? the Audience?

[MariaAndMichelle]

I write for myself, I hope my audience enjoys it though. No matter how small they are.

Cange "I" to "We," and that would be our answer.

[JTigerclaw]

I write for myself. I draw for myself. I do it all for me, and make it so that I love what I'm doing and what I've done. If the audience makes suggestions, I listen, especially if I'm not sure on something myself. But in the end, it's what I want.

[Joel Fagin]

On reflection, I think you have to write for yourself but keep the audience in mind. Writing for the audience will produce a George Lucas prequel but writing for yourself might produce Donnie Darko.*

- Joel Fagin

* Which is quite good in it's way and very stylish, but any movie that requires you to listen to the director's commentry to understand what's going on has failed.

[Royal Blue]

The plot arch as a whole is all for me, but I've got a sense of humor that is pervasive to all that is me, and that leaks over into the comic. If there's something small and amusing that RB readers might like/giggle at, I'll add it in.

The webcomic is mine, but it's mine to share. If I was going to make a comic full of nothing but inside jokes shared between about five people, I wouldn't have put it up on comic genesis.

Also, my desire to entertain other people with a good story is a reason why I've been denying my tendency to work feverishly on something for a month, then flit off to another project. This in turn helps me enrich myself by coming closer to creating a finished story, so the hands wash each other: I write for myself at first, I see that other people enjoy it, so I am encouraged to produce more.

[Rkolter]

I try to write for an intelligent, creative, yet uninformed or simply curious audience.

[Dave Against The Machine]

Dude! I write for the audience. If I dont, I cant get lots of readers and make the moonay! BLING BLING! What? Web comics usually dont make much money? AH CRAP! I QUIT!

Nah I write formyself. Like everyone else says, I keep potential readers in mind. But its mostly for myself

[LibertyCabbage]

i use a ouija board and it shows

[Dave Against The Machine]

i use a ouija board and it shows

So that explanes it.

[LibertyCabbage]

i use a ouija board and it shows

So that explanes it.

it's actually a multi-step process

angels = pencils

banshees = inks

and chupacabras do the lettering and clean-up

it's a pretty sweet deal, although i have to sacrifice a virgin every week. although no one's really innocent right?

[Netpoet]

it's a pretty sweet deal, although i have to sacrifice a virgin every week. although no one's really innocent right?

Hah! Like anyone's going to believe that! I mean, come on... You'd already have run out of virgins for the year already by that method!

Do what I do. Random word generator that pulls words from Google searches. I call it the "thousand googling monkeys" system. Eventually it'll write a novel, I suppose...

Back on topic, I write solely for myself. If I like to read what I've written, I'll share it with anyone that wants to read it. If I don't like it, it never leaves my lonely MS Word doc trash pile.

>Net

[Skylark King]

it's a pretty sweet deal, although i have to sacrifice a virgin every week. although no one's really innocent right?

Yeah, but eventually they're going to stop letting you into comic/anime/sci-fi cons and then what? Where's you precious virgin supply then?

[LibertyCabbage]

it's a pretty sweet deal, although i have to sacrifice a virgin every week. although no one's really innocent right?

Yeah, but eventually they're going to stop letting you into comic/anime/sci-fi cons and then what? Where's you precious virgin supply then?

orphanages

[Ideal Comics]

Wow, I didn't think that many folks would jump at this Question. I guess It's my turn to weigh in.

I write for an audience. Now that is not to say that Ido not love our stories, nor is it that Itry to please everyone who sees our stuff, but for me, I feel the burden of the storyteller. There are stories in me that I must tell, not for myself, but that the may be heard. Speaking for myself, if it was just for me, would keep them in a box in my garage in some long hidden folder (come to think of it, I have a few of those.) For me (and I cannot speak for Chris on this) Comics go beyond the need for self expression (although that is certainly a factor). I feel that comics and literature as a whole tie us to our pasts and to our futures on an almost mystical level, and it is the nigh-sacred task of story-tellers to do that tying. (I think comics like <a href="http://junkriot.comicgen.com/">junkRIOT</a>, <a href="http://www.green-avenger.com/">Green Avenger</a>, and <a href="http://atavism.comicgenesis.com/">A Webcomic Called Atavism</a> do a remarkable job of this) This does not mean that I soften the story for the reader, but I also know some stories are not for fit for some audiences (my four-year old does not need to read "Road to Perdition")

When I write a story, I try to first be true to the characters, second true to the plot, and third true to the audience. I do not think that writer's ever have the right to ride roughshod over any of those groups. In fiction (more so in prose and less in comics, but still) the reader is not simply an observer, but a participant in the story, and I try to consider them. On the other hand, not every story, whether fact or fiction, has a happy ending, and therefore we must be true to that as well.

Rhys

[McDuffies]

* Which is quite good in it's way and very stylish, but any movie that requires you to listen to the director's commentry to understand what's going on has failed.

You needed director's commentary for "Donnie Darko"?
I didn't really. Sure, my interpretation of the film might've been different from director's, but then again, who says that his interpretation is the right one? One of basic qualities of art is being open to various interpretations.

