Webcomic Wonderland discussion
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Alex Woolfson
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Q&A with Alex Woolfson on March 23rd!
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Jill wrote: "Hi, Alex! Sorry I'm late. I love the comics. Thanks for your hard work!!"You're very welcome, Jill. I'm glad to hear you're enjoying them! :D
Hi Alex, sorry if I'm late. My question is, in these last two stories "Artifice" and The "Young Protectors", some of the fans favorite characters have turned out to be the women. Has that surprised you considering that there is usually some kind of reaction of "eww why is there a female in my bl/yaoi/whatever comic?
Oh and we never got to meet the older sister in "Tough" but, would she have been just as popular as Dr. Maven or Sircea?
Kinziek wrote: "You mentioned above that comics that don't end and shows that end disappointingly are, well, disappointing to you. I have to agree, they put me off of webcomics that are ongoing sometimes, too. But for someone looking to start their own comic, would you recommend having the entire story scripted, start to end, before even uploading the website? And in that case, how far would you recommend having the pages prepped in advance?"
For the reasons I stated above, I would absolutely recommend having the entire story scripted, start to end, before you begin creating art. Or, for a multi-chapter story like The Young Protectors, have it at least completely outlined start to finish and have the first two chapters completely written. The most important thing is to know your ending (and have it be a good one), IMHO. The second most important thing is to have lots of time to let the writing marinate before you put it in front of the readers—having at least 80 scripted pages in the bank before you bring on the artists. (And frankly, to attract real talent, they are going to want to see your script anyway to make sure they like it. )
Alex wrote: "Kinziek wrote: "You mentioned above that comics that don't end and shows that end disappointingly are, well, disappointing to you. I have to agree, they put me off of webcomics that are ongoing som..."As someone who is both writing and drawing their story, what do you suggest about the editing process? Would it be best to grab a second party to help with this portion? I am my own worst critic but sometimes what I cut from stories ends up being more important naratively.
Back to your own story: For the Young Protectors, you introduced a good amount of Kyle's friends. You mentioned Spook getting a bit of a side, but are there any plans for the other characters? Will they remain side or will they become more of a driving force between Duncan and Kyle?
K wrote: "I can't wait to receive my copy of Artifice, hopefully it's swimming to Australia as we speak.My question is, how much of yourself do you put into the main characters of Artifice or the Young Protectors? :-p
"
Hehe. I imagine it is. I hope you like it when it gets to you!
And here's how I'd answer your question: "I would often not do the things my characters do, but there are at least parts of me who will feel exactly what each of my characters feel."
As I said before, one of my key litmus tests for any action a character of mine takes is "If I were in their shoes, would I do this? Would I feel that way? Would I have the same reaction? etc." So, on some level, it's all me.
As my stories begin with daydreams—often Walter Mitty-esque fantasy—on some level, everything I write is Gary Stu. But the truth is, I don't find myself as interesting as I do other people, so there's only so much of my specifics that make it into the final characters.
But I can still see myself in every character I write, even the villains.
Most folks see me as a very gentle guy—and that's true. The last thing I would ever want to do in real life is cause someone harm or suffering. But we all have dark parts of ourselves. And in the darkness is often where the fun is (and cookies as well, or so I hear.) Writing gives me a safe place to indulge those parts of myself as well. I get to be the hero who saves the day and the bad guy with the best lines. Not bad work if you can get it.
So I'd say I'm in all of my characters—just somewhere located in the same region as their hearts. :)
Everyone is giving such awesome questions! Thank you. You all ROCK! I'll answer every question that's posted, but let's get the last questions in the next 5 minutes. I'll finish through those and if y'all have even more questions, maybe you can ask Kristen to bring me back sometime.
Cool? :)
Jamie wrote: "Hi Alex, sorry if I'm late. My question is, in these last two stories "Artifice" and The "Young Protectors", some of the fans favorite characters have turned out to be the women. Has that surprise..."
have I missed some important news, or what ever happened to tough? Is it still running?
Rowan wrote: "Do you ever think of starting your own comic imprint? :D"Hehe. I think I already have. ;) (Although the naming is a bit in flux. I got push-back from retailers over "Yaoi 911", so I'm using "AMW Comics" now. Not the sexiest name, but I'm going with it.)
Kimberly wrote: "Hi Alex,I don't really have a question just thought I'd share. I was reading my copy of Artifice (so pretty and shiny) after it arrived a few weeks ago and my hubby who has no idea what the subje..."
Ha! That's awesome!
There are actually more than a few wife and husband couples who have reached out to me to let me know that they enjoy using my work as "marital aids". In fact, I've had at least one husband write to thank me for the "mood" my work puts his sweetheart in.
Glad to be of service, Sir. ;)
Mod
Cool? :) "
That would be great Alex. Thank you so much for your time!
We're closed for new questions.
Thanks Alex!I just wanted to say that I am attracted to only two things when it comes to webcomics. Artwork and a good story. The Young Protectors delivers on both and does so with style.
