by Brian Gott
News Archives
October-December, 2004
October 11,2004
WHAT? IT'S DIFFERENT! WHY'S IT DIFFERENT?
I finally decided to start sprucing up the ol' site design a bit. Okay, I'll admit it's not an Earth-shattering change here, but it's a start!
By all means, let me know if you have any problems with the site or you just think it looks hideous.
NO WONDER NO ONE WAS PLAYING ALONG . . .
Some of you who've been hanging around for a while may remember something called the "You Call That A Punchline?" page.
The page never actually went away. But I forgot that I'd removed the link due to lack of response.
Well, the punchline "contest" is back with a new illustration. See what you can come up with.
October 16,2004
NOT JUST A WEBCOMIC LIST -- THE WEBCOMIC LIST!
I just learned on Friday of the existence of a site called The Webcomic List. This is a comprehensive list of comics across the Web and when they last updated. More importantly, they've added Way of the Dodo to their list!
Now, at first, I thought that the button code I was pasting into my home page was for a vote button of the BuzzComix variety. I've never really played that sort of Web Comic List Popularity Game.
But this time, I was all set to exhort you all to click on the button and vote for Dodo every day!
But on closer examination, it's just a link to their home page that happens to show my (abysmal) ranking in The Webcomic List. You can still click on it every day if you want to, but it looks like it'll just take you to the WebComic List home page.
November 1, 2004
"IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT . . . "
I'm participating in the National Novel Writing Month this year. I'm not bragging
here, just following my usual policy of giving you a heads-up on matters that may affect the strip.
The challenge is to start writing on November 1, and produce a 50,000-word (175-page) novel
by the 30th. In case you're wondering, that works out to an average of about 1,667 words or nearly 6 pages a day. Heck,
that's not so bad ...
And I'm just nuts enough to think I can keep updating the strip while I'm doing it,
too! Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to try for five (or even three) updates a week.
In fact, I seriously considered putting Way of the Dodo on hiatus while I pursued this
mad ambition new creative project. But I didn't like the thought of taking another long hiatus so soon,
especially now that it looks like my readership is starting to pick up a bit.
So here's the plan: I'm going to be updating on Mondays and Wednesdays during November. On
Fridays, I'll be posting short excerpts from the novel as it develops. If that changes I'll let you know.
December 1,2004
NANOWRIMO WRAP UP
Well, that didn't work out quite as well as I'd hoped. In retrospect, it was kind of like trying to run a marathon without training ahead of time. (Not that I've ever tried to do that...)
So instead of a 50,000-word rough draft that I would need to edit the living daylights out of before I could even think of doing anything with it, I've got a pile of outline and rough draft fragments totaling a little over 15,000 words all told, that I would need to finish writing and then edit the living daylights out of before I could even think of doing anything with it!
All the same, I'd say it was definitely a worthwhile experience. My interest in my writing has waned considerably since I've been drawing Dodo. If nothing else, NaNoWriMo has given my other creative ambitions a much needed jump start.
That isn't to say that Dodo is going to go away any time soon. I'm stubborn, so the strip's probably going to continue -- for now, anyway.
IN OTHER NEWS . . .
'SCUSE ME WHILE I TRY TO TALK MYSELF OFF THIS LEDGE, WOULD YOU?
'SCUSE ME WHILE I TRY TO TALK MYSELF OFF THIS LEDGE, WOULD YOU?
The last of the first round of syndication submission packages I sent out came back on November 27. Like all the others, it had a polite form rejection letter attached to it. True, this wasn't a big surprise. But while I still hadn't heard from them, I allowed myself the luxury of hoping for a "yes" response.
I'll admit, I would have liked to see Dodo in syndication. And yes, I do realize that this would require a much higher and less flexible output than I've been producing.
Now, back when the syndicates controlled access to the only means of comic strip distribution, this would have been the end of Dodo. it would have been time to try to grab one of the other ideas knocking around in my head and not let go until it started producing gags. But as I've been doing the strip, I've also been looking around at the opportunities that exist out here in cyberspace to get in touch with a discerning audience.
So I'm going to keep the strip going. As time and finances permit, I plan to explore my options for merchandising, book production and the like. Maybe in time I'll even be able to join the ranks of those privileged few who are making some kind of a living from Web comics.
December 16,2004
NO FOURTH WALL TO BREAK IS BACK!
After a prolonged break, fellow Keenspacer Chris Whetstone's No 4th Wall to Break is updating again. Welcome back, Chris!
Now, hold on a minute before you all go charging off to Chris' Keenspace site. No 4th Wall is updating -- at its new address. The Keenspace site still has the archives, but you'll have to go to www.no4thwall.com for the new stuff. Will Odin leave the strip? Will Blurry replace him with a cardboard cutout? Will anyone notice the difference?
That link again is www.no4thwall.com.
MEANWHILE, OVER AT ONLINECOMICS.NET . . .
The folks who run OnlineComics.Net have been busy implementing a load of new features in recent months.
One that they just announced is a Support the Comic page. Each comic that's listed on their site has a "Support This Comic" page. If you click on
this link here or anywhere it says Support Way of the Dodo,
you'll be taken to a page at OC.N, where you can easily post comments and/or add this strip to your Favorites list. Then with a single click, you can come straight back for more Dodo! (Or for the same Dodo you just saw a minute ago!)
Anyway, go check it out. I'll still be here when you get back.
Or as they put it, "Support Way of the Dodo! Click Here!"
December 27,2004
NEITHER RAIN NOR SNOW NOR . . . WELL, MAYBE SNOW, MAYBE TRAVEL PLANS . . .
Up here in the Cleveland area, we're still digging ourselves out from massive amounts of snow and ice. We're supposed to have warmer temperatures this week and no more snow for a while, but I'll believe it when my car isn't half-buried anymore!
In anticipation of having to spend much of the next few days shoveling, and/or possibly going to Cincinnati for a day or two, I'm putting the strip in reruns for this week. I don't know if I'm going to have the time to finish this week's comics, and I don't want to leave you hanging.
So to be fair, instead of three new comics you'll get five carefully selected reruns, accompanied by a bit of commentary on each.
Come back each day this week for a little more insight into the thought process behind Way of the Dodo. New comics will resume on January 3, 2005.