Strawberry Syrup

On the Topic of Partners...

2010-04-12T19:11:00.003-04:00

Awhile ago, one of my readers asked me how the whole comic thing works with a partner, as she was thinking about starting a webcomic with a partner. Well, the short answer is: it depends on the partners.

Hear me out before you dub that the cop-out answer. There are numerous ways for people to work on webcomics together. For example, a group might decide to do things the Western way, with one person writing, one penciling, one doing flats, and one doing the coloring. Teams of two might have one writer and one artist - if you go to OnlineComics.net, you'll see a lot of postings looking for either a writer or an artist in the forums. It's a great way for writers who have a great idea for a comic but perhaps not the most talent in the art department or an artist really wants to do a webcomic but can't write. Other teams may have less defined roles.

When it comes to Koni and myself, Koni's role is that of "creative collaborator." Essentially, she's my muse. When I need a sounding board, get stuck on something, or need to work out the story lines, I turn to Koni. Waaaaay back in 2006, Strawberry Syrup got its start when Koni and I were watching a vampire anime and wondered why all the half-vampires always side with the humans. From there, one thing led to another, and next thing we know, we were in the nexus of creative fusion. We tossed out a lot of story ideas back then, ones I still have to get to. My role is to then take those ideas, flesh them out into chapters with dialogue and plots, and then do all the art.

Some things to consider when you take on a partner or partners for a webcomic:

Make sure everyone understands and is comfortable with their role.

Make sure this is someone you can work with for the long haul if you plan to do a long-run webcomic. Consider doing a trial run - a short one-shot story of 10-20 pages to make sure the two of you can work together. It's also a good idea with groups, to make sure everyone's happy with their roles.

Make sure everyone understands and is capable of meeting the deadlines. Your writer has to have the final draft of each page to the artist in enough time for the artist to finish the page in time for that week's post. Having a sizable buffer will help here.
Be flexible and open to change. If your partner has some ideas regarding your area, at least listen. It could make your webcomic all the better.

Consider a legal agreement defining who owns what and how any profits will be split. This is especially important when you don't know your partner, only have a professional relationship with them, or have plans to get your comic published. The last thing you want is for legal squabbling to get in the way of things.

Those are just a few of the things to keep in mind when starting a webcomic with partners. And remember, webcomics are supposed to be fun! Whenever more than one person is involved in a creative project, chances are there will be conflicts. Just try not to let them get too blown out of proportion, and you'll be fine.

Strawberry Syrup vs. NaNoWriMo

2009-11-09T23:11:00.003-05:00

It's November, and to thousands of people, that means one thing: National Novel Writing Month, more commonly known as NaNo or NaNoWriMo. It's when would-be writers dust off their word processors, pick that story they've always wanted to tell, and try their darndest to write 50,000 words in 30 days. It may seem a little intimidating, but it's actually a hell of a lot of fun for people who enjoy writing... especially since the goal is just to get something down on paper and not focus on nitpicking and making sure every single word is perfect. It's something I look forward to every year.

Of course, a few little conflicts do arise. For one thing, doing NaNo means writing at least 1,667 words a day, which comes out to roughly 6 pages, double-spaced. I am not a fast writer, so this can take anywhere from 2-4 hours a day, assuming le Muse is feeling cooperative. Considering it can take the better part of two days for each page, time does become an issue. Never mind the tendency of many NaNoers to completely soak their brains in whatever story they're writing - a necessity for some of us creative types when we're working full-throttle.

So, how to reconcile this?

First off, I do not intend to put the comic on hiatus again. You guys have already stuck with me through enough of those this year, both planned and unplanned. Instead, I just need to do a little better time management and some kick my butt in gear. It also means accepting that I might not get the page up promptly at midnight when I prefer to - it might have to be later on Wednesday.

The key point is, it will get done - it will just take a little adjustment throughout November. Which means I should nail it... oh, about the last week. :D;;

Life and Shop Update

2009-10-24T23:42:00.004-04:00

Wow. Yeah. So much for THAT New Year's Resolution.

Anyways, thanks to all those readers who have stuck with the comic, despite the spotty updates over the last two months or so. For those of you wondering about the medical problems (er... last month), long story short is that the ER thought I had one infection, Regular Doctor said, "Aw, no, you shouldn't be on that medicine! They didn't even do the tests!", and Dr. Specialist said, "Regular Doctor was right, but you still have an infection... just not the one ER doctor thought." Which covers a good three weeks in Medical Land. On the bright side, all is well with the Kit now! :D;;

In other news, the Strawberry Syrup store will be moving to Zazzle sometime in the near future. I'll leave the CafePress shop up through the holiday season while I'm relocating to the friendlier (and free) neighborhood of Zazzle. This opens up all sorts of possibilities - multiple shops, new promotional tools, new products...

But, this begs a certain question... Should I keep my shop together in one place, or should Strawberry Syrup have its very own store on Zazzle? What do you guys think?

The Hiatus has Ended!

2009-07-31T17:20:00.004-04:00

That's right, the hiatus is over! Technically, it ended on July 8th and I just haven't gotten around to posting about its long-awaited conclusion until now... almost a month later...

*ahem*

So, was it worth it? I think so. I took some time to recharge the creativity, take a step away and rekindle my love for Sammy, Hunter, and Ferdy, and actually hammer out Chapter 4 - some of it, anyways. I did not, in fact, finish thumbnailing the entire chapter, but there's enough of it to keep me on the right track for awhile. And hopefully, I won't have to skip any weeks due to writer's block, art block, or any other kind of block. That's got to be a plus, right?

