April Successes and Failures

April was a fairly significant month on the writing front.  As you may or may not recall, I mentioned that I'd be doing a whole lot of writing during that month.  Essentially, I was going to write 100 pages of scripted material through Scriptfrenzy during the month, while still maintaining my daily posts here in the Comics Cove.  As it turned out, I managed to crank out about 37 pages, little more than a third of my goal, while still maintaining at least one post per day here.

So, it didn't work out the way I'd hoped, but it helped me understand where my limits were, while I still managed to get some scripted material written.

I don't know what it is about creative writing that really seems to take it out of me, but I truly do have a harder time with fiction than I do with reviews, observational posts, and other nonfiction.  I'm actually really surprised at how I've managed to hold on to the streak I've created here--at the end of this month I'll hit six months of posting every day--but I think for now, it's probably the thing I need to do to keep myself writing on a consistent basis.  Not that I plan on abandoning fiction--that's the end goal, eventually--but it's going to be on a sporadic basis for the time being, until I can find a way to cultivate the time and creative energy to do both regularly.

Speaking of time, there were a couple of other factors that played into my ability to write extra on top of my regular posting, including a conference, and a convention--at the latter of which I was a moderator all day.  They really didn't suck up extra time so much as displace my work schedule and routines enough that it was a challenge to add extra writing work to what I was already doing.  I don't there's ever going to be a good time to add to the writing load I do, but April was perhaps a more challenging time than I should have picked.

In any case, I'm glad I tried, and glad I had the good sense to not overextend myself too much.

I'm a little behind on the cosplay side of things as well, but some progress has been made.  I'm basically focusing on the Nightwing costume, which is proving to be a difficult challenge.  I've recently bought material for a latex mask, which eventually I'll need to have fit, painted, and sculpted to my face.  My girlfriend, incidentally, is the one who suggested this method, and the one will be layering the thing over my face in the coming days.  At this point, I'm in unfamiliar territory, and trusting her suggestions here.

What remains at this point are gloves and a top, and these are where I'm really hamstrung.  Ideally, I want the blue hawk pattern on a black top, the ends of which extend all the way down the sleeves to two fingers of the gloves.  Of course, I have no clue how to go about making this happen that doesn't involve buying something that's already made with this design in mind, which I don't want to do.  I could go with black gloves and forego the blue on them for the time being, but I'm not sure what to do about the top.

In the meantime, Comicpalooza approaches, which I'm really excited about.  I'd love to have the costume completed by then, but am not gonna hold my breath for it.  Hopefully I'll see some cosplayers there who might have some suggestions about what I could do to get a decent home-made look for the Nightwing costume.  We'll have to see.

Status Report for April: Still Goin'

If anyone out there follows this blog with any regularity, you probably know I've set quite a few micro-goals for the upcoming weeks, months, and year.  They're all either comic book- or writing-related, and designed to get me to either improve my chances of eventually publishing something or to help bring out my inner fanboy a little more prominently (in some cases, they're both).  Since I've had a little bit of time to work on each one, I thought I'd give a quick update on each of them.

Cons and Panels
I put my meager event organization skills to the test last month and had a Houston Comics Talent Panel at the Central Library downtown.  As far as having barely a week's promotion time, it was pretty well attended.  I moderated, despite fighting back a vicious case of my voice trying to give out on me.  We had four talented individuals in the comics field speak on the panel: Nick Pitarra (The Manhattan Projects), Scott Chitwood of Red 5 Comics, independent creator Mark Nasso (Land of the Rats), and Edward Kraatz, Jr., from Shark Industries Studios.  Those who were able to attend had a great time, as did our panelists!

I've purchased a three-day pass for Comicpalooza this year at the George R. Brown during Memorial Day Weekend in May.  I also plan to be there in a (semi-) professional capacity, since Houston Public Library will have a booth there to promote its graphic novels collection and support graphic novels as literacy, and I'll be working it for at least part of the convention.  We're also scheduling a panel presentation in support of comics in libraries, and I'm scheduled to be a part of that panel as well.

While I realize Comicpalooza doesn't technically count towards my resolution to attend a convention outside my current hometown of Houston, you have to admit, it'd be kind of shameful not to attend the con that's in your own backyard.  I'm still planning to aim for Wizard World Austin this year, which is many months off, and I'm looking at Comicpalooza as a kind of spiritual prep for that particular journey.

