xiann

The six-word story overview:
Not halfway there in seventeen hours.

On Friday took the day off to work on a 24 Hour Comic. This means writing a 24 page comic book in 24 hours (straight) on your own. You can get supplies and materials together beforehand, but you're not allowed to put pencil to paper at all until the clock starts ticking -- not to jot down notes about a story or anything. You're supposed to have all your ideas during the 24 hour period.

I thought I might be able to do this, but wasn't sure -- especially because there were no groups doing it anywhere near DC, and I was going at it alone in my apartment. (Jim was there, too, being wonderful and supportive as usual, but I was still doing the challenge on my own.)

On Thursday night, I was really nervous and didn't sleep well. I came up with a pretty good idea while I tossed an turned that I decided to use in the morning. I slept until 9:30AM and didn't get started until 11AM -- it wasn't until 1 or 2PM that I had a story and a single page drawn. You might say I was choking a little bit, and getting distracted with my email and the other pointless little things around the house.

I worked off and on (mostly on) for about 17 hours ... at which point I was sore and tired, the power went out (thank god I wasn't using Photoshop), and figured anything further I drew or wrote from then on would be crap. I was tired, not half done, and my back and neck were aching. I gave in to defeat, but I'm glad I did.

In the end, I came up with eight pages of pretty decent work, instead of 24 pages of somewhat incoherent and inconsistent work, which seems to be what a lot of people do (especially those who are as inexperienced as I am).

I'm going to scan and copy what I have and call it a failed attempt. I'll put it up on LJ tonight or tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm going to finish the story, which will probably be 25 or 30 pages when it's done and promises to be the most complete and solid comic story I've done.

So all in all, things turned out pretty well, and I'm glad I dived in -- even though I ended up over my head.