A Note To Readers
If you’re reading “Velia, Dear” you’ll know that currently it’s in that limbo state that acts as the middle ground between the end of one story thread and the beginning of another.
I’m not going to tell you where this current “Evil Eye” bit is headed – keep reading and you’ll find out. What I can tell you is that when I was writing the week of strips that you’re currently reading now I had no idea where I was going with it. I just wrote and allowed my characters to speak for themselves. For a while, I wrote without an outline – not even a loose one – in mind. (The disadvantage of writing stuff that’s running as you’re writing it is that you don’t have the luxury that, say, novelists and screenwriters do – you can’t go back and revise, and add things to the beginning of the story to give it balance.) That aspect has become my one dislike of writing for a web comic. Unless I’m so far ahead (like a year) then my stories are going to always be written with that one limitation: very little room for revision. Revision is what makes stories better. Although I knew this when I started “Velia, Dear” I didn’t think it would present itself as a huge constraint because, at the time, I had no idea that I would be writing these long story lines (which I really love doing).
What am I getting at? It’s this – the next story line is one that I am writing without a clear end in mind. This is a very shaky, and scary way to write a story, but you know what? – this web comic began as an experiment, and so experiment I will.
So for the coming weeks I’d like you to read “Velia, Dear” as a sort of work in progress. I’d like you to read it knowing why I’m doing it at all: to learn a few things about writing fiction, to get better at drawing graphic scenes, and to get myself ready for my next creative project.
My hope for “Velia, Dear” is to accomplish all these things, and one more: I’d like you to have fun reading it. If there is one thing I can guarantee it’s that you won’t be bored – who could be bored with art thievery, flying nuns, and wicked Italian gypsy magic?
Thanks for reading my blabberings. Drop me a comment and let me know if I’m making any sense!
I look forward to enjoying your experiment, Rina. I enjoy “Dear Velia” very much and appreciate you letting us read it. Best wishes from Montana.
You’ve got some great characters, just let them run!
Thank you so much, guys — I really appreciate it
I just reread all of the strips yesterday (I was waiting on somebody, had my iPad…it was a nice break). I think the best thing you’ve done is create very distinct personalities that haven’t betrayed their character throughout these stories. Very nicely done!
Charles Dickens managed to write well enough for the periodicals without revision, so we can too. I think if your characters are strong enough, it’s possible to tell stories this way without having an ending in mind (see how smoothly I just lumped us in with Charles Dickens?)
Stephen, you don’t even have to leave comics for a great example. I’m told Chester Gould, creator of Dick Tracy, wrote just about every serial on the fly. He wrote long stories with outrageous situations and traps without ever knowing how he was going to resolve them. He has said, “How can I surprise my readers if I can’t surprise myself?”
All I’m saying is, there’s more than one way to write/draw a story, and all have their validity. No one has to limit him- or herself to only one way, although each creator usually finds a way that works best.
That’s a fantastic quote, Neil. I haven’t heard that one before. Chester Gould is a great example, too. He did stuff that I absolutely can’t imagine being allowed in the paper today.
I don’t remember the exact story, but there was a Dick Tracy villain in the ’40s (and old lady, I think) who had a character tied up on the floor. On either side of him she placed a large block of ice. She laid a board across the two blocks of ice and drove a knife through it. Then she put a large object on top of the board. So as the ice slowly melted, the knife came closer and closer to the poor, trapped soul. It still makes me shiver.
So there you go, Rina, scare the hell out of us.
Wow… looks like this post opened up a whole discussion. As for me and the strip, I’ll do my DICKinsian best (see? I managed to get both Dick Tracy and Charles Dickens in there).
Anyway, Stephen — I may be totally wrong about this, but didn’t Dickens write the novels out in full before they began running in serial form in the mags? Don’t know where I might’ve read this — and please correct me if I’m wrong.
No. In fact, a lot of Dickens’ style has been attributed to the fact that he would leave the reader hanging for the next issue of the mag. In Oliver Twist, he even had Oliver shot and then didn’t tell readers if he was ok or not in the next installment. People had to wait two months for that. Many times he would write only a couple of weeks before publication. His stories might have been the first to be so poplar that public opinion would weigh heavily on the outcome (they would demand that a villain be killed or something like that).
I don’t think it’s a stretch to compare comics to Dickens. He had a lot of detractors at first because he was published the way he was.
Stephen — I had no idea. Dickens has never sounded more like a continuity strip writer — ha! (All this talk of him is a coincidence — I just saw the Dickens exhibit at The Morgan Library here in NY — wonderful book illustrations, and all his letters.) Thanks for little bit of history!
Deep thought aside, I have been enjoying “Velia, Dear” very much and find myself anxiously awaiting every other days installment. You’re doing wonderfully Rina!
Thank you, Tom!
I tend to take a similar approach in my own writing: If I try to hem the characters in with too much pre-planning then they don’t have room to grow & breath. I’m looking forward to this new arc!