And, since it's less than a week away, I wanted to mention that I'm one of the organizers for Teen Book Con, which will be happening on Saturday, April 14, at Alief Taylor High School.  This is the third year for Teen Book Con, and it's only gotten bigger and better each year.  I'll be moderating the graphic novelists panels, as I've done from the outset!  Our graphic novelist guests this year are Nick Pitarra (The Manhattan Projects, Astonishing Tales, The Red Wing), Lea Hernandez, Van Jensen and Dusty Higgins (Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer).

Costumes
I've made some progress since my last post about costumes, but I'd be lying if I said it's been very much.  It's also at a point where I'm getting uncertain how to proceed.  See below:

I've finished taping up two dowel rods to create a pair of black escrima sticks for the Nightwing costume.  I've also got the black boots and black tights, the latter of which could also work for the black-suited Spider-Man costume I'm also trying for.  From this point on, though, there's no real sharing in terms of whatever I acquire for the costume, since they're so different from the waist up.

For Nightwing, I still need to acquire or work on a face mask, gloves, and a top shirt.  For Spidey, I'll need those same things, though in different incarnations.  And at present, something's stopping me from taking the next step.  I'm sure it has a large part to do with my lack of knowledge when it comes to costuming and cosplay; putting this stuff together from scratch is more than a little taxing for my novice brain.  I don't want to simply buy a shirt with the symbols on them, but in terms of actually putting it together, I'm in need of knowledge or expertise from someone who could suggest a more DIY alternative to buying a costume, or the disparate parts.

One example: I'll be searching for something spandex-y for both hero tops.  Is it possible to silkscreen on black spandex a white spider or a blue hawk?  Will it last?  Will I need to buy material for these symbols and have them sewn on?  What's the most logical step for this phase of the costume?  Any cosplayers or costumers who can help me with this one, please volunteer your expertise.  I want to look as complete as possible when I go to cons. :)

Writing
Finally, there's the writing aspect.  Those of you who follow this blog can easily look and see that I've managed to write at least one post per day in this blog, since all the way back to when I started it November 30 of last year.  It's something I'm very proud of, and frankly it's unprecedented for me to do so much.  It's my intention to continue this streak for as long as possible, though I will confess that this month it will be a lot harder than previously.

The reason is that I've placed another writing goal on myself for this month.  I've joined ScriptFrenzy, and have basically pledged to write 100 pages of scripted material between the first and last of this month.  I'm making good progress so far--nearly 40 pages has been written as of today--but it's kept me from writing as much material for the blog as I would have normally done by now.  Still, I'm keeping pace, and hope to maintain it for the rest of the month.

I am about a third of the way through it, after all.  Any supportive comments or suggestions would always be appreciated.

The Month I Decided to Write Myself Silly

Okay, so, I'm officially crazy now.

Most of you who follow this blog know that I've written in it every day for the last four months, and that I plan to keep that as my minimum pace for... well... forever, if I can.  I'm proud of what I've been able to do on here since I started The Comics Cove, but I don't mind sharing that it hasn't always been easy.  Heck, there have been more than a couple of temptations to let the writing lapse for a day or two, and for good reason: fatigue, video games, etc., but I've resisted so far, mainly out of fear of never coming back.  The result has been a regular blog that I'm happy to say is the longest and fullest I've ever started.

But now I'm compounding it.  In my 100th post, I talked about writing fiction, and how I needed to get back to doing it.  And, for the most part, I haven't made any move to do so.

Until now.

See, one of my friends on Facebook posted that she'd entered ScriptFrenzy for the month of April, and I saw it and was curious.  The basic challenge: write 100 pages of scripted material during the month of April.  Which dovetails perfectly with my desire to write more fiction, since comic scripts are my medium of choice.  So, I decided to enter ScriptFrenzy, too.

So now, I'm committing to writing 100 pages of comic scripts this month.  In addition to posting on the Cove every day.

The good news is, I'm off to a promising start.  I've already written six pages of script in the last five hours, which I'll be posting very soon on another blog.  Link is forthcoming posted.

Keep in mind that I do all my writing during my free time, when I'm not at work.  I also have several events coming up this month that are going to throw my schedule out of its normal alignment, and add a little more stress excitement than usual.  Suffice it to say, this will be an interesting month for me.

Hopefully, the end result will be severalfold: I'll have a hundred extra pages of written material come the last day of April.  I'll have maintained my streak of writing every day in The Comics Cove.  And I'll have come through this an even stronger and more disciplined writer, having put myself through the wringer this month.

If you'd like to help, I'll take any encouragement or moral support you care to offer.  Donations of caffeine, sanity points, and back rubs will also be given serious consideration.