Though I agree with you that we needn't lose audience from the view. Simply you have to be able to step back and look at your work from the position of someone who isn't all-knowing (which is what author is). If not, you might end up, for instance, with story that is incomprehensible to anyone who doesn't have pre-knowledge that author has. Or with characters that are dear only to you and noone else.
Good examples are, I think, a lot of autobiographic webcomics. They deal with characters that are interesting to author because he knows people they're based on, but not to casual visitor of the site, their punchlines are inn-jokes and all in all, appeal of that comic is strictly limited to "hey, it's me in the comic! yey!" kind of feeling.
I think it doesn't have anything to do with whether you're going to have audience or not. It has something to do with quality of the comic. I'm starting from reasonable assumption that we all want to make good comics, right? In my opinion, good comic implies certain universality; This means that people can project themselves to situations and characters even if they were never in those exact situations or alike those particular characters. That the comic makes sence to someone else but the artist and members of his close family. Of course, not to everyone, but there has to be a reasonable number of people who find something in it. Bad comics aren't only commercial superhero trash, bad comics are also those that are too hermetic to work.
It's all in moderation. Finding the right ballance. You don't have to be a whore, but you don't have to stay in your room and look at the ceiling all day either. And if you do get out of the room, go to bar and meet people, that still doesn't mean you're a whore.

[Evil Jamie!]

I draw, so we can update in time.

[Christwriter]

I write for the story. No other way to explain it.

Sure, I write for me, otherwise I wouldn't write at all, because I wouldn't enjoy it. And I guess I write some for the audience, otherwise I wouldn't be posting the thing online. But if you get down to the nitty gritty I have to write the story for the story's sake.

I don't like some of the elements of my story. I don't like that Lucy's a kill crazy b*tch. I don't like the lifestyle most of the characters live. I don't like the violence of it. But that's the story. Or rather, that's what it takes to make the story work. Same thing with the audience...they may not like where I take this thing, they may not like where some of the characters end up. But that's where they're going to go, 'cause that's the story.

If I don't make the story the priority, there's a good chance I'm gonna screw it up. If I made it the way I wanted it, it would not be the story I'm telling right now. If I made it for a specific audience, there would be major changes to it (Characters having a longer life expectancy, for example). But the story is the priority, so it really can't be any other way than what it is. Because that's the way the thing works.

Audience or me, whichever. We're both strapped in for the ride, and if the audience doesn't like it, they can get off. The whole point of this is the story and what happens in it. Without that, everything falls apart.

CW

[Levi-chan]

I write because I want to release that big bundle of....mess inside my head. I write so I can sort out my thoughts. Not because I want to, but because I need to. Which is pretty much why I don't update until I feel bad enough.

I can't even imagine what my shrink bills will be if I didn't write.

Also, I do think that a piece of work has more oomph in it if it's personal. Whatever you feel or experience in real life, as a rule, bleeds into what you're working on - more so, if you're directly communicating with it. It gives the feel that the characters are actual people; that what they go through emotionally is something we've all been through at a point in our lives.

Anyway, enough sap.

[Garneta]

it's a pretty sweet deal, although i have to sacrifice a virgin every week. although no one's really innocent right?

Yeah, but eventually they're going to stop letting you into comic/anime/sci-fi cons and then what? Where's you precious virgin supply then?

orphanages

Why that's a great way to decrease the surplus population!

[Yeahduff]

100% for me. My comic and it's writing is of my doing afterall.

The way I see it, if you're writing a comic for others, it could be equalted to some whiny little junior high kid that keeps trying to hang out with the older high school kids. Sure, they notice him and listen to what he has to say, but they all know that he's only doing it to appease them; as he has been doing so for as long as any of them can remember. They usually dismiss him and make him the butt of a few of their jokes, but otherwise, his is invisable most of the time.

The other way, however, involves that same kid with a soapbox. He stands up on it one day and starts talking loudly and clearly. At first, there is not a soul anywhere around him and he looks like an escaped crazy.

Eventually, someone stops and listens to his babble, and is so intrigued and amazed, the guy can't break away. More people show up, and they too are blown away at all the stuff the kid has to say.

Auidence members start calling other people, and before Toyota makes an affordable RWD car again, millions of people are all listening to what some kid has to say! Rather than what 1 kid is trying to say to break into a group, the kid started out from nothing and the group came to him, all eger to listen to him and his story.

Sounds crazy, but the other way is to write something riddled with cliches, pitch it at your myspace buddies, and have them all say "nice" for your efforts. You write for yourself; always yourself. Writing isn't some commie extenstion in which you must please your auidence. You must please yourself first with what you have written. If you can't do that, no one is going to read it, not even you.

You have a comic?



I'm basically trying to keep up with the story in my head. Figure if I enjoy it, someone else will.

Of course, you have to be careful of self-indulgence. If it becomes a buncha wankery, people will be annoyed/bored very quickly.

[Doukasou]

its better to write for the self and have no public than write for the public and have no self