Technology bits and pieces

If you will recall, the last real update about the comic book was that I had finally found a place to upload a pdf, but that I’d had a really hard time doing so, and had signed up with about five other services before getting there, frying my brain in the process.

The site I used was freepdfhosting.com, which is fine, but is is only good for 30 days, so that link is expired. I knew I would get back to the other sites, and I have some updates on that. Here’s a breakdown:

Dropbox: This one may be the most promising for sharing files, specifically pdfs. It may also be great for remote backup purposes. I’ve got to say that it also seems the least interesting to work with. However, it comes fairly well recommended, and it may serve two distinct needs, so I will have to check it out.

Tumblr: I have no idea how to use this effectively. It seems like a good way to combine tweeting and blogging and to do a lot more with animated gifs and things, but visually it kind of reminds me of my initial bad reaction to MySpace. I do occasionally find things I like there, but it is more likely to be because I linked to it from somewhere else, rather than my finding it directly through Tumblr. My next step here has been checking my Tumblr feed every day for a week, and then trying to customize my site, so it at least links to my blogs or tweets or something. So far I am a horrible failure with it. Maybe this one is more for the kids.

Ficwad: This is a site for uploading fan fiction. It seemed like a good place to upload the comic book. I created an account and went through the uploading process twice and nothing happened. Giving it some time and going back, I realized this was because I was trying to upload a pdf file, and it only takes text and html files. Silly me!

The great news is that Final Draft can be saved as text and html, as well as a pdf. So I went though the upload process again, and got a confirmation message, and I actually had a story link that you could click on, but then there was nothing there when you clicked on it. So, I tried it again, ending up with three empty links.

Trying again, this time I decided to split it into chapters. There was another site where that seems to be pretty common, and I was thinking of going back there, and you can actually click on the link for Summertime, and see the chapter. The layout isn’t great, but it’s something:

http://www.ficwad.com/story/207074

Actually, there were at least two other fan sites that I was looking at. Well, I think it was three, but I can’t remember how many I signed up for. The one focused more on slash, which mine is clearly not, and I probably won’t get back to that. I guess when the site admin’s name starts with “Assmaster” it may be a subtle hint.

I feel embarrassed with all of the fan fiction sites, but still, if I want more people to read it, a fan fiction site makes sense. Right now I think I will stick with Ficwad, because I have actually made some progress, and then perhaps try with other sites later. There is only so much time in a day, and I have a major illustrating project that I want done by the 15^th, plus I would like to finish the current screenplay no later than Wednesday, and I still have the job that actually earns some money.

Now, let’s talk about the chapters on Ficwad, and the original post on freepdfhosting. Some friends had started reading it, but no one has finished it, even though some will eventually, because it is too long. That’s something that makes the chapters look more practical.

I had already broken it down into 25-page sections for the drawing part anyway. Now I am going to release it as a continuing story, with a cliff-hanger kind of thing going on. I should totally make it so that part two is released on December 21^st, because it happens on the 21^st, and that will be eerie. Well, actually the second part ends on the December 21^st, 2012 but is mainly taking place in 2019. Part 3 picks up right where the second part left off, then deals with the initial aftermath for Jane, then starts Mikey’s flashback for the early post-flares period in Greenvale. Maybe that should go out on the 21^st.

The good news from the feedback that I do have is that people were not bothered by reading in the screenplay format. I was worried about that. At least two people found the transition from the prologue to the 2019 present abrupt. It had not occurred to me at all when I was writing it, but I think that works out. I mean, every character in the story has been through at least one abrupt life change. So going from that sweet innocence with just a tiny hint of foreshadowing of the first seven pages, to that seemingly unrelated harsh and dangerous landscape that appears on page 8, to the reveal of the connection between both on page 10, may be the best way of building sympathy between the characters and the reader. It raises questions, but those questions start getting answered at a pretty good pace.

I think I mentioned earlier that I was posting some Facebook status updates and tweets related to the new screenplay, so let’s talk about that. Some of it is probably just my boundless need for attention and validation, but there were a few other things that went into it.

One was that several people were voicing exhaustion with all of the political posts. I was told by many of these people that they didn’t mean me, and I can kind of guess about the ugliness that some people would have been seeing, and how incessant it could be. Anyway, I realized that I needed to make a point of posting other things. Instead of just posting interesting news articles when I found them, look for cute videos, and post updates about what I am doing.

I had been really good about that when I first got onto Facebook. Maybe when I got to where I was writing so much, and expressing so much through the blog I started neglecting that. However, people may often be better able to read a quick sentence than a blog post. Anyway, it reminded me to remember to share, and there’s not always really a lot going on in my life, but sometimes when I am writing I get a funny line, or an interesting dilemma.

Also, I am moving more towards being seriously career-minded. Okay, I am still not actively looking for an agent, but those things are getting closer, and so it makes sense to kind of keep it out there more. Hey, I write. I have a creative mind. I am familiar with screenwriting. It’s like pre-networking. I am not actively networking yet, but I am working more on projecting that image.

That means that one of the other things I am going to explore soon is completely reworking my LinkedIn profile so that it reflects the kind of work that I want to do, not what I do. I’m not looking for another tech or insurance job—I have that covered.

I do realize that a lot of my issues with uploading pdfs would be quickly resolved by just building my own web site, but I am not really motivated to do that right now. I would be rusty. It’s been a while since I have messed with that stuff, and a lot of my choices right now are based on effective use of time. I don’t want to become a web designer. I don’t really want to promote myself that much as a person, but that might be a key component of what I do want to do, which is being a working writer. So, those are the factors that I need to balance.