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(I hope I am posting this in the right place.Please let me know if I should move it)
Partially inspired by Warren's columns at BleedingCool.com, I have stopped waiting around for artists to catch up, or to find the right moment for a collaboration to work.
I have started writing a monthly superhero comic book just as I would if there were an artist to draw it. And rather than wait for an artist who may never materialize, I am publishing these scripts online. I am also using that site to chart my progress on this experiment.
This is what i can do.
And,if an artist eventually comes along,I will have plenty for him or her to draw.
Mostly it is an exercise in learning to keep a monthly schedule and how to just keep on writing.
This is a cool idea that I am having a lot of fun with, while at the same time learning a hell of a lot about writing.
I strongly recommend this for any other "aspiring" writers.
**edit** I just updated the links to go to my NEW blog.
**edit** I changed the title from "My comic script blog" to "my comic script project" to make more sense. This is not teh actual blog, but about the project itself. -
- CommentAuthorkeyofsilence
- CommentTimeNov 4th 2009
Careful - make sure your work is clearly copyrighted and that you can prove it's yours if any trouble ever arises.
Other than that, best of luck finding an artist and with your writing! -
My work is NOT carefully copyrighted... so what is the worst case here? Someone steals it? Uses it as their own?
How else can this come back to bite me in the butt? -
- CommentAuthorkeyofsilence
- CommentTimeNov 4th 2009
Someone may not steal your work verbatim, but instead use portions of your script or some of your original ideas/characters - or even the name 'Rapid City' (I'm not saying it's going to happen, but it always pays to be cautious).
It's pretty easy to prove that work is your own on the cheap by simply mailing your scripts to yourself and never opening them unless trouble brews. The envelope will be stamped with the date the post office received it - keep these envelopes in a safe place.
As for clear copyright I'd just recommend COPYRIGHT JOSH DAHL, 2009 written on the top of each of your online scripts. -
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CommentAuthorrickiep00h
- CommentTimeNov 4th 2009
It's pretty easy to prove that work is your own on the cheap by simply mailing your scripts to yourself and never opening them unless trouble brews. The envelope will be stamped with the date the post office received it - keep these envelopes in a safe place.
This sort-of works. It might hold up in court. Seriously, filing for copyright is cheap. Get the forms online, print them out, fill them out, print the work, send it in with the $20 fee (or whatever it is now.)
If you're serious about the work, all sorts of things could go wrong, ranging from someone profiting off your work, to someone suing you for infringement when they claim copyright and you don't, and all sorts of unknowns. If you don't have a problem with people using your work, at least consider a Creative Commons license. -
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- CommentAuthorkeyofsilence
- CommentTimeNov 4th 2009
Yeah I forgot the most obvious and effective solution - actually filing for copyright. Haha.
Thanks for clearing that up rickie. I know bits and pieces about copyright and intellectual property issues but my knowledge is largely limited to journalism/photo-journalism. -
It's pretty easy to prove that work is your own on the cheap by simply mailing your scripts to yourself and never opening them unless trouble brews. The envelope will be stamped with the date the post office received it - keep these envelopes in a safe place.
It doesn't stand because you can send youself an opened envelope. It will have the date stamped but they'll never know when you closed it. You could claim anything with that move and that's why it doesn't work. -
- CommentAuthorkeyofsilence
- CommentTimeNov 4th 2009
I never knew you could send yourself an opened envelope. Looks like I have some rereading about copyright to do!
Thread got derailed there. I've had a quick browse through your scripts josh. I like the dialogue, and it's a strong introduction to Rampart too. Very... existential! All the best. -
I go completely ADD with forms and paper work and stuff....but it looks like I will have to buckle down and actually do that stuff. Thanks for the advice.
Oh, and thanks for the comments on the scripts. Based on some tweaking I started last night, everything I have posted has to be slightly rearranged.
