#like I'm the sole writer and editor of the script and no one else has access to it so yknow

[official-doranverse]

Just wanna make an announcement tbh, I haven't abandoned doranverse but its story's in dire need of an overhaul. Lots of plot points and story details have been redone or scrapped and it's got to a point where I don't think I can continue it how it is. Like literally one of the previously planned side characters has been shifted into the main character role since they stole the thunder of skizii and I'm in the process of rewriting the whole thing and that's sorta why I just abruptly stopped posting. I really didn't wanna redraw the comic but it's inconsistent with it's structure and to start a story from the pov of several now side characters would make it messy to continue with it as it is and change directions like this, so I think I'm gonna have to shift to a clean slate and just redo it all. I should've expected this since it's my first time trying to actually for real do a comic and it's really hard man. I don't know when I'll get back to drawing it but I am damn well determined to make something of this silly story in my head so I'm focusing on more detail on the new script first.

[qqueenofhades]

Hiii! I hope this is not too random but you always have such good advices and it's always interesting to hear your opinion about different things.

So, I have this idea for a serialized web-novel that I really want to stick with, write it and actually publish it. But I'm afraid that I'm not good at writing and I'm not sure how to improve. As an academic/teacher who writes fiction, is there anything in particular you would recommend? Like the list of books?

Also, everyone says you can be good at only one thing so you should invest your time in mastering that one thing, otherwise you are going to always be mediocre, Jack of all trades. I have BA in Philosophy, work as a video editor and dream of writing that particular story. Am I too over the place? I thought that I could connect writing to philosophy as there are a few philosophers who write fiction, and connect it to video editing bearing in mind that video editing is also a form of storytelling and can be connected to scripting, in a way.

Ideally, I'd want my story to be in a comics formats, but then I'd also have to learn drawing, which I would absolutely love to do, but then will I be turning into mr. Jack even more? Lol.

First off, my chillun, I am here to safely inform you that the idea of "jack of all trades, master of none," thus implying that it's stupid to do a lot of things when you could devote your time to Doing This One Thing Only, is a pile of crap. What is life even FOR, if not to try new things, experiment, see what you like, make mistakes, and learn how to do it better? Especially when it comes to art??? It is the primal and timeless impulse of human beings in all ages of the world to make art, the end. Someone who has written a "bad" story or drawn a "bad" picture is still 100x more of an artist than some yokel who feeds stolen art into an AI algorithm and presses a button. They have made something original and creative and maybe it's not as good as those who have been doing it more or for longer, but WHO CARES? You can try again! You can laugh it off or pretend it never existed or whatever, but honestly, you should NOT be ashamed.

This whole "do only one thing and don't waste your time with unproductive side hobbies" idea is also an extremely capitalist conceit: you should spend your time being Financially Productive At Your One Skill, and not doing things that bring you joy solely because they bring you joy (even if not money). It presupposes that the only purpose of life is to be generating Profit at all times, which you can't do if you're not "good," etc etc nonsense. (Clearly, I have strong feelings about this.) So if you want to learn how to write and draw in order to make a web comic, you should do that! It doesn't matter if this is totally unrelated to anything you've done before. You don't need to justify it to anyone. You can just go "you know what, I want to do this" and do it!

That said, if you want to produce it to a publishable level in a reasonable timeframe, in this case it might be good to partner up with a person and/or persons who have more experience than you. You can be the storyboarder/show-runner/ultimate mastermind, but you can also reach out to writers and artists who have already practiced to the level needed, so you don't have to spend years becoming good enough (whatever your definition of that might be) to produce a quality product. You have experience with video editing and production; great! You can find someone else whose skills enhance and collaborate with yours, and who can do something that maybe you can't. But if you practice in the meantime, you'll understand more about how it works, what you want to do, and how to translate that into narrative/art form.

