Interlude: in which a favoured interest comes to an end, and the writer has a brief think

On September 11th one of my favourite things on the Internet, the webcomic Scarygoround, will come to an end. *EDIT* Obviously the delay in publishing this post means that it is ALREADY over. Head to the site to read the hundreds of comments from wellwishers and fans remarking on its end.

I know my ol’ pal Nash is a Scarygoround fan, which ought to tell you everything you need about its quality. Scarygoround describes the very funny, slightly macabre and proudly odd exploits of possibly insane English rose Shelly Winters, the lives and loves of her friends, and the adolescent adventures occurring at the local secondary school Tackleford Grammar. It has been on the links tab on this blog since I started doing it. It’s just to the right, just over there. Go on, off you go, I shall wait.

I’m not as upset as I might be because John Allison, the man responsible for Scarygoround (and its spiritual prequel Bobbins) will be starting a new project on the very same website. I am eager to see what the new direction entails. I have a lot of faith in Mr. Allison, as he has been making me happy (in a quiet sort of way) for a few years now.

Mr. Allison’s reasons for finishing the comic are ones I can broadly support. He believes, as do I, that nothing can be extended forever without becoming diluted- that returning time and again to the same characters, the same formulas, is bound to run them dry, and taint the memory of what made them special in the first place.

He also has issues of readership to worry about. Scarygoround is how Mr. Allison makes his living; selling prints, commissioned artwork and merchandise related to the comic. It is therefore in more than just his creative interest that people read his work. Only a small fraction of those who view the comic actually buy the stuff that is on offer, and so if Mr. Allison is to stay in caviar Toblerone’s and keep up the payments on his rocket car, he needs to keep the number of readers as high as he possibly can.

Web comics rarely generate a sustained amount of publicity. This is not to say that people who enjoy them lose interest, but simply that people tend to get on at the ground floor or not at all. For a long running comic like Scarygoround it can be difficult to convince new readers to start without alienating the old. In print comics (and here I refer to the funnybooks, not the 'every day' comics you find in newspapers) a lull in the narrative that allows new readers to get on board without a lot of prior knowledge is called a ‘jumping on point.’ Because most long running comic books change writers and artists all the time their readers are quite used to peaks and troughs in the story. They are also used to continuity flying all over the place.

Web comics, on the other hand, have less room to work with. It is hard for artists to keep writing in start points without getting on the nerves of established readers, especially when the narrative only moves forward in daily increments.

So John Allison is hoping that the fans from Scarygoround will stick with him through the change, and that the new project will provide an opportunity for some new people to ride the bus.

Reading his thoughts on the necessity of attracting new readership, I had a short think about my own. I rest under no illusions; I know full well that Verbal Slapstick attracts only a few readers, mostly saintly and perspicacious friends who are generous in their support. I am grateful for their interest in what is essentially a vanity project. So far this endeavour has filled all my wants- it gives me a chance to write a bit, and think a bit, and provides a small audience for some of my other writing. A couple of people have read the last short story I wrote, which increases my general circulation by, I think, 200%.

Do I want more people to read this? Of course I do. It’s lovely to think people like what I write (and by extension, me) enough to swing past this part of the interwebs with any regularity. But I’m not in a situation like John Allison, in which I rely on my readers to provide part of my income. There is no need for me to reach any more readers, save to massage my own ego.

On the other hand, it would be nice to have more people commenting on the blog, especially anyone with ideas on what to talk about next. Also, the more people look at Verbal Slapstick, the more free criticism I get for my other scribblings. So perhaps I might start plugging this blog a little more. Would anybody mind? And if not, could they suggest ways in which I might go about it?

Sorry for this sudden bout of introspection. If you feel like some whimsy instead, I strongly suggest you give Scarygoround a try. The fact that it’s reached its end should not put you off. In fact, it strikes me as the perfect time to begin.

“A purpose, an intention, a design, strikes everywhere the careless, the most stupid thinker”

This is not my first blog. It is, however, the first without a really concrete purpose. The last one was a travelogue, in which I detailed my adventures on the counterweight continent, and then up into Malaysia where I was working as a scuba diver. It was largely to keep my friends and family informed of my movements, and to let them know that I was still alive and that the weather was nicer where I was than where they were. I had a lot of fun writing it.

This blog's purpose is more fluid; I have a few ideas about what I want from it but they are likely to change over time. My inspiration in starting it came from an old friend, Tom Nash. He is an exceptionally talented individual whose acquaintance I am proud to have made, and you can find some of his scribblings here. He is also one half of the dynamic creative super force at 'What Fresh Hell Is This?,' a webcomic that is merciless in its hilarity (and decidedly unsafe for work, whatever that means).

In his blog, Tom mentions the book he is in the process of finishing. A book, with pages and words and themes and the whole literary shebang. This is, of course, a sound achievement on its tod, but what warms my heart and stirs my loins is that if I know Tom Nash, it'll be damn good. It'll be witty, and considered, and in all respects better than the dire scrawlings which fill the bestseller lists, penned by the cynical to divert the lazy.

Now, Tom's writing style is something I'd dearly like to emulate, but am probably unable. (He's funnier than I am, see.) Not only that, but he has a clear grasp of a writer's tools- grammar, formatting and stylistic understanding of structure. I envy him so much I'd like to light him on fire, but there are lessons to be learned from this. I want to write a book, and I plan to start at the end of this coming summer. With Tom Nash as a stimulus, I shall be using this blog simply to write, in the hopes of perfecting my own writing style. The posts will be about what I tupping well choose, and will almost certainly be marred by my attempts at humour.

This blog is also a statement of intent. I want to write a book, and am worried that I won't be able to. I may lack talent, or determination, or I may let my own anxiety sabotage my creative impulses. It has happened to me before, and will in all likelihood do so again. But the thing is, I really want to write this book. And so this blog is, in part, a challenge to myself. If nothing else, what I have written here may embarrass me past future creative hurdles (and if not, I shall dismantle it quietly, in the dead of night). I won't start telling people about it until it is a little more established, and will be keeping it relatively schtum until I start work on the book.

That's everything for now, I think. If you have travelled into the archives to read this, and there are more words above these ones, then hurrah for me!