It also gave me the time to work on other projects. Yes, I do have things other than Strawberry Syrup that I want to work on. That was probably the best part of the hiatus for me - just the opportunity to work on something else without that nagging voice in the back of my head going, "You SHOULD be doing next week's page! Have you done next week's page yet? You're going to be late!" It was just a nice vacation, and now, I can actually enjoy working on it again. Never underestimate how important enjoyment is - if you don't enjoy doing your webcomic, there's something wrong, and you need to figure out what it is and fix it. Otherwise, you'll start resenting the time you spend on it, and that resentment will soon turn to hate, and nobody wants that.

So, in short: the hiatus was good, glad I took it, and now I'm back and ready to work!

Creating A Comic Page, Part One: The Thumbnail

2009-06-17T02:42:00.004-04:00

So, you've got your comic idea. You've designed your characters, decided on your first story arc, and even have some kick-butt action planned. Now what?

Now... You thumbnail.

A thumbnail is a rough sketch. It helps the artist visualize what their final work is going to look like without them putting a whole lot of effort into all the little details. This is the thumbnail of page 34 in Chapter Two of Strawberry Syrup:

As you can see, it ain't exactly a masterpiece. What it IS, however, is a guide to how I want the finished page to look. The panels are laid out, the action is depicted (if roughly), and some of the dialogue bubbles are added in. But why do this step at all?

There are several reasons. The two bigs ones are that it saves time AND your mentail health. With a thumbnail, I can see if the layout works and if everything flows right. If it doesn't, then I've only spent maybe five minutes, tops, on that thumbnail and can just go ahead and take another couple of minutes to hammer out another one, one that will hopefully work. It's way less devastating than spending several hours sketching, inking, and toning a full page, only to find out after stepping back to take a good look at it that something is horribly amiss.

Another benefit is that you can plot out entire chapters of your comic this way in perhaps a day, all before starting your first page. I highly recommend doing this. One of the biggest blocks I run into is getting stuck on layout. By plotting out the entire chapter beforehand, you can see how each page flows into the next, make sure you're not being repetitive in your layout, and know exactly what's coming next. It's all right there, and it can be done in a few days, tops.

So, before you dive head-first into your first page, spend some time thumbnailing your first chapter - you'll be much happier in the long run!

Hiatus Status Report

2009-05-20T15:41:00.003-04:00

It's been about a month since Strawberry Syrup went on hiatus, so time for a status report!

Site Status: The new ad campaign seems to be going well. We started using Project Wonderful to try to generate a little revenue to go towards things like site maintenance... and, um, little things like keeping the site. ^^;; Other than that, I've been using the weekly hiatus updates to get used to my new Bamboo Fun from WACOM. Hopefully, the readers are enjoying those, too. (Yeah, yeah, I know, you'd all enjoy it more if I got back to the comic! :P)

Tablet Status: Still getting used to it. It's going good in Photoshop, but I'm still struggling a bit in my beloved MangaStudio. Maybe I'm missing a setting or something... There's something to be said for just how hard I have to resist plugging my good old Graphire back in for sketching. But... I'll get used to it. With any luck, that'll happen before I start back on the comic.

Kit's Grasp on Time Status: Ack! Where the heck did the month of May go?!

Kit's Status in General: I'll admit it - the hiatus was a good idea. I'm enjoying the break, exploring other creative projects, and generally recharging. When I get back to actually drawing the comic again, it will be with renewed passion for all things Strawberry Syrup.

Comic Status: I know what Chapter 4's going to be! I have worked through my issues and seen the light! Now, I'm going to try and do this chapter right, actually plan the whole thing out page by page, and get a buffer built up so we don't run into the problem of the last chapter where there were unintentional breaks. That's got to be a good thing.

And there you have it, the Mid-Hiatus Status Report! Stayed tuned for further information.

Site Downage

2009-04-30T18:03:00.004-04:00

I'll admit it. I am... woefully inept when it comes to most technology-related things. Some things are alright. Photoshop, Manga Studio, and Word? Great, fine, I can do what I need, and as long as you don't want me to get into whatever's covered in the later chapters of the For Dummies books, it's all good. I'll go on my merry way, churning things out with only a glimmer of understanding of what I'm doing, and everybody's happy.

Programming? Not so much.

Now, long, long ago, when I first wanted a website and my brother had some insane idea that I could learn this kind of stuff on my own, he left me to my own devices. And I did, indeed, learn things. I learned how to make links, make images into links, do all the basic bold/italics/etc. stuff, and even macguyvered a little table system. Somehow, it all looked pretty darn decent.

My brother looked at the source code and cried.

Apparently, cannibalizing bits of coding and hodgepodging them together like some sort of digital stew shouldn't have worked. I then discovered deviantArt and, since all I wanted at the time was an art gallery ANYWAYS, moved over to there and let my little website fade into the void of cyberspace.

Then, along came Strawberry Syrup, and I needed a website again. This time, my brother decided to put his Computer Science degree to work. I just had to make a mock-up of what I wanted in Photoshop and ship it off to him, and he waved his magic programming wand and turned it into a fully-functioning, honest-to-goodness WELL-coded site to host my little comic, for which I am ever-thankful for.

