
Hey Horskateers. As we roll into the future, I thought it would be a nice idea to talk a little bit about the past. What? It’s Thursday? WHATEVER!
Anyway, I was watching Tim Burton’s Ed Wood on Tuesday, and it got me thinking. First off– what an awesome movie. Second, and probably more important, wow– what a delusional guy. And such charisma! The man convinced so many people to get so involved with his projects, which one could probably tell were complete and utter crap from the get-go. And yet, the man held enormous sway over the people he loved. His charisma and the loyalty of his loved ones (well, except his first wife, but nevermind that) kept him not only afloat, but inspired! I’m not sure if the scene of him meeting Orson Wells was true or not, but that sheer moment where our “hero” is meeting his idol, the man who made arguably “the best movie ever,” is sitting and giving advice to arguably the worst director ever (I say “arguably” because, well, Uwe Boll does have his own distinct style), is so bittersweet! We want our hero to succeed, but we know he’d probably do better in politics or teaching, rather than “making pictures.” Wells gives him the courage and inspiration he needs to be the worst he can be. He learns the absolute wrong message, and is bolstered by the love of a good woman, and the loyalty of good friends.
Naturally, it got me to thinking about me.
I’ve been working on Horsemen longer than I honestly care to admit. We’re here, now, into its third “issue,” you might say, and the art has really kept the story afloat. Sure, I guess the premise is interesting. But let me tell you two quick stories:
Horsemen was once an animated series proposal. We had scripts and production art and designs and outlines– the whole schebang. Even had a short animated treatment ready to go. No dialogue or sound effects, but the animation was there. I presented this very concept to probably more than a dozen TV networks and production companies. All of them said no. ALL OF THEM. One company said they loved the idea, but they never returned phone calls, and it never got anywhere past that meeting. I’d call that a no.
Mike and I got set up and ready to make Horsemen a comic book series. Pitched it to, once again, more than a dozen different companies. NOBODY wanted it. And you know what really blew about that? Not a single word of criticism. Nobody said why they didn’t want it. The most common thread of advice that was given, honestly, was them recommending a company that had already rejected it. “Oh man,” one editor would say, “I’m sure Image would love it.” This would, of course, be after being rejected by Image about four companies ago. Actually, one indy publisher liked Horsemen, but wanted me to sign over nearly all the rights, and sign a contract which gave them exclusive control to change the characters, concept, artist, writer, and even co-creator credit as they saw fit. Didn’t sit right with me, so I’d count that as a no, too.
So you can imagine that weird, familiar feeling I might have had when watching Ed Wood sink his own self-inflated ships simply by virtue of his having designed them. It’s a scary thought. People I know love Horsemen, and enjoy the story. Hell, you know I love it! But once in awhile, I’m wondering if I should just get back to taking the GRE’s and get that Masters in Administration my family keeps suggesting.
Self-doubt can be really inconvenient.
Sorry to end this on kind of a weird downer, but it’s been on my mind. I’m really looking forward to 2010 for some reason, and I hope this feeling was cathartic enough to kind of force me to re-evaluate the story and concept, and even my own involvement in this industry. Hopefully, if it works out that I’m not being a completely self-delusional wackjob, it’ll make for better reading for you.
Happy New Year, gang!
But since you are neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!
Revelation 3:16
Your story lacks passion, it also lacks plot, intrigue, distinguishable characters, beguiling setting and most importantly theme. Oh if only the title did not trivialize war, famine, pestilence and death you could have easily sole it to the networks… It is as if it where scripted _buy_ those 3 apathetic slackers and then edited ( or maybe not ) by there UBER apathetic 4th.
If by some fluke you have felt an emotion, or had an opinion on a topic at some point in your life, then maybe you can harness this momentary lack of COOL to help you develop a story.
Ask yourself; does my story have and push a point, does it have an agenda. Is there a message and is it getting across. Most importantly what change or growth in the reader am i striving for and are my characters, plot and settings the best way to effect that change?
Right now MuleMen is just Sienfeld’s and the office’s offspring. If web comic readers wanted such pabulum we would watch TV instead.
In an era infected with disaffection writers are having a hard time selling to readers because we only want one thing from writers and we will only be satisfied with that on thing.
We want your soul.
The fact that you’ve been working on it so long just tells me that you love it too much to let it go, which I consider a good thing. You’re invested enough in it to see it through for this long, which must have included some previous rough patches. I think that since the creation of this site it’s gone somewhere great, and it can keep going. I see serious potential for a really great story, and I’d love to read it someday.
As a writer who is never, ever satisfied with her work, I fully understand the self doubt. Just remember what you love about the comic, and what everyone loves about it, and use that to push onwards and upwards. Pringles at 2am have been known to help as well, though that might just be me.
This is where I would try to insert a nerdy but inspiring and appropriate-to-the-topic quote, but I can’t actually think of one. I’d considered “never give up, never surrender,” but Galaxy Quest doesn’t quite fit the tone, I feel. So I’ll just end with–Good luck, and I sincerely hope to see more from you and these characters in the future.
(P.S. See, the quote I really wanted to use was “time for some thrilling heroics.” It seemed to fit my whole “go get ‘em” tone and all, you know? But it just doesn’t make sense in the context! This whole quoting-things business is harder than it looks. I probably need more pringles.)
Midoriko– First off, I’m sorry I hadn’t replied ’till now. I was incredibly blown away by your exceptionally kind words.
You’re right. I do love this universe, and all the characters. I used to think it was all tied in with the art, and without it the concept’s just not worth running. The truth is, though, I’ve still got something to say, and I do take my time in saying it. The fact that people like you take time out of your life to share inspiration or just a little nudge in a positive direction says to me that this is worth pursuing, because it’s reaching people on one level or another.
Thank you for that, and reading, and everything else.