Thanks for the lovely and romantic story. It perks up my tuesday-wednesday and friday-saturday.
Ida wrote: "Thank you so much for the great answer! Hope you have a continued good night (I don't know if it's night were you are, but it's night here, so...), and good luck with your writing. I'm looking forward to the next update of The Young Protectors! ."You're very welcome. :) Glad if my answers are helpful—and very glad if you're looking forward to the next The Young Protectors update. I'm very much looking forward to sharing that one with you! ;)
Thanks for coming and answering our questions! :)I look forward to Wed/Sat.
Thanks for your very thoughtful answers Alex!
Kristen wrote: "What is your opinion on fan fiction and fan art of your work?"While I relinquish none of the rights to my stories, characters, etc., I'm actually very flattered by fan works. That someone is so engaged with what we're creating that they would be inspired to take hours of their own time to make art or tell stories with my characters; it's hard to think of a more clear way to see that you've touched a reader.
There's a lot of fear on the part of creators that some deranged fan would try to sue them if a fanwork idea shows up in canon or something like that. And I'm aware that there is at least some precedence for this in terms of writer experience (which I don't think was ever upheld in court, but still, big, needless legal hassle.) So I respect creators' decisions to choose not to allow fan works (and fans should obviously respect that too). And if a lawyer I trust ever tells me I'm in real danger, I might have to change my policy on this.
But for now, so long as my artists and I receive credit, the fan work is completely and absolutely non-commercial (this includes selling art at Cons), so long as the fan creator doesn't have even the slightest issue with me "stealing their idea" without compensation (not going to happen, everything is scripted in advance, but that doesn't mean there won't be coincidence) and ideally so long as there is an active link back to my comics involved, so that it helps to build our audience, I'm all for it and very flattered by it.
You can read my official fan works policy at the bottom of my FAQ:
http://webcomics.yaoi911.com/faq/
Jamie wrote: "My question is, in these last two stories "Artifice" and The "Young Protectors", some of the fans favorite characters have turned out to be the women. Has that surprised you considering that there is usually some kind of reaction of "eww why is there a female in my bl/yaoi/whatever comic?Oh and we never got to meet the older sister in "Tough" but, would she have been just as popular as Dr. Maven or Sircea? "
It doesn't surprise me, but it does make me feel two things:
1) that my characterization is on track. Ideally, every main character should have their fans, and if my female characters didn't, I'd be concerned. (And frankly, I'm a huge Maven fan myself, so I'm glad other folks like her!)
2) I think it speaks very well to our readership. I often say we have the best readers in webcomics and considering our comments section, I don't think that's empty bragging. I think we avoid the (as you point out unfortunately common) misogyny because the overwhelming majority of our readers are just very thoughtful, engaged, mature folk. And that that is the case is something I find tremendously flattering and gratifying.
(And for the record, the older sister in Tough, Maria, was awesome. I would absolutely hope she would have been as popular! :) )
Alex wrote: "There's a lot of fear on the part of creators that some deranged fan would try to sue them if a fanwork idea shows up in canon or something like that. "Oh! I never thought of the possible legal issues of fanfiction. It never occurred to me that the original author could be accused of stealing ideas from a fan. I always thought of it the other way: people accusing the fan of stealing.
Leila wrote: "have I missed some important news, or what ever happened to tough? Is it still running? ."I'm going to answer this question first before jumping back to an earlier one, because it makes me a bit sad and I don't want to end on it.
But Tough is officially on hiatus. The artists I had on it became unavailable and so work stopped. The Tough story is dear to my heart and I do want to restart it, but the truth is that creating a romance story with visual elements that involves a 15-year-old protagonist is something that is frankly rather fraught in our current social climate.
The Young Protectors has a 17-year-old character which, if you remember, caused all kinds of hullabaloo. (I still get comments about it.) Even though I wouldn't go explicit (and didn't in the case of The Young Protectors, for that matter), I have to really ask myself, is it worth all the drama such a comic would generate, even if I believe the story would be of high-quality and one that might touch a bunch of readers who don't usually feel well-respresented?
If the artists had stuck with it, I probably would have pushed forward. But to engage in yet another long artist search with paid art tests, when my webcomics demand so much of my time... when I'd have to again and again make the case that gay teen romance is just as valid as straight teen romance... to fight the battle that what we see on HBO and Hulu with straight teens we should be able to see in comics with gay teens... it's something I believe in, but there are other battles I feel are worth fighting and well... let's just say it's given me pause and frankly, I've felt there have been better places to put my energies.
My main goal with my work is to create real heroes who just happen to like other guys. One thing I really liked about Tough was the opportunity to show a young person of color as a hero—and an Asian/Pacific Islander as a romantic lead. But through The Young Protectors and future stories there, perhaps there are even better places to show some positive representation of LGBT young people of color. Stories that have more impact and less distraction. So that informs my thinking some.
