TWCL

[smbhax.com]

rocketpig wrote:

I'll add "tell your backstory in the comic itself instead of rambling on about it on Twitter or creating a 'primer' instead of creating actual comics pages that tell the story (here's looking at you, Dresden Codak)."

Ooh! You have to admit this is genius, though--"52 new pages of art" in something he can sell, vs 52 pages of webcomic (which has lasted him since 2006!).

I don't get that comic at all, but if I did I would no doubt be more successful. =P

What I also enjoy is when new comics show up on TWCL's "blah blah my comic" board, and the author introduces their work by proclaiming how many years of pre-production have been involved in the genesis of their creation which is only just now beginning to melt our monitors!
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[dpat57]

smbhax.com wrote:

What I also enjoy is when new comics show up on TWCL's "blah blah my comic" board, and the author introduces their work by proclaiming how many years of pre-production have been involved in the genesis of their creation which is only just now beginning to melt our monitors!

Don't be cruel, now. Everyone's allowed to be crazily enthusiastic about their epic new comic! And puffed with pleasure over the amount of work they've put into it.

What's everyone's filing system for their world-building information? Do you keep docs, bios, pics, a combination? I like to make "about" pages which contain character, background, history and event info, and can be updated as the story evolves further. These are accessible to new readers trying to catch up. And they're an essential reference for me when I'm trying to remember facts and figures from a couple of years ago!
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[rocketpig]

smbhax.com wrote:

Ooh! You have to admit this is genius, though--"52 new pages of art" in something he can sell, vs 52 pages of webcomic (which has lasted him since 2006!).

It's amazing how popular that comic is and just how little content there is in the comic. I won't fault the guy his success (he's an amazing artist) but I'd like to see his "fans" demand more content instead of blithering on about crap that happened in the past.
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[rocketpig]

dpat57 wrote:

What's everyone's filing system for their world-building information? Do you keep docs, bios, pics, a combination? I like to make "about" pages which contain character, background, history and event info, and can be updated as the story evolves further. These are accessible to new readers trying to catch up. And they're an essential reference for me when I'm trying to remember facts and figures from a couple of years ago!

Before I started Variables, I decided the most important thing I could do was create a timeline. Part of that is because the story stretches out over three decades but it's been an immense help to me over the past 12 months. I think the current timeline is about 6-7 pages of information. I also have bios for about 15 characters and about 10 short stories outlined so I probably have roughly 30 pages of information on backstory. Not Tolkien-esque but not that short, either. My series probably demanded a little more pre-writing than most, though. It bounces back and forth in time so I need the basics outlined in between before starting.
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[vulpeslibertas]

I've got a series of different files that needs to be coalesced. Some of it is in different states since it's evolved over the life of the comic.

I've got some reference sheets on species abilities, and other things
a timeline,
partially written script with notes about significant stuff.

A lot of other stuff about the comic, but most of the world is stored in my head.
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[Clint Wolf]

I also have a lot of head storage space taken up, along with some pages of notes. I started actually putting it together into a world bible once and then lost steam after I tried to show it to my wife (and artist) and she just waved it away with a "Bah! Words!"

We started our comic by plopping the readers right in the middle of things, with a cowgirl being filmed by someone. On the last panel you find out that "someone" is a floating camera bot, which is the first hint things are skewed away from the norm. On page three you find out the horse she's been saddling up is undead. I deliberately tried to pace things so that the characters finding all this so normal might counterbalance the weird revelations, or at least raise a lot of questions that'll keep someone reading.

We get to the end of the first chapter without ever revealing exactly why zombies are being kept and herded like cattle, since the particulars of that didn't matter to the story right away. Of course it's one of the first questions anyone reading usually asks, so in the second chapter we started right off answering it by way of an in-universe TV ad. Since media culture is a big part of the theme, I took a page from the Robocop/Starship Troopers movie playbooks and use television segments to show some of the larger picture in what Dawn and I hope is an entertaining way.

