Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
years ago, on the old scryptic forums i asked some advice about two comic projects i was working on.
my first project was called crimson rangers, and was about vampires protecting humans from supernatural threats.
my second project was called high moon, and was about gunslingers hunting werewolves.
at the time i was working on these projects, a company called high moon studios came out with a game called darkwatch, which was also about a vampire in the old west fighting supernatural threats.
after some advice from fellow forum members i was convince that our projects were not that similiar after all. but since that time i have been slow in getting my projects off the ground.
recently i have discover that someone is not only using the same concept as my second project but also the same name. since they have put their project out should i change the name of my project and keep it or should i toss and work on something else.
any advice would be much appreciated.
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Elton Pruitt
Posts: 78
Karma: 4
Re:toss it or keep it
Posted: 2008/02/01 05:56
Charone,
First, welcome back to Scryptic Studios! I hope we'll be seeing you around here more in the future.
As to High Moon, I think you'd probably be best served by filing that concept away and moving forward with something completely new. There are two reasons for this.
1. If it's that similar to the High Moon now on Zuda, you're going to have an uphill battle to differentiate your comic and make it stand out as not derivative of that.
2. Perhaps more importantly, if it's a project you've been trying to develop for a few years and nothing's really happened to move it forward, that could be a sign that maybe it's not the right project. Of course, there could be a thousand other reasons, too -- I have no way of knowing.
But it may be that you could find some creative liberation in just saying to yourself, okay, Charone, for whatever cosmic reasons, these two concepts are just not working out for me, so let's just set them aside over here and start fresh.
The other thought I have for you is, perhaps starting on a smaller scale would be good. Maybe try to just write a good short story (say, somewhere between 2 and 8 pages) and find an artist to illustrate it and submit it to one of the various anthologies listed on Caleb Monroe's comic creator services page.
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Charone Cole
Posts: 3
Karma: 0
Re:toss it or keep it
Posted: 2008/02/01 10:18
You're probably right, i should let this project go. the only reason i held on to it so long was because my little brother like the story.
i always have problems writing short stories. once i get an idea into my head it always seems to snowball into larger story.
thanks for the advice.
charone
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Caleb Monroe
Posts: 147
Karma: 4
Re:toss it or keep it
Posted: 2008/02/01 10:52
I would keep your concept, but Elton's suggestion to set it aside for a while and move onto something new rings true. A few years down the road, you can return to it with fresh eyes.
To be honest, an identical one-sentence story idea doesn't mean all that much...it's the execution of said concept that makes it a good read, and no two creative teams will execute an idea the same way. Just look how many superhero books sound the same on paper, or zombie books, etc. Just make sure your werewolf western is original when/if you get back to it. (I would, however, change the title.)
To quote Orson Scott Card, write today's best story today and tomorrow's best story tomorrow. In other words, don't hang onto something forever, constantly trying to perfect it. Write it, get it out there and start the next one. If you write and complete four stories in a year, you'll grow more as a writer han fi you spend that entire year trying to perfect that first one.
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David Gallaher
Posts: 1
Karma: 0
Re:toss it or keep it
Posted: 2008/02/25 04:44
>> my second project was called high moon, and was about gunslingers hunting werewolves. at the time i was working on these projects, a company called high moon studios came out with a game called darkwatch, which was also about a vampire in the old west fighting supernatural threats. >>
Just as a quick note to this, HIGH MOON STUDIOS approached me after our series went live on Zuda, what helped us keep the name was that our series was fully written back when HMS was still known as Sammy Studios ... over five years ago. (Of course, I had to rewrite it for Zuda, but still ...the proof of concept was on our side).
Werewolf westerns are nothing new. Wikipedia has a list of titles under the heading 'Weird West.' My advice is to finish your story, make it a story that only YOU can tell, and hold on to it for about 18 months while the trend passes and then take a fresh look at it and send it out.
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