Weekly Writing

[R2Keen2]

I'm curious, what do people think about a story updated a few times a week? I believe one of brian's friends was actually doing just this more or less successfully. I've gotta find something more fulfilling then my dead end job and writing seems like a good option, though i'm not right brained enough to draw a comic.

Really thats the simple question, Could you do what webcomics have done without the pictures? Eventually pulling a full time job out of it like Brian, Scott(PvP), the Penny Arcade guys, etc?

[mammothtank]

I don't see why not. In fact, it sounds quite interesting. You could easily just start off using this thread, getting feedback from us, then perhaps move to your own website if you feel up to it. Hell, I'm interested already.

[Fifthfiend]

In general, I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to do 'webcomics without the pictures', which is really just good old-fashioned serialized fiction, same as ever earned Charles Dickens a living, just, published on the internet.

Shit, I mean, there's even a standard model for it, here, I'd like you to meet my friend the blog (http://www.blogspot.com), I think the two of you will get along famously.

As far as whether you, personally, are going to turn this into a job, I'm just saying, if you're starting off right from the get-go with the motivation that you're going to turn fiction-blogging into your personal profession, well, you're probably setting your sights way too high, way too far in advance. I mean three or six months or a year from now, odds are you're not gonna be a whole hell of a lot closer to being a bona fide A-list Internet Celebrity, and if that's where you've set your sights, odds are you're gonna burn out before you've ever really gotten started.

If you're gonna write because you like writing, and you want to develop your skill as a writer, and you'd like to have people reading your work and giving you feedback on it, then I absolutely think working in installments put up over the internet is a great way to do that, and you should go for it.

[Skyshot]

As little as I ever expected myself to do this, I'm gonna back up fifthfiend here, starting with quoting Brian:
I wonder what it must be like for Gabe and Tycho over at Penny Arcade or Brian at 8-Bit Theater, guys who apparently spend their days playing video games while their websites support them. I think it must be nice...Wow, I didn't know that I just sat back all day as money effortlessly appeared in my off shore bank accounts.

I love the perception a lot of webcomic authors, and perhaps readers, have of what it's like to go pro. Imagine, if you will, going to work only to find out the following things have changed:

You're now the only employee, but you have to do everyone's job. Also, your pay at the end of the week will be determined randomly based on the mean moods of a 100,000 strangers regarding one particular facet of one of the many jobs you do when most of them are convinced, secretly or openly, they could do better.

Also, you don't have insurance or job security.

Have fun!Also, how much knowledge and experience do you have with the writing business? This guy (http://www.ian-irvine.com/) has been linked across the 'net for his guides, so you may want to read those. Note: all links to this site come with a warning -- it's not an optimistic Candyland site.

Regarding fifthfiend's suggestion of blogging, is there an effective way to set up a donation option (i.e., via Paypal) on Blogspot, or Typepad, or what have you? Our friend wishes to profit off his work, so that should be a priority when he's picking his medium.

[Shishio]

If you're gonna write because you like writing, and you want to develop your skill as a writer, and you'd like to have people reading your work and giving you feedback on it, then I absolutely think working in installments put up over the internet is a great way to do that, and you should go for it.

Agreed.

As for making money, I would suggest putting ads and a donation button up on your site. And maybe down the road, you could do merchandising, self-publishing, etcetera.

If you decide to go with a free host, make absolutely sure you read the terms of service to make sure they don't require you to grant them the rights to your work. (And that they allow ads if you want to put some up.)

If you want to pay for hosting, which is what I would recommend, I would recommend Dreamhost, which offers a great amount of storage and bandwidth. They also have a one-click install service for certain programs, which makes installing Wordpress and PHPBB among other things incredibly easy. But that said, I would still recommend you conduct research on hosting and make an informed decision.

If, however, you do decide to go with Dreamhost, feel free to ask me for a promo code that will save you $50. (If you pay with a credit card.)

Good luck.

[Fifthfiend]

I'm just saying, as far as donations, there's a whole long list of things for a guy to worry about, before he ever worries about donations.

I mean worry about putting up some actual writing, before you start worrying about donations. Worry about whether your actual writing is any actual good, before you worry about getting people to pay you for it. Hell, worry about having an actual audience, before you start worrying about hitting them up for cash.

If you're getting into writing for the cash, you're kidding yourself, because here's the thing - even if you're a successful writer, the work you put into succeeding as a writer will massively outweigh any kind of financial compensation you recieve for writing. I mean okay not if you're JK Rowling, bitch is getting that paper. But for everyone else on Earth, the reward for your writing is largely going to be that you are writing, and if it's not, then you're never going to get much of anywhere with your writing.

