21: Pitching Season
Where I throw it all against the wall to see what sticks.
So a few things have happened since last we crossed paths, o’ alert ones, all of them somewhat related to the subject of this here alert.
First up, Skullgirls ended its first season in tragic fashion and at present there’s no guarantee of a second, or that I’ll actually be involved as writer if there is. Now, that’s not to say I wouldn’t be interested in writing a second season of Skullgirls, because I most assuredly would. But would they want me? That I cannot say.
There is demand for it (the second season, that is), which is nice to see. The portion of the Skullgirls community that did read the webtoon seems enthusiastic about the prospect of another season. Unfortunately, I have no real control over that. It’s up to the powers-that-be at Hidden Variable (the studio that makes Skullgirls) and Webtoon. So if you’re reading this and you do want another season of Skullgirls then you gotta tweet at them like you’re overcaffeinated birds!
MoonRise is back, which if you’ve been reading these you did know, but what you might not know is there’s been a fairly steep drop off in likes for the new episodes. Which, while unfortunate, was pretty much expected after a hiatus of nearly 10 months. It’s extremely difficult to maintain that readership momentum while a series isn’t updating, and we weren’t updating for a good while. Thus far we’ve managed to hang around 1000 likes per episode, which isn’t terrible or anything, just not ideal for convincing our Webtoon overseers to renew us for another season, it is a business, after all, which makes telling a complete story a touch more difficult. We feel fairly confident that we’ll be able to do that, but there’s no guarantees in this ‘biz.
One thing that has been great is the reception, comments and enthusiasm from the readers that have stuck with MoonRise, which I’m forever grateful for, and so I try to be active in the comments on each episode to let them know it. I do feel like what MoonRise is, as a series, kind of clashes a bit with what’s traditionally presented on Webtoon, and so the readership has always sort of paled in comparison to the more popular series. Which I don’t say as a complaint! I’ve always felt extremely grateful not only that Webtoon took a chance on us despite the odds, but that our readers have as well.
I guess the point I’m driving at here is that you never know when the well is going to run dry, and so it’s important to have a plan in place if it does. What’s the next thing going to be? Is it important that it be a bigger success than the last thing?
For that second question, I believe the answer is no, although ideally the answer would be yes. Really, instead of the next thing being more successful (re: profitable) than what you did before, I think it matters more that you learn from what you did previously and take those lessons into the next project, whatever it may be.
And so that’s just what I’m doing post-Skullgirls and MoonRise. I’ve got two irons in the fire at the moment. Both of them based on ideas that’ve been part of my brain factory for years but that haven’t ever quite been what I wanted them to be.
The first is an action/humor concept, which is well within my purview, and at one time had landed at a pretty big name publisher before it all fell through. This happened during the pandemic and was a devastating blow to my momentum as a comics creator, but I still think the idea is sound, the story itself is all but complete and that it’d work tremendously well as either a traditional comics series or webtoon. I’m currently in pursuit of an artist and discussing terms with my partner on how to handle things as we get closer to pitching, but I think if all goes well this could be finalized and ready to pitch before the end of the summer, if not sooner.
The second is a romance/horror story, which, if I’m being honest here, is a bit outside my usual wheelhouse. I enjoy horror, but I’m not all that experienced with writing it. The closest I’ve come is my self-published anthology series, Lesser Evils, where I clumped a few short horror stories in every issue that admittedly weren’t always as horrific as the title implied. Still, it’s a series I’m proud of and does give you a bit of an idea what I can do in that realm.
Despite my trepidation, the horror/romance project is much farther along than the first. In fact, I’ve already paired with an artist, consulted with my editor, wrote up a logline, synopsis, series breakdown, designed characters and sent the pitch into a publisher! Yaaah! At this point we’re just waiting to hear back on it.
So yeah, quite a bit of movement at my end, especially compared to how things were going around the end of the last year. Speaking of which…
Been thinking a lot recently about how I’d stopped writing anything for the span of, at least, a few months during the backend of 2023. And I’ve come to a top-5 of non-conclusions!
1. Holidays.
This is true, it was the holiday season, and every year the holidays seem to roll one on top of the other quicker and quicker, or at least to my perception. Not that this is any way a detriment to me (quite the opposite, actually), but I’ve also got a wife, kids and a sizeable family as well, so the holidays do tend to be a bit of an ordeal when they come around as there’s lots to do and not always a ton of time (or space, nyuk!) to do it in. That tends to leave a bit less time for writing, even if I do have the motivation to do it (more on that in a bit).