As ever, my only advice for people who want to learn how to write better is a) write, and b) read. Find writers whose style you enjoy, whose particular technical skills you want to emulate (is it character development? World-building? Plot twists? Smooth prose? All of the above?) and see how they do it. Sure, there are plenty of writing books out there who purport to tell you How To Do It The Right Way, but honestly, I don't think I've ever read them. I started writing around the age of 7 and worked at it ever since (along with a lot of reading, so yes). Some people might benefit from a more structured/guided approach, so if you think that sounds like something you want to see, even if it's just someone putting words down on a page about the basic technical craft of writing, then I do encourage you to check it out. But if at any time you go "eh, this doesn't feel like my style" or "I don't want to do it that way" or "this isn't quite what I'm looking for," you can shut that book and try something else. This, too, is entirely fine.

I realize that for many of us, writing is the Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known, and it's hard to share it if you feel like it's less than perfect, but at some point, you will also need to start doing that. The nice thing about fandom is that we are all amateurs (i.e. not being paid for it, not necessarily "bad," since I have seen plenty of professionally published books that make me go YIKES), and there's generally a forgiving and supportive atmosphere. If you want to write about two blorbos kissing or not kissing (as the case may be) or whatever else, chances are there is someone out there who wants to read that story, and they will enthusiastically respond to you about it. Strangers who offer unsolicited criticism on fanfic are obviously dicks, but there are also beta readers, people who read your writing to support you and also suggest what can be made better or more polished or otherwise better. So if you think that's a feedback structure you might benefit from, put your toes out and see what kind of response you get.

Anyway, this is all to say: write, draw, make art, do it badly, do it again, you'll get better, and don't feel like you have to excuse it or explain why. In the case of this particular project, if you have a strong artistic vision but not the technical skills to execute it to the level you want, consider reaching out to people who DO have those skills and might be interested in collaborating with you. Write a lot. Read a lot. Find what works for you. And have fun.

[thisbluespirit]

#Regular readers of the waffling I do in the tags of my old TV posts (so basically that means just you @thisbluespirit) can only imagine#The creeping unease that came over me when Louis Marks' name appeared over the opening scene. Marks was to put it mildly an uneven#Writer whose works can be frustratingly patchy or downright disappointing. He did some good stuff too and I'm happy to say he was having a#Good day when he wrote this penultimate episode of the nesbitt era SB. Having played an increasingly background role in the last few#Mackay's supt Inman takes centre stage for a slightly bitter and rather mournful episode about attempted defections from the Russian ballet#Like so much of this earlier era this too has its origins in the real world: Rudolf Nureyev had famously defected from the soviet Union#Whilst touring Paris in 1961 and the years after this episode aired would see several more high profile defections from Russian artists#Pagett is excellent as always and even once she is exposed as more manipulative and scheming than first thought she still has a beautiful#Scene at the end which keeps her sympathetic. Mackay is at his best in those closing scenes too. Lovely Rachel Herbert rocks up as a kgb#Minder with a thick Russian accent and Brian wilde is as perplexed and stuttery as ever. The ending is hardly a surprise but it's still#Effective and surprisingly moving. A very human episode and one of the highlights of Marks' writing career

Pre-Doomwatch I’d never have noted Louis Marks, either, but those eps are pretty terrible!  (I think so much often depends on the script editor and whatever Gerry Davis’s other weakness I really don’t think he was much use at those kind of ‘saves’.)

Otherwise, I don’t remember this one, either, so it can’t have been awful!

(I’m sorry, apparently S2 consisted solely of Gan in prison, ties, important chicken cooking, Michael Chapman, and the ending plus Simon Lack and nothing else apparently made much impact.  Altho’ I do faintly remember there being a beauty contest one (no, no, 70s TV, that is never a good plan!).)

Special Branch: Reported Missing (2.12, Thames, 1970)

"Windsor; Oxford; shopping in the King's Road, Chelsea!"

"Their government wants them to be seen around, plenty of press coverage."

"But you told me I was going to hand them over to Chief Inspector Edgeworth!"

"That's right, but he's been called down to Porton."

"Leaving me to be wet nurse to these load of Russians!"

"Jordan, you know you'll do it very well. Now, ballet dancers are part of a very important cultural exchange and they call for VIP security treatment."

"You know, you sound like a government white paper."

"I know, I know, it's Moxon's influence. Now off you go."