Unfortunately, he forgot to tell me that whatever he uses to code it doesn't like certain symbols. Like "&". Which means that when I tried to post "Q&A With Sammy," the front page crashed, my file uploader started bombarding me with "CRITICAL ERROR" messages, and I found myself repeatedly thudding my head against a wall. Fun times.

So, for anyone who stopped by on Wednesday before John fixed things, sorry about the awful mess. Totally my bad. But! It's all cleaned up now, and I know better, so hopefully we won't have to worry about that again.

All About Hiatuses

2009-04-22T15:14:00.004-04:00

If you've been lurking around the webcomic world for awhile, you've probably learned to dread the words, "On Hiatus." All too often, it means one of your favorite webcomics fading off into the sunset, never to be seen again... or, at least, not to be seen until the artist decides to come back, which could be weeks, months, or even as long as a year. Readers hate hiatuses. So why on Earth would a webcomicker ever take one?

Well, let's start with the basics: what IS a hiatus? In a word... a break. In a few more words, a period of time in which the webcomic will be put on hold and not updated. There are a variety of reasons why this might happen, and some of them make a hiatus unavoidable. For example, a digital webcomicker's tablet might break, or their preferred laptop with all their specific webcomic software might crash. An injured wrist makes it pretty darn hard to draw. Or, in the best case scenario, the webcomicker might just be going on vacation and will be back in a month. Not everywhere has internet access, after all. All you need to do in these cases is explain what's going on to your readers and when you expect to be back, and they're usually pretty forgiving.

In each of those cases, the webcomicker has a good idea when they'll be back, and it will be within a matter of days or weeks. However, there are other reasons for going on hiatus. As much as we hate to admit it, the webcomic does have to take a backseat to real life. A move, a change in job, a new addition to the family, or other obligations can suck up your time and force you on hiatus for your own sanity. Webcomics also tend to run over a period of years, and the creator might just get bored with it. In these cases, it could be months before the comic gets picked up again, assuming it ever does.

Annnnd then there's my reason for hiatus: story issues. Strawberry Syrup is an episodic webcomic. That means that each chapter is pretty much its own self-contained little story (so far). As such, while Koni and I have tossed around a lot of ideas of what COULD happen, it doesn't have a hard and fast outline (which, if you're doing an epic saga, you SHOULD have before you even begin, and even then, you can run into problems when something doesn't work out quite the way you thought it was going to). We just build on whatever came before. Unfortunately, as Chapter 3 drew to a close, I realized I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do next.

That... is a problem.

This gave me three options: 1) End the comic and turn my attention to another project. Not my first choice. 2) Desperately grab at a story idea and muddle through a very sloppy Chapter 4. Not really all that appealing, either. Or 3) Go on hiatus, take a month or so to hammer out a GOOD Chapter 4, and maybe build up a bit of a buffer again so I won't run into the problem of when my muse went AWOL or Life decided to tapdance on my comic time. Obviously, I'm going with option #3.

There are a few drawbacks to taking a hiatus. The main one is that it can really irritate your readers, and you can lose readers over it. After all, the less you update, the less often they remember to check your site, which means that eventually, they'll stop checking at all. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to minimize the damage done by a hiatus.

Be honest with your readers. Tell them why you're taking a break, whether it's because you're going on a wireless retreat, had a technical malfunction, or just need to replenish the creative juices. If you just take off without a word, they'll think you don't care.

Set a time frame. If you know when you're going to be back, tell the readers when that is. If you're going on vacation without your comicking tools, add a week. The readers will expect an update as soon as you get back. If you don't know exactly when you'll be back, try to give an approximate idea. In the case of story issues or recharging the braincells, this is just as important for you as the reader. Think of it as a deadline, and it will help you stick to it. For example, I intend to start updating again by mid-June.

Time your hiatus well. This is for those who are taking a hiatus by choice. Nothing is as frustrating as reading a webcomic, only to have it stop for weeks or months in the middle of a chapter. Aim for the end of a chapter. That way, if things don't go as well as you'd planned and you end up having to end it, at least there's some closure for the readers. I still remember when one of my favorite webcomics from nearly ten years ago wrapped up the entire story arc, gave us a good, satisfying ending, then started on a new story arc... only to lose interest about ten pages in. Bad idea. Seriously.

Upload filler and extras. Yeah, yeah, I know, filler seasons have killed great anime. Bleach and Naruto come to mind... but if you're going to be gone for more than two weeks, uploading quick, non-sequential art relating to your comic not only keeps you in practice, but shows your readers that you still care and you really are working. It's a good faith thing: if you're still uploading SOMETHING, then chances are good that you really WILL be back and won't just disappear into the ether. Think of it as the extra stuff found at the back of most manga volumes - not directly part of the comic, but still cool to look at.

Have guest comics. This is great if you have an active fanbase. Announce that you're looking for fan art and guest comics and see what comes in. You can even do it as a contest: free merchandise to the winner (if you feel like spending a little money), runners up get posted, too. If you want to do this option, set it in motion a few weeks BEFORE you actually go on hiatus to give people a chance to work on their submissions. If you're pals with other webcomickers, see if they'd be willing to do guest work. It'll give your readers something to look at AND give you a break.

Come BACK. That's right. The whole point of a hiatus is to eventually come BACK. Stick to your time frame, hit your deadline, and start up with your comic again. If you decide to extend your hiatus or, heaven forbid, end your comic, tell your readers. They appreciate honesty far more than being left hanging.