Sometimes I'll also resort to more traditional narration. Pacing wise, it seems to work well as chapter openers before we go "Meanwhile, back at the ranch...". Though I did get into possible trouble when I went wall o' text at the beginning of Chapter 3, I don't know how well that flowed.

Another aspect of all this that's interesting are the assumptions that get made about the parts of the world you haven't gotten around to showing yet. Sometimes they're right in line with what you were thinking, sometimes I'm left scratching my head and wondering what I wrote (or Dawn drew) that led a reader to a certain conclusion.
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[ttallan]

dpat57 wrote:

What's everyone's filing system for their world-building information?

Calling it a "system" would be overly generous, in my case.

I have notes, notes, and more notes, kept somewhat randomly in a selection of word documents. I don't even go back and erase the notes that are no longer correct, which just adds to the mess. There are so many pages in total that I don't bother printing it out.

My most important document, and one that I try to keep up-to-date, is the Extended Plot, which at last check tops 100 pages. (The other docs run somewhere between 30-60 pages, I think.) Here is where I try to put the information in the order that I will need them, and while it's more or less chronological, it's really a big meander. I refer to it when I'm writing the scripts.

One thing that I do print out, and reference regularly, is my timeline. It's more about the characters (when they were born, where they were for such-and-such an event, who they worked for, etc) than it is about the world, though. I'd be lost without it.
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[smbhax.com]

I have a .txt file with some notes in it--mostly sketchy outlines of future episodes.
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[CoinOperatedGirl]

I think the magic of world building is in the details . It's also one of my favorite parts of comic creation.

I use online docs to keep track of everything, the back stories, history, maps, descriptions of races and places and so on.

[Montanto]

I maintain a couple of databases for my assorted projects that serve as large glossaries as well as several folders of text files and sketches. I occasionally experiment with putting the more important references together into a single pdf. I recently moved up to an extremely locked and private wiki which has the advantage of easier navigation due to the links.
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[Mockingbirdflyaway]

I have a folder full of MWord documents that are labeled by subject and/or country - each country has a rough history and a chronology of recent heads-of-state/political and social events and a plethora of notes on culture, religion and festivals (so I can make my anthropologist main character GEEK THE F**K OUT over anything related to her study area and start nattering away like a Furbee that won't shut up.... ) She's such a dork.

There are also documents on the air force (with DRAGONS!) and police force for the country that's featured mostly in the comic

I also have a separate folder, subdivided by characters, cities and major events for reference and idea pictures. The pictures have labels like "Character A will have a dress based on THIS" or "I want [Plot Significant Building] to look like this"

[lianne]

No system. In fact, I'm almost positive things are so chaotic I've got an anti-system.

For some reason, I plan things out best by writing hard copy on scrap paper, in pencil, in tiny, barely-legible writing, so I've got many assorted pages of notes in that format. Then I've got designs and layouts in sketchbooks, some of which are helpfully indexed and some of which aren't, character charts and some designs on large and smalll looseleaf paper, notes on my computer, notes in an online notepad application.... you get the idea. It's a wonder I know anything at all.
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[R(ed)]

I have my little red book and lots of illegible scribble. Almost all of it is to the benefit of myself since it is infomation that is really behind the scenes (such as what wrist the characters prefer to where their watches on!)
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[4LS]

I have a bunch of text files and such with various notes - but mainly I tend to refer back through the actual comic pages, on the principle that anything that isn't actually written down in the comic can be changed to suit the story.

I'm very much in the 'don't say anything if you don't need too' camp - because I've often found that fixed minor points can unexpectedly cause annoying obstacles. As in, it would be really useful if that character was a year older, or played golf instead of football, or whatever - but unfortunately I fixed that fact for no real reason on page two.
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[Lavenderbard]

I track my worldbuilding info using a MySQL database, and my website. (The copy of my website online is just a backup, and is currently out of date. I have an always up-to-date version on my own computer).

I also use the database to track my progress on whatever story I'm working on, my submissions to publishers, and that sort of thing.
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