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日本語が苦手ですが、よろしく…

Sunday, October 24, 2010

It begins... 始まりました...







Ok, I don’t know why it took so long, but I’ve finally realized that the idea of writing a blog about making a comic without showing the comic itself is a bit ridiculous. There are some good blogs out there like that, succeeded with this approach (most notabley Project Waldo). But to be honest, I find talking about my process to be as much fun as pulling teeth. I would rather spend that time and energy working on the project itself.

But I would also like to build up an audience for myself as well. (What Jason Brubaker has done with his Remind site is incredible and inspiring). How can I do this?

...I don't know, but if I wait until I'm completely finished, I'll never get anything up here.

I know it's not ideal, but I think I'll try just updating when I can. Hopefully, this will allow me to both build an audience and get some feedback as well. I’m well enough along so far that even with my busy schedule (ie. job) I should be able to do about a page a week for a year or two until I finish (ie. between 52-104 pages). I’ve already got about 76 pages written and roughed and the first 30 or so pages are “finished.”

…but this is a work in progress and I have been going back to change things.

Let’s see what happens…

やっと分かりました。漫画を作ることについてのブログはその漫画自体がないと意味もないのです。そのやり方を使って、いいブログもあるけれども(例えば:Project Waldo)、でも実は、漫画を描くことについて書いているのは全然、楽しくありません(なんか、歯が抜けているって感じのようです)。そのエネルギーを漫画を描くことに使ったほうがずっといいと思っています。

でも、読者を増やしたいと思っていますので、(Jason BrubakerのREMINDサイトって)どうすればいいのでしょうか。

...まだ分からないのですが、漫画が完全に出来上がってから更新するとしたら、何も載せられません。

理想ではないけれど、これから出来るときだけ更新します。
この漫画はまだ完成してないので、読者の意見も聞きたいですし…。よく更新すると、読者の数も増えるかもしれません。一週間に一枚のページを更新するとどんなに忙しくても一年か二年ぐらい続けられると思っています。今だいたい71枚のページがほとんど終わりましたから…

まぁ、でも、生産途中の作品なので、戻って色々変えるかもしれません。

どうなるかな…

5 comments:

Brighid said...

Sam,

Great to see what you've been working on!
I really like the room full of people in the US and then in Japan and how everyone is another version of themselves...if that makes sense. I'm sure you can figure out what I mean since you drew it. ;)

I never know how to answer the "Why did you come to Japan?" question either, since I have even less legitimate reasons than you. The truth is it just seemed like fun, but I end up saying that I wanted to learn more about the wonderful and amazing country that is Nippon because, well, it makes nihonjin feel good. :) It's my own tatemae I guess.

Anyway, keep working away and posting. I expect to be able to follow your progress even when I'm not just down the road.

Sam Mooney said...

Brighid,

Wow, this is exactly the kind of comment I was looking for. You caught what I was trying to do with the room full of people (I thought it was too vague and one of those things I was going to have to go back and fix if I had time). You catching that made my day.

I don't think there's such a thing as a "legitimate or illegitimate reason" to come to japan. Pretty much anything other than, "I heard Japanese chicks are easy" is "legitimate." But yeah, you totally nailed it with your answer. You can read my "tatemae" answer on the next page which I'll post around next week.
(I like how the japanese have a word for the fake answers people give when they want to avoid telling the truth).

I look forward to your future comments.

Jeremy D. Mohler said...

This is great, Sam.

I've been struggling myself with trying to get something out there that is my own. It's easy to start a project, hard to follow-through and finish said project.

I think what you've set up is really interesting and I really enjoyed the fact that it's biographical. I think you've set a manageable schedule for yourself, which may be the biggest hurdle. I know I have a tendency to overestimate what I can actually do and I'm gradually learning how to reel things back in a bit so I can actually manage them.

I have to say - I'm really looking forward to the next part!

Jason Brubaker said...

This is great to see Sam! Please start a thread on MGN with this stuff and I promise I wont delete it this time. ;) It could really help get some new eyeballs on your blog too.

I'll be following for sure!

Sam Mooney said...

Jeremy,

Thanks for the encouragement.
It's great to know you're watching. constructive criticism and other sorts of feedback is more than welcome. I still have no idea where I'm going with this, but holding back is going to get me nowhere so...

...and yeah, Baeg Tobar is such a huge project I can't imagine how difficult it must be to manage. I'd love to see a simple story that you did all yourself. Something to think about... (or in my case dream about?)

Jason,

Thanks for the kind words. I was planing to start a thread on MGN soon, but I feel a bit guilty because I haven't been lurking around there much. This weekend when I have time, I'll get something together and post.

It's great to know you're following.