Hiatuses are nearly impossible to avoid in long-term webcomics, but they don't have to be complete disasters. Give it some thought, remember your readers, and you might just have a successful hiatus.

Grab Traffic with Squidoo!

2009-04-15T14:50:00.004-04:00

There are a lot of promotional tools available out there for webcomickers: webcomic listings, groups, communities... But what else can you do to grab more viewers?

You can Squidoo.

Usually when I mention Squidoo, I'm met with a blank look. The kind of look people give you when you start speaking gibberish. So, here's the rundown.

Squidoo is a community that allows you to make one-page websites (called "lenses") on any topic you want. And you're not just limited to one - you can make as many lenses, on as many topics, as you want. The basic idea behind Squidoo is that everyone is an expert on something, and everyone should have a chance to share that expertise. Even better, it's free.

I've been Squidooing for about three years now, starting with a lens dedicated to fantasy art. Since then, I've added thirteen more lenses, with topics ranging from my favorite books to my favorite vacation spot. Thanks to the module set-up, it's easy to add content to your lens. There are modules for text and images, link lists, regular lists, various widgets, Amazon.com, CafePress, and a whole lot more.

But what does this have to do with webcomics, you ask?

If there is one thing you should be an expert on, it's your own webcomic. I started my Strawberry Syrup lens about a month after the comic went up. I figured it would be a good way to grab traffic and provide people with a nice introduction to my comic. The text modules work great for character bios, and to keep things updated, I put up the latest blog post from the website. That guarantees me a weekly update, which keeps my lensranking up and makes my lens more likely to show up quickly in Squidoo searches.

Two other great features webcomickers will find useful: the shopping modules, and the guestbook. If you have merchandise for your comic through CafePress or Zazzle, you can highlight a selection of your best products right there on your lens, driving traffic to your shop and even generating an extra royalty if someone buys through your lens.

And the guestbook... Oh, I love my Squidoo guestbook. I've gotten more feedback through the guestbook on my lens than I have through anything else. You may recall the Strawberry Syrup forum fiasco. Well, no such problem with the Squidoo guestbooks! I've only gotten legitimate comments through them, and nothing is as encouraging as getting a little feedback on something that takes as much work as a weekly webcomic. You even have the option of approving all comments before they go up, just to be sure it's something you want the world to see (plus, you'll get notified every time someone has something to say).

There is one more reason to make a Squidoo lens for your webcomic: search engines pick them up like crazy. With a blog, you might show up in the first couple pages of Google... if you're lucky. Websites depend on if you really understand you SEO stuff. But a Squidoo lens... If you search "strawberry syrup comic," my Strawberry Syrup lens actually comes up before the comic!

Bottom line: the more exposure you get for your comic, the more traffic you're going to get, and the more traffic you get, the more readers you'll end up with. And all webcomickers want readers. Squidoo gets you more exposure, and even better, exposure outside the typical webcomic crowd. So if it sounds like something you want to do, get started now!

Getting to Be That Time Again...

2009-04-08T03:45:00.002-04:00

Yep, the end of a chapter's drawing near. In this case, Chapter 3. It's been a fairly long chapter, and it's actually been pretty fun. Hunter's foray into the Rosalez household? Definitely my favorite scene so far.

Alas, all good things have to come to an end... and then, we're left with a question: what happens next?

See, this is where having your story plotted out before you begin comes in handy.

I know, I know, not everybody works well with an outline, and if you're doing an episodic webcomic, it's not really necessary. Strawberry Syrup falls into the episodic category. There's no grand plot, no major story arc, just Hunter vs. Sammy and whatever springs up out of that. It's actually a pretty organic process: stuff happens, characters pop in, and more stuff builds on whatever happened before. It keeps even Koni and I surprised, because we're never quite sure what's going to happen next.

But, of course, there's a downside to every method. One-shot gag comics need a constant supply of one-shot gags. Full-blown grand epic story webcomics need to be plotted out and have all the important details hammered out before you start, or else you'll end up webcomicking yourself into a corner with no way out, regardless of how it might "constrain your creativity." And episodic stories... run into the inevitable "what next."

So, what do you do when the inevitable looms near? You grab a piece of paper or your plot bunny buddy, you sit down or start a chat, and you figure out what happens in Chapter 4. Ideally, before you started your journey into the wild unknown of webcomicking, you did some brainstorming on possible story ideas. Now's the time to grab that list, hunt down those conversations, and figure out what works for your next chapter. All it takes is a little time and effort.

So what's next for Strawberry Syrup? Well, I've got about two weeks to figure that out, so I guess we'll see!

They Come From the Oddest Places...

2009-03-18T00:43:00.005-04:00

Ideas. Sometimes, they spring out of nowhere, just spawning in some back corner of your brain when you least expect it. Sometimes, they naturally evolve out of the story line, a matter of natural progression. And sometimes they are a product of the art itself.

That would be where Chapter 3 of Strawberry Syrup came from. Waaay back in Chapter 1, Hunter needed to save the damsel in distress from Sammy, our young half-vampire extraordinaire. Of course, this all needed to take place in an actual setting of some sort. Since Sammy was luring young Tracy in with a study date, I figured the library would be the logical choice.

Boy, did I not think that one through.

Libraries are huge, giant, enormous warehouses of lines. Lots of lines. Lines for the shelves, lines for the tables, lines in perspective, and most importantly, lines for the books. All in all... a lot of lines.

