2: Storyline Adjustments
Hey my Squids! Happy Halloween and Samhain, if you celebrate. I wanted to pour out some thoughts about the writing process for Taliah. There won't be major spoilers (the image featured covers the first two pages of the comic) but I will talk about some bigger ideas or contemplations further down the line. If you don't want to read any of that, feel free to close out the blog!
With that said, I always write the final scene of every story I've created first. Taliah is no different but there's an interesting difference in how I approach the "ending" of a comic versus just a story: there are no guarantees this time. The act of writing a comic, more specifically a web comic, is that it will be years before it reaches a conclusion, whether a natural story conclusion or a "I'm tired of making this" conclusion. Thankfully, the latter isn't a problem for me, as I love working on long-term projects, but the former is a valid concern. Especially, because, I've already made some changes to what is shown, revealed, and told in the early stages of the comic. Going forward, how will this affect parts 2, 3, and 4?
One of the things I've always wanted to showcase with this story is the relationship between the four main protagonists. I typically find that, in other books, characters will have their own storylines that are nicely wrapped up before the conclusion of the main plot point, at which time, there is no further character development. In additional books, new characters generally receive development, while older characters are left by the wayside. I want to change that paradigm with Taliah, focusing on each of the protagonists and weaving their specific tales into the main plot in the hopes that it will drive the tale forward.
However, one of the things I want to be cognizant of is that, as with all long term projects, the ideas I have today for what would come two or three main plot points from now may not be what I want to do in a few years. In fact, things like character popularity, likeness, or the enjoyment of drawing someone, may surge and wane depending on who is reading and why. I've already shifted some characters around, introduced a few more, and completely scrapped and rewritten several before the first pages are even available for public consumption and that is just based on how much better I think the story would flow with a format change (from physical only books to web comic). It'll be interesting to see how things change as I move forward.
I have a release date set for the first five pages of the book. I'll announce that soon. I'll be posting some pages with shading and lighting in the next few weeks. My schedule is to have a new page every two weeks on Fridays with Patrons being able to read it a week or so ahead of time. That means I'm working ahead, so while I may have a page dropping on a Friday, I plan to have anywhere between 5 or 10 pages already finished, just in case I need to take a short break for vacation or family time and can't work on a page for a week or so. I'm really excited about telling this story and can't wait for you all to experience it. I think you'll fall in love with the characters, the world, and the tale to come. Until next time, stay hydrated, my Squids.