Revising bad?

Pounce · Post by **Pounce** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 8:10 pm

So my wife and I have a comic. She draws, I write it. After she draws it I letter it and add the speech bubbles. I'm usually tempted to change the dialog slightly at this stage but according to her 75% of the time I actually make it worse instead of better. Does any one else run into this problem?

I also feel my characters aren't always consistant in their voice. It gets better but sometimes I feel like everyone's got MPD.

Any way the comic's at http://duchessmew.comicgenesis.com

Any specific comments and things to watch out for would be appreicated

Thanks

Sir Pounce

Faub · Post by **Faub** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 1:39 pm

I would run any changes you want to make past your artist before making them. If you annoy her enough she may stop drawing for you. This goes for any artist/writer pairing. You've got it worse since there could be marital side effects as well.

Discuss it. Get her to tell you what she liked about the old version and what she doesn't like about the new version.

Jeffy · Post by **Jeffy** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 5:46 pm

that's why I do my comic all on my own (despite offers for collaboration from a guy who likes to visually copy stuff, blech), I can make everything as horrible as I like!

Townie · Post by **Townie** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 4:22 am

Since you're writing it, I really recommend having a solid grasp on what the characters are saying before you let her draw it. Any reworkings shouldn't be anything major at that last stage. Expression is very important to an artist and changing what's being said without changing how it's expressed without their knowledge isn't a good creative strategy. It's best to talk it over and make sure you both agree on things. In time you might be able to adapt the dialogue to better fit her illustrations. Right now you're just aiming to get across the same idea.

MaskedLioness · Post by **MaskedLioness** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:20 am

Sneaky Sneaky

Boo! I'm the artist in question here. What I really really want is for you to have the comic plotted further into the future. That way we can do things like foreshadow and revise things before I draw them.

But don't worry about me leaving if you annoy me with your revisions. I am married to you after all.

Are there any other author/artist teams out there? I'd love to hear how other people do it. Hm... maybe i should start a new thread for that.

That guy · Post by **That guy** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 10:57 am

I was the artist for my friend, DB - will be again eventually, but things got busy for us both (he's a marine, I'm a college student). With Light of the Stars he'd send the script - - incidentally, plotted well into the future -- and I'd make the comic, complete with words. I'd tweak dialogue as I saw fit and then run it by him for approval before posting. I made it clear that he had final call and he made it clear that I could do whatever artistic interpreting I saw fit. That worked well up until he stopped having time to send scripts and I got swamped, too.

Rewording is a good thing - editing is how you improve an idea- but if she's saying the revision isn't as good, there's probably something to it. Don't stop revising, but listen and try to figure out what was good about the first version and bring that out in your final draft.

Jedster · Post by **Jedster** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 6:17 am

I constantly revise mine throughout. I try to have at least a chapter pre-written ahead of time, then I can revise it while I get on with the current chapter. Then I have a tendency to get to drawing something and revise it again... then when I've drawn it I revise it even more. Sometimes it's just padding to fill out lage areas of space, yet padding that actually adds something to the story.

Sounds really anal but revision is the key!

Having someone else to comment though is both a help and hinderance, which is why I never let anyone read my work until it's posted. If people don't like it then, well... at least I can't go around blaming someone else!

Doll · Post by **Doll** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 11:47 am

MaskedLioness wrote: Are there any other author/artist teams out there? I'd love to hear how other people do it. Hm... maybe i should start a new thread for that.

My boyfriend and I write our comic together, then I draw it. Occasionally I'll make some minor changes to the text/storyboard if I think it's weak, but we'll always run through it together first. Basically, if one of us is unhappy about a frame or joke, then it doesn't go in. After all, it's always good to have someone to bounce ideas off

Mvmarcz · Post by **Mvmarcz** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 7:15 am

problems like faub mentioned are why i don't work with writers anymore.

also as far as changing the script goes, little dialog changes happen constantly, i usually alter or add or delete dialoge up to and including when i finish a comic and am about to post it. but as far as scene alering changes it's best to get them out before he artist gets them, don't hand anything over until you're sure it's how you want it, i once had to re do a whole strip because the writer left out import things he waned in the scene