Witness all the lines. I'm not kidding about that week.

As the pages went on and I drew more and more shelves full of books, I developed a deep, abiding hatred for the Arcadia Sanguis High School Library. I never wanted to look at a library again, let alone draw it. Fortunately, Koni thought of a way for me to get my revenge.

We decided to burn it.

All we needed was a how and a reason why, and suddenly we had an inept wizard in training and candle mishaps and all the fun of everything else that happens in Chapter 3. All from just a strong dislike of having to draw the library. And let me tell you, it was a heck of a lot of fun to watch that sucker burn.

So, it just goes to prove that ideas can come from anywhere. You just have to pay attention.

So, How Do You Do It? Traditional Vs. Digital

2009-02-18T20:51:00.004-05:00

Alright, you've made up your mind. You're going to start a webcomic. But you've got one little question: how?

It's a pretty basic question, but an important one. Fortunately, there isn't any one way to do a webcomic. You, my friend, have options! Depending on how you work best and what technology you have access to, the most common ways are:

The Traditional Way. Take a sheet of paper, grab a pencil and maybe some markers, and go to town! If you don't have a graphics tablet, this is probably the way you want to go - nothing invites a headache like trying to draw with a mouse. You do, however, need access to a scanner. Draw your page, scan it in, make the necessary changes in whatever software you use to resize things, and you've got your page all set to go.

The Digital Way. If you've got a tablet or are just that good with a mouse, you can make the whole process digital. It can really take some of the blood, sweat and tears out of webcomicking. Use whichever graphics program you're comfortable with, whether that's Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, or just good old MS Paint.

Half-and-Half. This may be the most common way. Draw your line art by hand, scan it in, then add your tones or color digitally with your graphics program. Or, as in my case, do half your work in one graphics program, then transfer it over to another to finish up.

Quality webcomics means finding what works for you in your budget, and figuring out what you work best with. If the only scanner you have access to is Aunt Selma's ancient museum piece from the mid-nineties, you might want to consider going all-digital. Likewise, if you've got a fantastic scanner, but your only graphics program is Paint or GiMP, you might want to stick to doing it by hand.

The Pros and Cons of Bonus Pages

2009-02-12T02:43:00.004-05:00

You know what I'm talking about: special pages that show up in webcomics around holidays or special events. Usually, they're either one-shot comics or a splash page featuring the characters of the comic. Done well, they're a lot of fun to see. Done badly, and readers will eventually stop coming.

As an artist, I can understand why one might be given to splash pages, especially if you get behind in your work. You don't want to disappoint your readers, so you throw together a little something, a bone to toss to the ravenous hounds, and hope to get your butt in gear by your next update. However much you enjoy drawing them, though, there are some major drawbacks to too many bonus pages.

As a reader, I enjoy the occasional bonus page. I don't have to sift through a gallery to find any extra work, it's usually appropriate for the holiday, and it's another view of my favorite characters. But when every other page is "bonus art"... well, needless to say, it disrupts the story, and it's a little hard to keep track of a plot when every few pages jerks me out of it again. It's kinda like trying to read a book, but every few lines, the phone rings or someone tries to strike up a conversation or a really snazzy bit of dialogue on TV snags your attention. It just doesn't work.

For Strawberry Syrup, I have a pretty strict view of bonus pages that interrupt the comic: if there's a holiday within a day or two of the update, holiday-related bonus art is a go. Special events, like the Olympics or yearly anniversary of start of the comic, are also on the OK list. Beyond that, any extra art I do goes in a separate gallery and doesn't break up the comic itself. (Okay, so I copped out that one time with the dentist and the drilling... and the sandpaper... but even then, I felt bad about it!)

Of course, it's up to the artist to decide when to do bonus art. For example, this coming Saturday is Valentine's Day, but my update this week stuck to the story. I don't really have anything against Valentine's Day, but it just seemed too far from my update day, and for some reason, I'm not in a very Valentine-y mood. I'm also still feeling a bit bad about skipping most of November and December, so more story, less flair. But if I do happen to get in the mood to do something for it by Saturday, I can still stick it in my DeviantArt gallery.

So, if you're doing a webcomic and debating bonus pages, just remember that while they're fun for everybody once in awhile, they aren't a substitute for your comic itself. Even the best of treats lose a little of their specialness if you get them too often.

New Years Resolutions

2009-01-22T19:03:00.002-05:00

It's the new year, and as that nice lady on the car insurance commercials has been reminding us all, it's resolution season! In true Kitsune fashion, I'm hopping on this promptly three weeks after I probably should have, but in any case, I have a few resolutions in mind.

No more delays in Strawberry Syrup pages. At least through the end of Chapter 3.

Do more stand-alone art. Because who doesn't like stand-alone art? Besides, gives me more practice with those characters who haven't shown up in a few weeks.

Post to this blog more. Yeah, I know, I've already got a stellar start on that little resolution, but I'm going to try for twice a month. Maybe give commentary on the pages as I'm doing them if I don't have anything else to talk about. Who knows? I'm still kind of new at this whole blogging thing. ^_^;

So, there you have it - Kit's resolutions for the new year! Cross your fingers, folks, and I might just keep them!

Statcounter - Track Your Hits

2008-11-11T18:25:00.007-05:00

One of the biggest rewards of doing a webcomic is knowing that people actually read those pages you've poured your blood, sweat, and hard-earned time into. But how can you tell how many readers you have?