Essentially I need to introduce a certain set of characters a bit earlier in order to get things moving where they need to be. So, the #s 1 and 2 I have posted will now become just versions of the script. -
- CommentAuthorTim Simmons
- CommentTimeNov 28th 2009
Just as a quick FYI: The "mailing something to yourself" form of copyright does NOT hold up (at least in a US court of law)--
Here's the reason why, hypothetically, you COULD mail yourself an empty mailer, unsealed. Now, you've got a package that is stamped and dated that you can put anything in.
"Yes, your honor, as a matter of fact I did create the Peanuts gang and Snoopy. I have a mailed and sealed envelope that proves it. I'll take my squillions of dollars now".
So, yeah-- don't waste your money on mailers. If you actually get to court, all it takes is the opposing council to raise that as an objection and your prime piece of evidence is blown out the door.
That said, (and no offense here) but everyone always gets really uppity about copyright/trademark protection-- I guess it's the fearful Jerry/Joe Superman story that is told to us like a boogieman bedtime story: "Get your trademark or end up penniless!" To the fact that there are wanna-be creators I know that don't work-- a little like the time I asked a bum, "Hey, why don't you get a job?" and he answered: "Because I don't want to pay taxes!" A retarded rebuttal, if I've ever heard one.
Point being: I've seen people get so worried about protecting their idea that they never actually MAKE anything. (PS- I'm not saying this is you, OP, just something I've seen)-- when, in all honesty, their ideas aren't that great to begin with...and they never get around to pushing those bad ideas out in order to get to the good stuff-- mostly because they're afraid of "getting screwed".
Anyhow, what I'd look at doing (if you don't want to spend money), pop it up online and look into the "Creative Commons" copyright:
http://creativecommons.org/
I haven't gone through it (I'm not a lawyer), but it'll likely hold up more than a mailer... -
Last time I checked, in the US it's about $75 to get material copywrighted. Yeah, it's not that expensive in the long run, but that's not that cheap.
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CommentAuthorWilliam George
- CommentTimeNov 28th 2009
Anyhow, what I'd look at doing (if you don't want to spend money), pop it up online and look into the "Creative Commons" copyright:
http://creativecommons.org/
I haven't gone through it (I'm not a lawyer), but it'll likely hold up more than a mailer...
All my stuff has a CC license on it. I feel that MOST people who take and redistribute things electronically do want to support the creator, so I think it's fine to make it easier for them to spread your name around. -
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I just updated the links in the first post to point to my newer, better, blog.
Just in time for tomorrow's deadline.
If I do well tonight, I will have the script for issue #5 posted some time on Friday the 15th. -
- CommentAuthorsacredchao
- CommentTimeJan 14th 2010
That's a pretty awesome idea. Way to get stuff done even when things aren't really falling 100% in line. Good luck! -
Sacredchao, not to blow my own horn here.... but as far as my writing goes, this could be the best idea I have ever had.
I already have two different artists working on different aspects of the story and I have written more on this than on any other project. And it has forced me to really think in terms of panel after panel, page after page, and issue after issue. I would have never gotten any of that from writing short stories and samples.
I strongly recommend something like this to anyone who is out there trying to write comics.
Josh -
I did it!
I made my deadline for issue #5! It is posted on my site along with the first four issues if you want to read them
I'd love to know what you all think of them. Thanks -
Ummm... I am kind of a dummy.
This is clearly a thread about my blog...so can some admin who has that power move this over to the "BLOG" page?
Sorry about that. -
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CommentAuthorwarrenellis
- CommentTimeFeb 1st 2010
Threads and blogs are two different things. -
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CommentAuthorBrendan McGinley
- CommentTimeFeb 1st 2010
I keep most of my files on Google Docs -- not only is this a way to share live updates with the artists so I don't keep mailing them versions of the script, but it creates a record of when that file was made -- voila! Instant, irrefutable documentation. -
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I have been using Scribd to host my scripts once they are in PDF format. I have found it works really well. It tracks how many views...can be monetized.. and I can easily embed them back into my web page.