Post by Rygar on Jun 14, 2011 23:20:41 GMT -5
I've got a small update to the site coming this weekend. After not thinking about the site much for a while, working on it brought back a bunch of memories, and I thought I'd share some of them in case anyone was interested.
I first came across the site in the middle of Season Two, when I was in high school. I was blown away; here was a site dedicated to a cartoon I loved as a kid but no one seemed to remember -- and it was continuing the storyline, to boot! Looking back at the scripts now, they're very simple compared to what came later, but I still loved them, and I really wanted to be a part of the creative process. Heck, I'll admit it now -- I wanted to run the thing. I sent in a site redesign after DJ Clawson posted a note asking for one, but I never heard back. I also sent in a few script ideas. If I recall correctly, DJ said she liked them and asked me to write scripts based on them, and I can't for the life of me remember why I turned her down.
Watching Season Three kick off soon after I started college was exciting, and a few scripts in, I thought of another way I could contribute -- as copy editor. DJ was an amazing writer, but she couldn't spell "negotiation" to save her life. I was tentatively accepted, and after I proved myself, I joined the team. It was exhilarating suddenly being able to chat with DJ, Fero, Clau, and DN, and I made sure to make every script perfect, even if I received it an hour before airtime. I couldn't help myself, so I also wrote up a few scripts, and they all got accepted to run in the season, which was great. Overall, S3 had some hiccups, but it's really when the Web Series hit its stride, and I think it's a close contender for the best season. About the only thing we wanted to do but didn't was kill Bruiser.
In between S3 and S4, DJ Clawson retired as head senior writer, in order to focus on other projects. (She was getting her MFA and trying to get published). After none of the writers wanted to take the lead, I volunteered to take the reins. Be careful what you wish for, right? S4 was a huge undertaking. As far as I could tell, S3 began with a rough sketch of how the season would play out. In contrast, I had grandiose, intricate plans for S4 -- even before we started, I figured out how long and in what fashion storylines and subplots would run. I juggled the Toad Wars, the Aldebaran storyline, and the personal character stories as best I could. All the way through, I was killing myself in medical school. It was a fun but exhausting experience. The mid-season hiatus was an unfortunate necessity (though it wasn't supposed to last a whole year), but the six-month gap between scripts right toward the end really dampened things for me. Despite that, I put everything I had into the three-part finale, tying everything I could together. It may have been my finest hour. S4 is definitely the best season I spearheaded, and it may be the best of the Web Series, in my opinion.
It took way too long to get S5 off the ground. DJ was basically gone, Fero had been hired to write comic books, Clau was done with writing, DN wasn't responding to e-mails, and I had become the only thing busier than a medical student -- a medical resident. Finally, though, I couldn't take it anymore. We had ended S4 on a bit of a cliffhanger, and I had stories to tell. I wanted to give the Web Series a proper sendoff, even though I wish I could have kept it going forever. I asked Kooshmeister to join the team, and Clau vouched for WatsonSword to take over the Aldebaran plotline. I also asked Anthony Bannon (who wrote "Drastic Measures" and came up with Rodecker) to join, but he declined. S5 was down to the wire a lot of the time; I often finished scripts right before they were going to run. I barely made it to the mid-season hiatus. We also had some behind-the-scenes disagreements about how the season should unfold. In addition, I was unhappy with a lot of my work -- some things, especially the "Bucky imposter" story, fell flat, in my opinion. Still, we got through everything, clinging on to the end. I was buoyed by getting scripts out of DJ and Fero, even if they didn't fit into the season very well. After how bumpy S4 was, I was extremely proud that S5 almost had no late scripts. The two-part series finale was basically me writing only the things that had to happen. I tried to make it as epic and grandiose as the S4 finale, but I couldn't come up with a way to top it, and I don't think I did. I would redo parts of it if I could, but I don't know what exactly I would do to improve them.
The biggest drag on S5, however, was having lost all our readers. Again, this was our fault; it took way too long between S4 and S5, so I can't blame so many people for losing interest. But we went from getting at least 5-10 people offering critiques of each script in S4 to me begging to hear from three people about each S5 script. I was finishing this project for myself, not for the readers, but the readers were a part of it, and it was draining to think I was doing all this work and so few people cared.
I would love to continue writing Bucky O'Hare adventures, but there's just no time. I'm nearly 30, about to get married, and still slogging through medical residency. DJ has published several books; Clau, Fero, and DN are doing their own thing; and Koosh and WS pop in from time to time, but nothing is really happening. I will keep running this site as long as I can, though; I can promise that.
I never felt like I quite had a handle on Bucky and Jenny's characters. The Aldebaran plotlines, especially, I believed were not something I should be touching. Mimi was always my favorite character to write, no question. She had a sketchy but undefined past, a mean tongue, a "the ends justify the means" mentality, and a history of making poor decisions -- in short, she was a perfect character. Fritz was also fun. I loved writing around the mysteries that involved him (I know that most people didn't care for DJ's stories that wrote about, rather than around, those mysteries). In line with this, S4's "Tactics" is my favorite script that I wrote. I could have those two sitting on a park bench, doing nothing but talking for an entire script, and I'd love it. In S5, "Loyalty," where I fleshed out the Air Marshal's story, was a favorite, and I enjoyed Mimi's solo adventure in "Old Habits." I also liked how S3's "Alternatives" turned out, despite it being really, really talky.