An easy way is a hitcounter. These tell you how many people have visited your page. A lot of the ones I've seen just have a running tally of hits. They sit there, at the bottom of the main page or off in a side column, just racking up the hits. To be perfectly honest, I'm not a big fan of those. They just track overall hits, they're kind of an eyesore, and they don't tell you what you really need to know.

My solution? Statcounter.

There are plenty of reasons to use Statcounter. For example:

It's free. 'Nuff said right there.

It's invisible. That's right, no tacky hitcounter taking up space on your webpage and interrupting the nice, smooth visual flow.

It tracks more than just your overall hits. Log in, and it will tell you how many hits you had today, how many yesterday, and how many overall.

It breaks down your stats. It will take those stats and break them down into a nice, easy to read graph showing your hits over the last seven to thirty days, depending on your preference. Plus, it will tell you how many of those hits are from repeat visitors - a great way to keep track of your fan base.

It shows you referring URLs. If someone's plugging your comic, you'll know. Which means that maybe you can thank them... or just sit back, smile, and take a moment to enjoy the feeling that comes from someone actually linking to you. Also, you can see which webcomic listings are actually sending you traffic, nevermind if you actually advertise somewhere. If that link's sending you lots of traffic, you'll know it's worth advertising there again. Likewise, if you're getting no hits from an ad at all, you'll know to put your money somewhere else.

See where your readers are from! Alright, so I don't know if this helps you at all (unless maybe you're going to one con a year and want to pick one near a large concentration of readers), but it's probably my favorite thing about Statcounter. I like looking at the little map and seeing that I've got readers from everywhere from the US to England to even China.

So, if you're looking for a good, free way to track traffic to your webcomic that breaks down your stats in a way that could actually be useful, check out Statcounter.com.

Three Elements of Character Design

2008-10-08T23:23:00.003-04:00

One of the most important parts of any comic is the characters. Think about it: what do people remember most from something like, say, Naruto? Is it every single fight and mission, or is it Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi? Characters are your reader's link to the story, giving them someone they can identify with, get behind, or in some way relate to. Whether it's an action story with guns a-blazing and battles a-plenty or a heart-wrenching tale of struggling star-crossed lovers, if your readers don't have a character they want to follow, chances are they won't be your readers for very long.

Memorable characters are important, and part of creating memorable characters is coming up with a good character design. So what makes for a good character design? It comes down to three basic elements:

Character.

Distinction.

Detail.

Character: When I design characters, I start out thinking about what kind of character I want to create. Is it male or female? How old? What kind of things do they like to do? What’s their sense of style? What’s their personality? Little things like that have a big impact on the character design. The stern, worked-for-every-penny-of-his-massive-fortune grandfather who hasn’t taken a day off in fifty years is more likely to wear a well-tailored suit than a Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops.

Depending on your style, you’ll also want to look at other elements to tell what kind of character you’re drawing. Older, more mature characters tend towards longer faces and smaller eyes, while younger, more innocent characters usually have rounder faces and large, expressive eyes. Want to make your guy a manly man? Give him a square jaw. If you’d rather have a pretty boy, give him more delicate features. Check out the different ways your favorite artists draw the eyes alone between different characters, and see if there isn’t something you can incorporate into your style.

Clothing is also important. Not everyone dresses the same way. Does your college-aged girl like flowy patterned skirts and corduroy jackets, or is she a jeans and leather girl? Does your high school hockey player live in his varsity jacket, or does he prefer a graphic hoodie? Nikes or Doc Martins? Boxers or briefs? Think about what that says about your character, because that’s what people are going to pick up on, however subconsciously, when they read your comic.

Distinction: No matter how many characters you have, your readers have to be able to tell them apart. If your comic is populated by too-hot-to-be-real guys with tousled blond hair and mousy dark-haired girls with big, innocent eyes, your readers are going to be hopelessly confused as to what’s going on with who, which means they’re spending more time going, “Wait, that sounds like Michelle, but I thought it was Kate! Or is it really Sophie?” than actually reading your comic. Worse, if they get too confused, they’ll stop reading altogether.

So, keep your other characters in mind, experiment with haircuts, give Kate glasses and Sophie a different face shape, and try your best to make sure your readers don’t have to work to tell your characters apart.

And finally…

Detail: This is what it all comes down to. Consider all those questions you asked about your character – all those answers affect the details. This doesn’t mean you should go add every single detail you can think of to every character. For one thing, that would be a headache for you, and really, you want to be focusing on your story instead of trying to remember all seventy-two accessories you heaped on that guy who shows up in Chapter 2. Instead, choose just a few key details to get your character across.

Go back and look at hairstyles. Does your slacker boy wear his hair shaggy because it’s too much hassle to get it cut, or does he keep it short so he can just roll out of bed and be on his way in the morning? Does your girl from a struggling family farm think it’s more important to save money and just leave her hair long and dishwater blond, or does she think looks are important enough to look good to justify a cute cut and highlights?

Accessories can say a lot, as well. What kind of watch does your character wear: a stainless steel Rolex or the cheapest Velcro watch they could find at the corner store? Do they wear a rocker wristband, or a tennis bracelet? What about earrings? Or hats? If your character’s Christian, maybe they wear a necklace with a cross or a saint or a lamb on it. Maybe Mr. Nine-to-Five Office Drone’s got a tattoo on his bicep that you can only see when he’s working on his car after work in a grease-stained tank top.

