New Site Section: Writing Workshop

I got an e-mail from Webcomics.com-member Robert Tritthardt last night with a great idea. He suggested a special area on the site where members ould workshop each others' writing.

If you're having trouble wrestling a punchline to the ground or if you're trying to figure out a great plot hook for your next chapter, this could be a great place to get a few other points of view.

This is, obviously, for works-in progress -- not finished work for critique.

Post your writing here and interested members will workshop it. Similar to the Critiques section, if you're going to ask for members' input, you're naturally expected to participate in other members' requests for help, too.

Composition Hot Seat: Pomophobia

Same rules as the other Hot Seat Critiques. I'll start the discussion and open it up to the membership at large.

Pomophobia

Webcomics Weekly, Vol. 2, Episode 1

The gang gets dragged out of retirement to discuss Tim Buckley and his ending of CAD.

Listen to the podcast, and the come back to discuss.

Bonus Archive Dive

I almost forgot this idea from last year that I posted last year so I wouldn't forget this year. (Does that make sense?) It was originally posted here.

My brain just stormed, and I figured there'd be no better place to park this idea than right here so we can file it away for next year.

How cool would it be to do an Advent Calendar for your comic?

For those of you who aren't familiar with the concept, an Advent Calendar is a special calendar used to count down the days until Christmas. The typical ones feature 25 numbered windows scattered across a holiday scene. You open Window #1 on Dec. 1, #2 on Dec. 2, and so on... all the way to Dec. 25. Some of the windows open to reveal a message, others offer a small chocolate. Or, if you've got the kind my in-laws gave my two boys, each window offers a small Star Wars Lego ship or figure.

Read the entire post and comment there.

Friday Archive Dive: Taking the Holidays Off?

Today's Archive Dive is a guest post by my "How To Make Webcomics" co-author Dave Kellett, in which he discusses his decision to take time off from his comics for the holidays. It originally ran last year on Dec, 26.

It's been one of the immutable expectations of webcomics: Never break your schedule. Most of us, as webcartoonists, strive to foster a habit of daily Web-site visits in our readers. And "going dark" -- and/or missing updates -- threaten to break those habits. 

But, it may be time to re-think this one -- especially when it comes to the holidays.

Traditionally, Web traffic nose-dives between Christmas and New Years. People are on vacation or they're spending time with their families. They're travelling or they're hosting out-of-towners. They're off-routine. And, in many cases, they're offline.

You could make a good argument that anything you post during that week is going to get buried in you archive anyway.

After all, RSS is a commonly adopted browser feature for most users. Most of our readers will be alerted to the fact that you're back to you're regular schedule after your holiday break is over. Moreover, with social media like Twitter and Facebook, there are more ways than ever to get the word out that (a) you'll be taking a little break for the holidays and then (b) announce that you're back to your regular schedule.

As a matter of fact, "How To Make Webcomics" co-author Dave Kellett is planning to take ten days off between Christmas and New Years. When I wrote him to ask for details about that decision for this post, he offered to write his reasoning for the site. I gladly accepted.

Read the entire post and comment there.