If any of the other senior writers have stories they'd like to share, or readers want to talk about their experiences with the Web Series, I'd love to hear them.
-Rygar
I first came across the site in the middle of Season Two, when I was in high school. I was blown away; here was a site dedicated to a cartoon I loved as a kid but no one seemed to remember -- and it was continuing the storyline, to boot! Looking back at the scripts now, they're very simple compared to what came later, but I still loved them, and I really wanted to be a part of the creative process. Heck, I'll admit it now -- I wanted to run the thing. I sent in a site redesign after DJ Clawson posted a note asking for one, but I never heard back. I also sent in a few script ideas. If I recall correctly, DJ said she liked them and asked me to write scripts based on them, and I can't for the life of me remember why I turned her down.
Watching Season Three kick off soon after I started college was exciting, and a few scripts in, I thought of another way I could contribute -- as copy editor. DJ was an amazing writer, but she couldn't spell "negotiation" to save her life. I was tentatively accepted, and after I proved myself, I joined the team. It was exhilarating suddenly being able to chat with DJ, Fero, Clau, and DN, and I made sure to make every script perfect, even if I received it an hour before airtime. I couldn't help myself, so I also wrote up a few scripts, and they all got accepted to run in the season, which was great. Overall, S3 had some hiccups, but it's really when the Web Series hit its stride, and I think it's a close contender for the best season. About the only thing we wanted to do but didn't was kill Bruiser.
In between S3 and S4, DJ Clawson retired as head senior writer, in order to focus on other projects. (She was getting her MFA and trying to get published). After none of the writers wanted to take the lead, I volunteered to take the reins. Be careful what you wish for, right? S4 was a huge undertaking. As far as I could tell, S3 began with a rough sketch of how the season would play out. In contrast, I had grandiose, intricate plans for S4 -- even before we started, I figured out how long and in what fashion storylines and subplots would run. I juggled the Toad Wars, the Aldebaran storyline, and the personal character stories as best I could. All the way through, I was killing myself in medical school. It was a fun but exhausting experience. The mid-season hiatus was an unfortunate necessity (though it wasn't supposed to last a whole year), but the six-month gap between scripts right toward the end really dampened things for me. Despite that, I put everything I had into the three-part finale, tying everything I could together. It may have been my finest hour. S4 is definitely the best season I spearheaded, and it may be the best of the Web Series, in my opinion.
It took way too long to get S5 off the ground. DJ was basically gone, Fero had been hired to write comic books, Clau was done with writing, DN wasn't responding to e-mails, and I had become the only thing busier than a medical student -- a medical resident. Finally, though, I couldn't take it anymore. We had ended S4 on a bit of a cliffhanger, and I had stories to tell. I wanted to give the Web Series a proper sendoff, even though I wish I could have kept it going forever. I asked Kooshmeister to join the team, and Clau vouched for WatsonSword to take over the Aldebaran plotline. I also asked Anthony Bannon (who wrote "Drastic Measures" and came up with Rodecker) to join, but he declined. S5 was down to the wire a lot of the time; I often finished scripts right before they were going to run. I barely made it to the mid-season hiatus. We also had some behind-the-scenes disagreements about how the season should unfold. In addition, I was unhappy with a lot of my work -- some things, especially the "Bucky imposter" story, fell flat, in my opinion. Still, we got through everything, clinging on to the end. I was buoyed by getting scripts out of DJ and Fero, even if they didn't fit into the season very well. After how bumpy S4 was, I was extremely proud that S5 almost had no late scripts. The two-part series finale was basically me writing only the things that had to happen. I tried to make it as epic and grandiose as the S4 finale, but I couldn't come up with a way to top it, and I don't think I did. I would redo parts of it if I could, but I don't know what exactly I would do to improve them.
The biggest drag on S5, however, was having lost all our readers. Again, this was our fault; it took way too long between S4 and S5, so I can't blame so many people for losing interest. But we went from getting at least 5-10 people offering critiques of each script in S4 to me begging to hear from three people about each S5 script. I was finishing this project for myself, not for the readers, but the readers were a part of it, and it was draining to think I was doing all this work and so few people cared.
I would love to continue writing Bucky O'Hare adventures, but there's just no time. I'm nearly 30, about to get married, and still slogging through medical residency. DJ has published several books; Clau, Fero, and DN are doing their own thing; and Koosh and WS pop in from time to time, but nothing is really happening. I will keep running this site as long as I can, though; I can promise that.
I never felt like I quite had a handle on Bucky and Jenny's characters. The Aldebaran plotlines, especially, I believed were not something I should be touching. Mimi was always my favorite character to write, no question. She had a sketchy but undefined past, a mean tongue, a "the ends justify the means" mentality, and a history of making poor decisions -- in short, she was a perfect character. Fritz was also fun. I loved writing around the mysteries that involved him (I know that most people didn't care for DJ's stories that wrote about, rather than around, those mysteries). In line with this, S4's "Tactics" is my favorite script that I wrote. I could have those two sitting on a park bench, doing nothing but talking for an entire script, and I'd love it. In S5, "Loyalty," where I fleshed out the Air Marshal's story, was a favorite, and I enjoyed Mimi's solo adventure in "Old Habits." I also liked how S3's "Alternatives" turned out, despite it being really, really talky.
If any of the other senior writers have stories they'd like to share, or readers want to talk about their experiences with the Web Series, I'd love to hear them.
-Rygar
