It's Been a While

Hey,

I know it's been a while since I've posted on this blog, but there's a good reason for that. I've been working on a new website and an ebook. If you want, you can check out my stuff here: www.insiderbizpros.com.

I've learned so much this year, including some useful methods to get my graphic novel off the ground. I've got a lot of plans for 2015. I'll be juggling multiple projects, but I'm hoping to have a timeline up for the graphic novel by February, 2015 (I'm just waiting to expand my budget to get working on more art).

If you're an artist, a writer, or anyone who is trying to run a business, consider taking a look at my free ebook. It's a collaboration of the essentials an entrepreneur needs to find success. It's a good read. I should know, I spend a few months putting it together. :P

Well, happy holidays and best wishes,

M.A. Baycroft

My Main Bad Guy and Other Monsters

Hey you guys! I just wanted to take sometime to post some ideas of what monsters I'm thinking about using. I want the main bad guy in Penn State Massacre to be kind of like a vampire but more demonic looking. I was thinking of doing something like this:

I know that I'll modify this. But this is a great point to start off at. 

Some lower level monsters that are going to end up terrorizing the streets around the university are going to look something like this: 

and this...

Let me know what you think. Thanks.

Greetings Y'all

I know I haven't posted on this blog in a while. I had some pretty crazy stuff happen, including my laptop crashing. That sucked because this year Windows 8 came out, and there were no new laptops in my price range. I HATE Norton and totally have a conspiracy theory about how they put viruses on people computers. Anyway, I had to settle for a Chromebook which is very limited, so doing my art work is harder.

Also, I've been having a bunch of ups and downs. Being poor sucks too. And I went to Texas to escape the North East winter this year, but that didn't work out. I didn't realize how cold Texas gets in the winter time. In fact, Greyhound delayed me for three days coming out of Texas due to ice on the roads. I ended up flying to instead, but that was during my shark week. (Shark week = code for menstrual). As you can imagine, I'm trying to repress those memories. But I'm back home now, and it's beautiful.

I really hope that I can get my stuff out of storage in PA. It would make working on this project so much easier. I got to get myself together. Fortunately, things are okay right now, and I just have to get the ball rolling again. Wish me a ton of luck.

--M.A. Baycroft

A Small Success

Hello all!  I just wanted to take some time to blog a little about my small success with freelance editing.  I worked pretty hard this week to meet my basic quota and did so in three days.  I know, I'm awesome.  :P  Now I've received an email inviting to me to be a part of a team of editors with a higher weekly goal. The incentive is a $60 bonus for the editor with the most edits (and $40 for second place and $30 for third).  Typically, editors have the chance to get a weekly $50 bonus if they complete a certain amount of edits.  This new bonus will be in addition to the regular weekly bonus.  So now I have the potential to get up to a $110 bonus if I get first place.

Now, I know this doesn't sound like much to you fancy CEOs who get six and seven figure bonuses, but I'm just a normal have-not.  Us poor girls gotta work for what we can get (that is until I make it big with my graphic novel, Penn State Massacre).  I'm motivated to do the work, but right now is a tough time of the month to put in extra hours.  It's shark week, if you know what I mean (and I know the women will).  But I think I'm going to use some home remedies, suck it up and try and kick ass as best as I can.  Wish me luck!

A Freelancer's Advice

So lately I've been doing well with being focused on my goals.  Before I was basically a train wreck.  Part of this was because I was living in a hectic environment, but the other part was because I had a hard time staying motivated.  I have sought advice on the subject, and I found one article that gives seven tips on meeting goals:

1. Find a good reason as to why you want to meet this particular goal
2. Break down your goal into daily mini goals
3. Do something daily for the first 30 days, as this is the amount of time that determines whether you are serious about your goal
4. Adapt and adjust your efforts; don't do something too easy or too hard
5. Get feedback and create a reward system (like gold stars for homework) to keep you motivated
6. Schedule down time when you are not working
7. Know that you will get board and persevere through the daily grind anyway

I think that I've done at least five of these at least half way.  So I'm doing a lot better than just a couple of weeks ago.

