Some Days...

You ever feel like the more you try to help someone, the more of an asshole you are?  

So, I was fired yesterday off of an editing job.  No, I don't mince words.  I was fired.  Yes, I'm going to go into it somewhat.

A friend asked me to edit their work.  It was part of an agreement to basically watch each other's back, and I had no problem in doing it at all.  I'm still waiting for that big project to get off the ground, so it's not like I'm ultra-busy at the moment.  So I agreed to it, and was sent over a 10 page script.  

The format was fine, the story was decent, it was the execution that was mediocre.  So I rolled up my sleeves a little and dug in.  It wasn't hard.  It wasn't a lot of work.  Some dialogue problems, some issues with panels being impossible to be drawn, some things didn't make sense, but it wasn't horrible by any means.  I've seen horrible.  I've copyedited stories that changed tone mid-stream, and did my best to make sure they made some sort of sense.  This was nothing compared to that.

So, I take a few hours and do my thing, when I could have been working on Bolts & Nuts, and I edit the thing.  

What I got back was crap.  I was told by my friend that I was a good editor, and that I caught some technical difficulties, but they disagreed with some of my edits.  They said it was basically a critique, and put it down to a difference of style.

Yup, I was a little frustrated.  First, I wasn't hired to critique.  I hand out critiques on Digital Webbing, going over things done wrong and some ideas on how to fix them.  My friend knows how I do my critiques, because we "met" on the DW boards.  They know that I don't pull punches, giving it to you straight.  So I took some umbrage to have my edits called a critique--especially when they just got no less than $150 of work out of me for free.  

Second, the script that was sent back basically ignored the bulk of my edits.  I'd say about 90% of them.  I wasn't happy about that, either.  If they wanted a critique, then ask for one.  I can give my opinion for free on the boards.  I do it all the time.  If you want me to edit you, why struggle with it?  

So, that's basically what I told them, and sent them a link to my B&N column dealing with communication, in which I talk about writers and how much power they want to give up in their scripts.  They thought about it for a couple of days, and then sent the script back, this time ignoring only about 25% of my revisions, again saying they thought it was only a difference of style.

I have no problem adapting to someone's writing style.  What I want is clarity of writing.  If you want something to be a surprise in panel 5 of page 7, then make sure you set it up correctly on panel 2 of page 3.  If I'm telling you that something isn't able to be drawn, then visualize the panel in your head and see if I'm right, or if you are.  Chances are, you're going to see it my way.  If I'm telling you that some information is extraneous, then more than likely it is.  Except for the last, and even then, not really, these things aren't a question of style, it's a question of clear storytelling.

So, like I said, I got the script back a second time, and went back to work on it.  It was better, but still not there yet.  I moved around some dialogue to make a page have more balance, and edited some of the dialogue to sound better when read aloud.  The thing is, the dialogue itself was very serviceable, it just wasn't sounding right in the places my friend had it.  I didn't even rearrange any words, just their placement.  I also asked about some choppy-ness of the dialogue, because they did it throughout the entire script, and I wanted to understand why they were doing it that way.  It annoyed the hell out of me, because people don't speak with pauses like that.  Bendis, this writer ain't.  I also asked about another line that contradicted a previous statement.  Yup.  Real deep and evil, I know.

So, I fired it off and waiting.  Went back to sleep to get ready for work, and when I got up, I had an e-mail telling me thanks but no thanks.  They said that if they made the changes I suggested, it would no longer be "their" story.  (Remember, I didn't change any words coming out of anyone's mouth, I just rearranged the placement of some dialogue to make it flow better.)  Again, they said that it was a matter of style (like my editing style wasn't known going in), and the two of us didn't match, and they hoped that there were no hard feelings.

And to be honest, there's not.  I have my own feelings about the story, and if this is something they're going to pursue alone, then I don't feel they're ready to be published yet.  They haven't yet learned that the moment they give it to an artist to draw, it's no longer "their" story alone.  And if they haven't yet learned to accept some editorial guidance, then again, they're not ready to be published.  And as much as I want to help, not being ready isn't something I can help with.  I can only sit back and watch, because my help isn't wanted.

I'm not going to sit here and lie.  I'm not necessarily easy to work with, not because I demand perfection, but because I point out your flaws and want you to fix them yourself, without any molly-coddling.  I'll hold your hand, but I have a firm grip.  You'd better, too, unless you want to have your hand hurt.  

I remember when I first started editing Hollow.  Larime is an award winning playwright, and has studied television shows with the thought of bringing something of that format to comics.  His entire first issue was nothing more than a series of what I call fast cuts.  Two, maybe three pages, and then he'd abruptly cut to another scene.  Picture a 28 page comic, something like seven scenes, and all of them cut in half and interspersed throughout the issue.  Drove me up a wall!  And my edits were pissing Larime off.  He was almost in my face about it, and asked me to stop after I got to the third issue because he wanted to remain friends with me.  Yes, it was that deep.

However, he eventually realized that in his rush to emulate television, he was forgetting the medium he was working in, and was actively getting in the way of my enjoyment of the story.  If I was the average reader, and for the most part I am, then the majority of readers out there would feel the same frustration.  After he realized that, and the fact that I wasn't out to turn his story into something it wasn't but was only trying to make it better, he thanked me and officially asked me to come on board as his editor.

Will my friend do the same thing?  Who knows.  I did have hopes that they were ready, but it appears I was wrong.  It'll all come out in the wash.

Yes, I'm still waiting for pages to come back from my editor on the big project.  Basically, colors and letters on the three pages of art, and then it's a publisher hunt.  Waiting sucks, so I keep busy.

I'm coming up on six months of Bolts & Nuts, without a Tuesday being missed.  That's dedication, I'd say.  Right now, I'm three weeks ahead (really two, since tomorrow's Tuesday), and I'm working on another one presently.  After I write that one, I'll be at three weeks again, and I have about another four weeks of material planned, to include a mail bag week.  I'm also lining up a couple of guests, and their contributions would take me to seven weeks out, when I decide to use them.  That would give me a grand total of 31 columns done (including tomorrow's).  I would say that that's pretty damned good.  

What's not good is the mailbag week.  I sent out a call for questions, two weeks in a row, and so far, only one person has sent in questions.  They're enough for a column, sure, but that's not the point.  The point is that out of all the readers I have, only one person sent in questions.  I honestly don't think I'm doing such an incredible job that no one else has questions.  And honestly, part of it may be that Project Fanboy is such a small site.  Right now, it boasts something like 200 registered members.  Compare that to Digital Webbing, which has 7800, and you start to see what I mean.  

Well, we also go a few more registered members.  I created a poll to see if there would be enough support for a second column where I actually edited scripts, and some of my constant readers registered in order to vote.  Sebastian thinks that I'm the main draw at PFB, and the new registrants prove it, but I disagree.  Part of the draw?  Sure.  I can accept that.  Main draw?  Nope.  If we had a surge of about fifty new registrants who all voted in the poll, then I might start thinking that way.  However, the poll has only 7 voters.  They were all yes votes, but for something that has close to 200 views, that's not a lot of votes.

Anyway.  Things are still moving along with my webcomic.  I got a page yesterday for Annie O.N.E. from Cristhian, and I got a page for Group from Sara about 30 minutes ago.  It'll be good once it gets rolling.

And life?  Things are decent.  No real complaints, and the things I can complain about, I'm actively working to recify.  When that's finally cleared up, I'll be VERY happy.

I think that's it.  Go watch Eddie Murphy: Delerious.  You'll be glad you did.