I just took it page-by-page and issue-by-issue. I never really planned out any arcs until later when all the X-writers had to coordinate on big through-stories. Even then, I had no idea how any given issue was going to end. I really don’t know any other way to write the stories. The editors let me get away with it back then because when I started out on the books nobody cared about them. Then, when they really got popular, it was too late to fire me.Judging by its effectiveness, could this actually be a viable method of writing a story? I've decided to find out for myself. For the first time in my life, I can truly call myself a writer because I'm writing a paragraph every weekday from now until forever for a Web serial called Bold Traveler.
If that sounds like a soap opera title, it's supposed to. I decided late last week to just go for it, inspired by Hama's style and multitude of characters in G.I. Joe. I'm also very inspired by the dramatic situations, dialogue, and host of characters in Mad Men and by dramatic newspaper comic strips (drama strips, really) like Mary Worth. I'm writing it piece-by-piece in bed at night, making it up as I go along, and publishing each micro-episode at noon, an appropriate time for a textual soap opera.
To make it as interesting for men as it hopefully will be for women, I've based the story on a travel magazine that specializes in adventure traveling and dangerous places around the world. There are so many possibilities here. And I've already created fourteen character profiles, with room for dozens more should the need arise someday.
Best of all, I have an instant audience on Facebook. The idea was to make the episodes short enough that readers could get through them as quickly as they can read a comic strip. I've published three episodes now, introducing four characters already, and though I've received no feedback, I can safely assume a few of my 426 Facebook friends have read at least one of them. And this is the kind of thing I can keep up whether I get any feedback or not.
And if I ever do have time to get back to work on my novel, it may happen someday. I still like the premise and the ideas and characters I've come up with so far.