Details are what make your characters distinct, and what kind of character you’re trying to create determines what details you’ll use. Spend some time playing around with different designs for each character. Every time you add a detail, ask yourself why. Sometimes, they can even help you develop your character – why did he get a tattoo, and why that one? Or maybe you’ll learn that their personality’s a bit different from how you originally thought it might be.

Just remember: make sure your readers can easily tell your characters apart, make sure their design fits their character, and a few choice details go a long way. Do all that, and you’ll have memorable characters that just feel right, no confused questioning needed.

Characters and Why They'll Hate You Forever

2008-06-04T17:04:00.004-04:00

There are probably a great many approaches to character creation. I am, of course, only familiar with what goes on in my head before and after a character waltzes in and sets up shop. Sometimes you invite them in, and sometimes you wake up one morning and suddenly there's a character chilling out in your story, abducting plot points all over the place.

We can blame this on the subconscious, to avoid sounding crazy. In any case, Strawberry Syrup's characters are all here more or less intentionally, and are a new experience for me. Before Kit and I collaborated on this project, I had never created characters in tandem with another author. And 'author' is how I approach this project.

Sammy was almost an accident, as I recall: the one outlined in my first blog post. His entire foundation was 'non-angsty vampire', and the building blocks stacked on top of each other from there. We tossed ideas for him back and forth over AIM, mixing and matching shared tastes and separate to come up with our acerbic little half-vampire. The other characters grew up and around in him in similar ways.

Intentional or not, though, sometimes characters can surprise you. And will! Some will be abandoned for lack of purpose, or put aside until later. Some undergo personality changes, for the better even if you didn't see them coming. I seem to recall that Randy's original concept didn't involve pancake messes, for example. It's a creator's choice to direct these changes very carefully or just go with the flow, but I'm personally fond of putting the characters on a leash and then taking them for a walk, in metaphorical terms. Testing them out in the storyline can be the best way for them to show you what they're up to.

Kit can do this by drawing them into the comic and other bits of the medium, of course, but we also throw dialog back and forth in AIM. Characters grow out of small scenarios and snippets, tiny but very important testings of the water. If something doesn't work, doesn't jive with the other characters, we can pick up on it then. This more or less allows us to stick them in the comic without worrying that they'll cause the wrong sort of chaos.

The right sort of chaos, however, that's just fine.

When Good Ideas Turn Out Horribly Wrong

2008-05-20T23:34:00.002-04:00

Alright, so one of the great things about doing a webcomic is the potential for fan interaction. Every webcomic creator dreams of the day when they’ll start getting comments and fan-art. And in their dreams, they have a community of people who enjoy their comic.

There are several ways of encouraging this coveted fan interaction: having your email address visible and easy to find, using a site like SmackJeeves or DrunkDuck that allow people to comment right beneath each comic page, having a blog. Koni and I have tried several things. So far, our Squidoo lens has been the major source of feedback joy for Strawberry Syrup (and thank you to everyone who’s left a comment on the lens – those really made my day).

And then… there was the forum.

Now, we’ve seen plenty of webcomics with successful forums. Strays, for example, has a very successful forum, with lots of posts and a thriving community centering around the webcomic. These places are healthy, bustling places for fans to gather and chat and enjoy themselves. So, Koni and I thought we’d add a forum to our comic, and John was happy to oblige. For months, as John got the new layout in order, we waited for the day when the forum would go up and all our fans would be able to stop by and say hi.

The day after the forum opened, I headed for the forum as soon as I woke up, eager to see if anyone had registered yet or posted anything. And indeed, someone had!

The porn spammers.

Day after day, I came to dread my daily trip to the forum. Every single day, new pornography greeted me. So, we disabled images and said goodbye to the ability for people to comment on the gallery pictures. I’d hoped that might discourage the spammers… but alas, no luck. The nowhere-NEAR-safe-for-work links continued pouring in, and we just kept deleting them and blocking the users.

To say it was a disaster is an understatement.

There are plenty of possible reasons why the forum failed so epically. Perhaps it wasn’t aesthetically pleasing enough, or we needed a logo on it. Maybe we don’t have a large enough fan base to make a forum worthwhile. There’s a chance that our fan base just doesn’t really like to interact. Or maybe, all those damn spammers scared any legitimate posters away.

Whatever the reason, the Strawberry Syrup forum is an experiment that went horribly awry, and I’m ending it before it completely ruins the experience of doing a webcomic for me. It’s a shame, since it kills off the potential of some really fun ideas, like Ask the Cast and having people submit fan art there, but for fan art, at least, people are still more than welcome to email it to us, and we still have the gallery on the actual site. Besides, for people who would like to make our day and leave us comments, there’s still the lens and my DevArt page.

Thank you to Schnou for being our one legitimate poster. We really do appreciate it.

Maybe we’ll try a forum again in the future, either when we have a bigger fanbase or people actually ask for it. Until then, I’m stamping a big old “FAIL” on it and sticking to just making the comic.

So, You Want to Start a Webcomic…

2008-05-06T23:01:00.003-04:00

Alright, you’ve got some talent and you’ve decided you want to join the world of webcomicking, but where do you start? What do you need before you make your grand debut on the virtual stage?