[Muffin Mage]

Don't bother.

Honestly, don't kid yourself into thinking you can make a living writing. Particularly if you have no prior experience or particular ideas to write about.

Now, giving yourself something to do to keep yourself from going insane at your cubicle monkey job by writing is another thing entirely. I'm thinking that should be your goal at the moment. Isaac Asimov got paid a dime a word, and that's a dime a word more than, statistically speaking, you'll ever see for any of your work, so don't worry about the money.

It's like a lot of musicians I know: They play with local, small-time groups and get paid for gas money and a beer or two. But it gives them a nice distraction from the endless avalanche TPF reports.

[RickZarber]

Don't bother.Dude, if everyone went by that advice, we wouldn't have any books to read.

Don't take him down before he's even begun!

(Sorry, just a little pet peeve there.)

[DFM]

It’s not entirely implausible to try and make a living writing. You’re going to have to write more than books, have some articles published in the appropriate magazines and newspapers, but it’s certainly possible to get by if you’re any good.

Get by. Not get rich. Like everyone's already said.

[R2Keen2]

Oh definitly i realize it would take quite a time to build a fan base and payment would be less than steady, however I've got a career opertunity opening up in october or so however it won't be steady for a while either. I realize theres a lot of work in the background and i know it definitly won't see anything big for a few years, but stories i've finished are on of the few things i really take untainted pride in.

Its a path i'll probably travel one day, i'm just considering why not try sooner than later. If its good for a little extra cash at the end of the month, woo! Simply breaking even on hosting would be awesome.

[Muffin Mage]

Dude, if everyone went by that advice, we wouldn't have any books to read.

Don't take him down before he's even begun!

(Sorry, just a little pet peeve there.)
Well, I'll guarantee you that just about everyone who has ever written anything has heard those same words. The reason we've got books worth reading is that those most determined to write didn't listen.

[DarkCORN!]

First off, making a comic would have to do with creativity, which is the left brain. Second, writing may be a good career choice, but you don't want to quit your job until you know you can depend on it for money and that people will buy your stuff.

[R2Keen2]

First off, making a comic would have to do with creativity, which is the left brain. Second, writing may be a good career choice, but you don't want to quit your job until you know you can depend on it for money and that people will buy your stuff.
Left Brain is thought to be more Reasoning and Language.
Right Brain is thought to be more Artistic and Intuative.

Writing would be Left Brain
Drawing would be Right Brain

I'd like to argue creativity would possibly be bilaterially but i'm not really sure.

[Sithdarth]

First off, making a comic would have to do with creativity, which is the left brain.

Actually no creativity is centered in the right brain. The left brain deals with writing and all those linear things while the right brain is more about the whole picture and drawing things and stuff. Don't believe me check here (http://tolearn.net/hypertext/brain.htm) or here. (http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/dominance/index.htm) Perhaps you're confused with left and right handed as lefthanded people tend to have a dominate right side of the brain while right handed people have the opposite.

As for the serial story idea there is no reason it won't work really. As long as you aren't depending on it for income until you get some practice on your belt. I'd suggest start writing first the more you write the better you should get. When/if you get a big enough following for your website you might be able to sell add space and get donations to help you live. Hell you might even be able to compile a book out of the stories or maybe just use all your practice to write a novel. There is possibility here just don't jump in with both feet from the start.

Edit: Oh and quick advice to everyone, this is just something I try to do when ever I'm presented with infromation contrary to what I think is true. I take a quick trip to google and do a search for sources and find one or two good sources to support either me or the contrary infromation. Its a good way to avoid being embaressed. Its also a handy thing when writing fiction especially about something you may not have a lot of expierence in because there is always the chance that someone that knows a lot about your subject will read your work and you don't want to ruin the expierence for them by making a stupid mistake.

[DarkCORN!]

I thought right was logic and stuff. Hence the phrase "Anyone in their right mind".

[Fifthfiend]

In any case, it's a false dichotomy that doesn't particularly reflect much of anything about how the brain functions, and any particular act of creativity or reasoning depends on any number of interrelated aptitudes and skills.

[Gorefiend]

There's a woman (http://www.hollylisle.com/) I had never heard about before I found a link to her website who's written a few thingies here and there. You might have heard of her, though.

At any rate, she has a lot of guides, many of which make lots of sense. One of them is how to quit your day job (http://www.hollylisle.com/fm/Articles/quit.html), and one of the points in it is when to quit your day job. The basic idea was that you should quit when you've sold a few books, and you've made more money off your royalties. Though she admits she makes more money off her advances.

Now, this doesn't particularly apply to you, since you aren't seeking publication of novels, but if you plan on writing full-time, this may be worth reading.