2. Day job responsibilities.
To this point I’m unable to write for a living, unfortunately, and so I do have a day job that takes up the majority of my working week. Sometimes (and in previous years, really) things are a bit slower and I’m able to write a little more easily around my duties. But lately my responsibilities and tasks have increased exponentially. Which is a good thing, don’t get me wrong, because it means work is looking to me when stuff needs doing, which to a degree makes me a valuable asset and provides a sense of security I haven’t necessarily always felt. But less time to write is less time to write, and I’ve been endeavoring to work my way around that particular obstacle more and more lately.
3. Various distractions.
Let’s face it, this is a world of distractions, isn’t it? I often think of the ol’ saying about “bread and circuses”, where back in Rome the rulers would appease the populace (who suffered greatly) with free handouts of food and violent spectacle. It’d distract them from their troubles for a time, and the rulers would be safe to continue to rule and make things even harder. Now, in this case I’m both the ruler and the ruled, because I’m serving up the bread and circuses to myself, but I do think there’s something to be said of the ease of distractions that are available to me. Stuck on a bit of dialogue? Look at my phone. Not quite sure how to end an issue? Play a mobile game. Struggling with the logline of a pitch? Can always check social media!
4. General malaise.
We all feel down or unmotivated from time to time, don’t we? That’s pretty much what this is. I’m aware, and have often said in this alert and elsewhere, that you can’t wait for inspiration to strike if you’re going to be a writer. If you do that, sure, it’ll come now and then, but not enough to really get anything done. Instead, you’ve got to train yourself to write as regularly as you’re able, no matter how inspired (or uninspired) you’re feeling. Make it habitual, and then while you’re in the midst of your routine more often than not inspiration will strike all on its own. But, y’know, I don’t always practice what I preach, believe it or not. Sometimes I do sit there and wait for inspiration to strike, despite all evidence to the contrary, which ultimately results in very little getting done and the further confirmation that inspiration isn’t the fuel that makes the car go, it’s more like the nitrous that gives it a boost towards the finish line.
5. Willful avoidance.
This is the primary culprit, I think, and tie into numeros tres y quatro up above. They actually feed into one another, because when I’m feeling down often one of the things that can serve to make me feel a bit better is sitting down to write, and when I’m purposefully preventing myself from doing it with a distraction or because I feel a bit down then afterwards I usually feel all the worse. It’s cyclical! I’m like a hamster on a wheel chasing a meal just out of reach. I could get off the wheel, walk right over and eat it, but that’d be too simple. Instead I keep running, exhausting myself and getting all the hungrier, but the only thing I can think to do is keep stubbornly plodding away as I have been.
Fun, right? I mean, with all that working against me, how do I get any writing done at all?
And the answer is: the itch.
There’s this itch I feel, at times more insistent than others, that compels me to write. When it’s less insistent I can ignore it or even tamp it down. But when I do that I end up feeling bad, and invariably the itch grows until it’s too irritating to completely ignore. I’m not sure what exactly the itch is (A defense mechanism against stifling my creativity? Some kind of psychological representation of my sense of duty to myself? An actual physical ailment I should go see a doctor about?) but I’m glad it’s there.
I’m heading to Chicago for a week to visit my brother and his family. Although they live in Indiana, so technically they also have to head to Chicago to visit me and mine. That’s what we call compromise.
I’m excited to visit Chicago. I’ve never been, so looking forward to seeing the sights, eating the food, and braving the weather. I’m also excited to take a slight break from work and see how that treats me. And what’s best is I get to see my brother and his partner, who I haven’t seen in person since the pandemic. And my nephew, who I haven’t seen in person, um… ever, despite the fact that he’s about to turn 4! Which, yes, is bad, and I feel bad about, but… there was that whole pandemic thing and, I mean, c’mon… they live in Indiana. I’m not going to Indiana.
(I kid, I don’t have anything against Indiana. It’s the name of one of my favorite movie heroes and everything.)
By the time I return I very well may know whether or not I’ve got another comics series on the horizon, which makes this time off maybe a bit more anxiety-riddled than it probably should be, considering it’s a vacation and all.
But hey, anxiety builds character or something like that, right? I’d better hope so, or I’m screwed.