AARRRG! My characters are killing me, they wont shut up. What I intended to be a SHORT prologue, to my upcoming web comic series, just keeps getting bigger and bigger. This web series was only intended to be a practice run, of writing and illustrating a comic book/graphic novel, while I start a more complex graphic novel.
When I first put pen to paper on the prologue, all I wanted to do was establish the main characters and set up the premise for the series. Pretty much all I wanted was the who, the what, the when, the where and the why, but what I have so far, is so much more.
I intended to keep everything short and sweet, you know, get it over and done with and get to the main story. But in trying to create realistic dialogue and actions for the characters, I feel the whole thing is just getting out of control. The characters seem to have taken over and are operating on their own. When I was writing, the conversations just flowed and it wasn't until I started to pencil out the individual panels when I realized that what I had written was probably too long. The dialog didn't have anything to do with the plot but it was a good way to define the individual characters and their personalities. I have already edited out a biggish chunk of dialogue that wasn't necessary to the plot (it was just a bit of humor). Even though part of me wants too cut back on what I have already, part of me wants to keep adding to what I've got, even though I know I can add some of it in the main story.
So do I edit out some of the material, to get to the action and main story quicker?
Do I sacrifice pacing for character development?
Am I too eager to get into the main story?
Am I putting too much thought into, what is essentially is a training exercise?
Am I not putting in enough thought?
Have I lost control of my own characters?
Where did my beer go?
Is there life on Maaaarrs? (sorry I just listened to that song now I cant get it out of my head)
