July 07, 2004

Wednesday July 7, 2004 • Howard Tayler

I had a scripting breakthrough over the long weekend, and while I failed to get a full two weeks of strips drawn during that time, I did manage to get a leg up on the buffer again, and I set myself up nicely for a productive couple of weeks.

Slow burn, that's the ticket. I only need to draw two strips a day every day this month to have the buffer back above 40 where it really needs to be. As of this writing I've cranked my two for today, the buffer stands at 17, and I am considering cranking out a third since it's all pencilled and sitting right next to me as I type.

(For daily buffer updates, check this thread.)

I like where this story is going. I know it's cruel of me to say things like that without saying WHY, because you guys have to read this stuff one day at a time, while I get to create it in big chunks. Still, I like where it's going. There's action, there's comedy, there's suspense, there's drama... there's even subtle moral relevance in there somewhere, although it's the kind of moralization that often leaves readers to wonder where Howard Actually Stands On Things.

Keep wondering. Or read the Live Journal I keep, because from time to time I actually say what I MEAN, rather than just writing things to be funny. Not that I'll ever go out of my way to point out the difference, mind you.

Speaking of saying what I mean, I got plenty of email from irate Canadians insisting that I learn from them that Canada does, in fact, have deciduous foliage, summer picnics, and a stronger currency than, say, Uruguay. They may or may not be amused to learn that I already knew that. Rather than point out that the earthling being quoted by the narrator was the ignorant one, or ask that they go and Google Norwest to find an actual TRIBUTE to Canada, I went ahead and wrote an ice-age into their future.

I hope nobody minds. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was funnier that way, eh?