And there are ways that I've grown as a writer since I wrote the scripts for Tough, ways I could do a better job with story-telling, so that informs my thinking too about where I should direct my energies, to be honest.
So, I haven't given up on Tough, but for the time being, there won't be any new releases. If that changes, I'll make a lot of noise about it, I promise.
Kinziek wrote: "As someone who is both writing and drawing their story, what do you suggest about the editing process? Would it be best to grab a second party to help with this portion? I am my own worst critic but sometimes what I cut from stories ends up being more important naratively. I personally think having a "beta reader" is essential—ideally you'd have 2 or 3—mainly for just the reason you said: we're often too close to see what's working and what the real flaws of our work is.
I myself have one main beta reader and while she doesn't suggest a lot of changes, the ones she does suggest are always excellent. When I choose not to listen to her (a rare event now), I always regret it.
The key is finding someone who shares your vision and ideally a fellow writer skilled enough in critique to know the difference between helping you realize what you set out to accomplish with a work and essentially trying to get you to write it the way they would have written it. Very different things. It might take quite a bit of trial and error vetting and auditioning friends for this role. But I think it's essential.
(And if you don't have appropriate folks in your circle, I'd encourage you to seek out a local writing group and if that's not possible, there are even online options, like the excellent Critters for sci-fi stories. That's something I've participated in and found it quite worthwhile.)
Back to your own story: For the Young Protectors, you introduced a good amount of Kyle's friends. You mentioned Spook getting a bit of a side, but are there any plans for the other characters? Will they remain side or will they become more of a driving force between Duncan and Kyle? "
All characters from The Young Protectors are fair game. :) But the stories I've mentioned are the ones that I know I'm likely to create first.
As as for the role of the other characters in the Engaging the Enemy arc, in future chapters, I'd say they take a very big role. Stay tuned. :)
Viola wrote: "Thanks Alex!I just wanted to say that I am attracted to only two things when it comes to webcomics. Artwork and a good story. The Young Protectors delivers on both and does so with style.
Thanks for the lovely and romantic story. It perks up my tuesday-wednesday and friday-saturday. "
That's awesome. Thank you so much, Viola! I'm so glad you're enjoying it! :D
K wrote: "Thanks for your very thoughtful answers Alex!">Thanks for coming and answering our questions! :)
I look forward to Wed/Sat.
You're very welcome. I'm glad if they've been helpful!
Kristen wrote: "Oh! I never thought of the possible legal issues of fanfiction. It never occurred to me that the original author could be accused of stealing ideas from a fan. I always thought of it the other way: people accusing the fan of stealing."Yep, it's actually a whole thing. I believe it's happened with JK Rowling and Harry Potter. And I seem to remember a comic creator writing several blog posts about how she had all kinds of issues with a fan suing her for "stealing" his idea.
To be honest, reading stories like that did give me pause when it came to allowing fan work for my own stories. But I believe in my readers. And if it gives them pleasure to engage with my comics in that way, then so long as they are respectful of my rules, I think fan work can be one of the more beautiful things to come out of putting your own work out there.
Ultimately you want to know that you work has touched people's lives (and ideally enriched them). For me, fan work shows that my work has. And so as long as it doesn't hurt me or my ability to tell my stories, I'm all for it. :)
All right! I think I got to all the questions! Anyone still here? Was that useful? :)
That was really interesting, Alex! Thanks for sticking around for such a long time! This went wonderfully.
Mod
Alex wrote: "All right! I think I got to all the questions! Anyone still here? Was that useful? :)"That was. Thanks, Alex. I hope you can do this again, with a bigger audience. ^_^
Mike and Kristen,It really was my pleasure. Such great questions! :D
Kinziek wrote: "Alex wrote: "All right! I think I got to all the questions! Anyone still here? Was that useful? :)"That was. Thanks, Alex. I hope you can do this again, with a bigger audience. ^_^"
Hehe. As you can see, I had my hands full keeping up with the current audience size! But I like the way you're thinking. Thank you very much for such great questions. :)
This was so much fun and it's always great asking you questions, Alex.
They really were great questions. Thanks to everyone who participated today, too!
Jamie wrote: "This was so much fun and it's always great asking you questions, Alex."Glad you had a good time, Jamie. Me, too. Thank you so much! :D
Alex wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I was wondering how many chapters there will be for The Young Protectors, and do you already have a complete outline of where the story is going and how it will end.And ... is the..."
Thank you Alex, wonderful replies to my questions. It was interesting to see your full script and then the panels involved. Amazing work. It was also great to read your replies to the other questions posted.
Well, I can say that we started out with almost a 30 page buffer and thanks to you awesome readers and your bonus pages, we burned through that pretty quickly. So, for the past four or five months, it's been a bit more last minute.
But my artists know how important it is for me to not miss an update, so they've been going above and beyond to deliver ahead of time. And we are working on building up a buffer again. I, myself, won't feel comfortable until we have at least 20 pages again—life happens and having a buffer is essential, I think. So ask me this question again in 6 months. :)