For a long time, I felt as a writer that I needed to have the full thing fleshed out - especially in comics - before I got rolling. I shouldn't draw page one, panel one unless I had a great idea of what issue 10, 15 and 25 looked like. I wanted to make sure that everything aligned, and that I was working on a cohesive, uniform story that would (at the end) hold together well.
The heck with that noise!
I've learned that the creative process requires a certain level of trust. In fact, the more you can let go of the process and give over to letting the characters tell their story, the more fun you'll have along the way. I have a handful of images that I see of where the characters will be going in the next bit, and I have some snippets of important moments, but I don't know how they fit together yet. I don't know how the characters will respond when they get there. I don't know what's ultimately going to happen to them. I don't know what it's about.
I sat down to draw page one of the new webcomic, and it didn't work. I was forcing moments. I was trying to make the story go a certain way already. Then I ditched that page and re-did it, changing some key moments from the opening sequence. It flowed. It worked. It wasn't what I wanted. It was what was supposed to happen. I was already surprised. I'm looking forward to that - of letting the characters surprise me.
I don't know where I'm going. I really like that.
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