Scaling Back and Sharpening Focus

So, for a very long while I dreamed of being so incredibly productive that I could create and publish four titles simultaneously. Each one would be its own narrative but also be tied to the others with an overarching throughline. This was the plan that saw me through the first stages of developing Illustrator Of Fantasies as a thing, and also all the characters and stories I would create. Each story took place in a different world, in a different setting, and each scratched a very different fantasy itch for me. As I laid down the narrative foundations of each, I got more and more excited about them.

And then there was the reality of exactly how I was going to do all of them at once. I've stumbled a few times, telling myself that I had to get all of them out because that was the original vision. Even a couple of years ago, I stopped focusing on all the books at once and went after one; then, when I got that under control, I felt I could try again. But I've finally said to myself tonight that I am one person and I can't do everything, at least not right now.

I'm going to stick with this new mind right now and focus only on one title, and that will be Nightingales. Queer romance, magic, and gods? Yes, this was the story above all that needed to be told because of it was my first cast. I'm adjusting my schedule for October to focus on pages for issue 1, and plotting the first story arc. That raises my next question: will this still be a weekly webcomic? That's a strong maybe. I don’t know what this new work focus will mean for this project and how I should best deliver it. I think a weekly webcomic release would serve just to get the story told, and I can be at peace with that, but for now, that's to be determined.

As for the other titles I've been working on, I'm going to finish up their issue 1 script and clean up their arcs, too. I still want to tell those stories, I just need to go about them differently, and I don't want to lose any effort on them just because they're not the main thing right now.

Oh and Espermarch! That's still happening, and will still proceed as it should. It's about the main character from Nightingales anyway, so there will be no change to any of that. It's the greater narrative arc that ties all the titles together and has bigger implications than just what's explored there. Like, a big thing.

I've waffled on this plan before and keep coming back to the “do all four at the same time” a few times. I'm not saying this time of gonna be different because I have no way of foreseeing if I'm going to stumble back. That's why I'm going to push forward with getting those other scripts done anyway and just see how I feel about illustrating them at all. But overall, this decision is made with the intention of completing a project. It's a lesson I've had to learn and repeat time and again, and I really hate repeating myself so I'm saying this now and hopefully for the last time: start from where you are and complete this thing. I'm a comics illustrator, and I need to make comics, so let's actually do that.

The best thing that could happen is that I get at least a full issue 1 completed, and I can take all those lessons into the other books. The worst thing is that all I'm doing is the one book, and I still feel very good about what I've made and can build a full body of work from that one thing. And let's be real, I have so much more in me than just these five titles! There's still the follow-up to The Night Is Our Victory to work on, and the redevelopment of One Act.

So, there's this week's update and the plan for moving forward. Until next time!