Ever since I stumbled across the wonderful world of webcomics online (somewhere around the year 2000), I toyed with the idea of doing one myself. I dabbled and experimented and tried to get my drawing skills up to snuff, and in 2007 Koni and I launched Strawberry Syrup. And we realized that there were a few things we needed when we did. Here are a few of those things.

1. An Idea. This is kind of essential to a webcomic. Your comic needs to be about something, whether it’s a slice-of-life type thing about an accounting major or a hero’s quest to end the Great War of the Magical Lands of Mythandor. Bounce ideas around for awhile, let them percolate in your brain for a few weeks, and make sure it’s something you can stick with.

2. A Plot. Once you have an idea you think you can work with, try to flesh out a basic plot. Now, not everyone likes to have more than a vague idea, but trust me, it helps to plan things out ahead of time. If you’re doing an Epic Adventure, figure out where you’re going to start, what your major final conflict is going to be, and work out the main points of how your hero’s going to get there.

If you’re doing something a little more episodic, like Strawberry Syrup, brainstorm and come up with several story arcs. That way, when you get to then end of the arc you’re working on, you’ll know where you’re going next. There’s nothing worse than getting to the end of a chapter and having no idea what’s going to happen in the next one. Thanks to several brainstorming sessions, Koni and I have a number of episodes lined up – and those sessions were a heck of a lot of fun, too.

If your comic’s a series of four-panel strips like in the newspaper, particularly political commentary or gag-of-the-week ones, try to come up with as many ideas as possible. Write them all down in a notebook or word doc and keep adding to it as often as possible. Sure, not having an ongoing story means you can technically stop any time, but what’s the point of starting a comic if you have to quit two months later?

3. A Title. When people check out webcomic lists, often all they see is the title - which means that your title needs to be something catchy that draws the eye. Some people can rattle off titles like they were born with a list already handcrafted for them… others, like me and Koni, have to spend weeks tossing possibilities around and struggling to come up with something decent. Ideally, you’ll want something that has some meaningful tie to your comic… at the very least, you’ll want something quirky. If it grabs the attention and gets people to click on it, you're good to go!

4. A Buffer. This is VERY important. A buffer is a stash of pages ready and waiting to be posted. Just because you can do seven pages a week doesn’t mean you have to put them all up as soon as they’re done. Having a buffer means that if Real Life demands your attention and you can't get a page done, you’ll have one already finished and waiting to be posted, and THAT means you won’t miss an update.

Try to have 15-20 pages of your webcomic finished before you even start releasing it online. Not only will this give you a buffer, but in 20 pages, you’ll know whether or not your story is something you can stick with.

5. An Update Schedule. If you can only consistently complete one page a week, then don’t say you’ll update every MWF. Even if you have a buffer of 20 pages, it’ll quickly disappear if you’re only drawing one page a week, and then you’ll be in trouble when that buffer runs out.

I realized this about two months into Strawberry Syrup – there I was, updating twice a week when I was only finishing one page, and my poor buffer was vanishing right before my very eyes. Then I dropped it down to once a week, and life was much, much better.

Remember: maintaining a consistent update schedule is key to keeping readers. They’ll forgive the occasional hiatus, but if you’re missing more updates than you’re making, they’ll stop reading.

Those are just a few things to consider before starting your own webcomic. Sure, most of them mean not running out and posting the very first page you make, but it’ll mean a lot less hair pulling and frustration for you in the long run.

That Creative Spark

2008-04-29T19:13:00.002-04:00

Hey, Koni here!

Kit says we should give advice. I cannot rightly say that I should be the one advising you all, honestly - she does the drawing thing and the text thing, and I do the 'coloring in the lines sometimes' thing. Capitalism does not call for an equal distribution of labor!

Anyway. In the beginning. There was an Idea. This Idea mostly came about one night when Kit and I were, in our respective states, watching An Anime of the Vampiric Persuasion and back-and-forthing about it on AIM. I do not blame the vampire genre (and its myriad anime, books, television shows, movies, etc.) for being what it is. But, there is an undeniable...

Well. There is a pattern. And I know it has been broken before; people take this perverse glee in breaking the pattern.

But I said to Kit, said I:

"Why always with the angst?"

Why do the half vampires, we mused, never seem to embrace their nocturnal halves? Why do they slay the vampires, and soliloquize, and sit in fancy chairs while brooding? This should be rectified!

"Webcomic!" said Kit.

And thus. Was Strawberry Syrup...born? Turned? Forced into this world, kicking and screaming?

The characters, the title, the scripts, the rampant lack of anything approaching angst, symbolism, or soliloquies, those would come later.

Welcome!

2008-04-29T18:59:00.003-04:00

Welcome to the Strawberry Syrup Blog! What is Strawberry Syrup, you may be asking? It's a webcomic co-created by myself and my good friend Koni. A very silly, completely non-serious webcomic about Sammy, a half-vampire trying to get through high school and avoid both detention and his own Van Helsing-wannabe, Hunter. We have a lot of fun with it, and hopefully you'll have a lot of fun, too. ^_^

So, why the blog? After all, we have our own little mini-blog on the site... but there's no place for us to really delve into the process of creating a webcomic, nowhere for us to talk about what works and what doesn't or give any real advice from the discoveries we've made as we wander through the world of webcomicking... and now we have a place for all that! Plus, we can talk about things here without worrying about spoilers. So, if you just can't get enough Strawberry Syrup or us creators, now we're giving you more.

Stay tuned, dear readers - we're just getting started!