My reason for doing freelance editing and writing, even though I would rather spend that time working on my graphic novel, is that it is "financial stability while I pursue my art." I have this very quote posted above my work station so that I don't forget why I should keep working hard.

To keep track of my work hours, I use a free time tracking app on paymo.biz.  You should try if you find it hard to keep track of how many hours a day you actually work (and not surf the internet procrastinating).  I've also been able to break down my days by hourly goals with the use of Google Calendar.  Google Calendar sends me reminders via email, text and screen pop ups to remind me what I have planned for the day.  This has been working great so far.  I no longer spend hours surfing the internet wondering how the day went by so quickly.  In fact this is why I am blogging two days in a row rather than months in between.  It just so happens that blogger logged me out while I was typing this post and has asked me to verify my account via a text message code sent to my cell phone.  I guess blogger thinks it's strange too that I'm now blogging so often.

It's been great being more cognizant of how few hours there really are in a day.  If you look at the layout of Google Calendar, it is obvious that a day is not much time to accomplish really big goals, but days are ideal for small goals that add up.  Yesterday, I got out all of my Penn State Massacre stuff that I hadn't looked at for weeks and organized it.  I even wrote out the panels for chapter 6, which was really fun.  There are approximate seven parts roughly plotted out of my graphic novel with around four or five chapters in each.  I finished writing out the specifics of part one when I was living in Ocean City.  Now I've started part two.  I'm on my way to finishing a complete script!

I also have a tentative reward system for the work I do to support myself while I finish Penn State Massacre.  I give myself a happy face if a do enough edits to get by the a week.  I get a star if I make a couple hundred above a survival wage.  Finally, I give myself a smiley-faced sun--which means I'm awesome and radiantly fantastic--if I earn enough to survive, to have some fun and put away money for a rainy day.

I don't have a feedback system in place yet because I don't many people where I live.  I'll probably figure out some online alternative.  What do you guys think?  Do you have advice on how to successfully meet one's goals?

My Stint in the Ghetto

Hello, hello.  It's been forever since I've posted on my blog.  It's not because I've fallen out of love with it, it's because I have been dealing with some extenuating circumstances of late.  You will not believe all the different layers of crazy I've experienced since leaving Ocean City.  That was at the end of December and the beginning of January, and I was kind of broke.

During that time I came to Baltimore and stayed in a youth hostel in the Mt. Vernon area near the Basilica Cathedral.  That wasn't so bad, but it was expensive as hell.  That place charged me an arm and a leg just for a three-day stay--thanks to Baltimore's 15% hotel occupancy tax and other fees.  Anyway I didn't have much money and I couldn't stay at the youth hostel for longer than three days, so I ended up rented a place for $100 a week in East Baltimore.

If you didn't already know East Baltimore is a ghetto and a living a hell.  Blah, blah--The Wire--blah, blah.  I can't believe I lived there for two months.  My room had a window that faced the busy street called E. Monument, and I would hear the most obscene, offensive conversations audible to humankind.  It was so loud.  At least ten police sirens would pass by my building everyday.  Punk ass kids would just hang out in front of my window too and be obnoxious as hell.  Living in the ghetto is not for me. No way, Jose.

But I was poor.  So I endured while I slowly went mad yet also sought out opportunities for financial advancement.  Craigslist.org in Baltimore, as far as employment is concerned, is full of shit.  All the posters are scammers.  I had to go Washington, D.C. for gig selling stuff at Obama's inauguration, but that turned out to be kind of illegal.  I almost gave up but instead I did some volunteering--cough-medical-research-cough.  :)

While I was busy "volunteering," I was following up on an online opportunity to write and edit.  All the other websites that I've worked for previously didn't pay well enough for me to survive on.  However, this opportunity was different.  Don't get me wrong.  I definitely had to jump through some hoops to prove that I could write and ultimately edit.  I passed my qualifications tests, and I am now a better paid freelancer.

Thankfully, this meant that I could afford to move out of the ghetto in Baltimore.  It's a good thing too, because as the whether got warmer people were getting rowdier.  Right now I rent a room in Charles Village which is further north of Mt. Vernon.  I'm next to the John Hopkins campus, and it is so quiet.  Now I have time to address my side projects which is what I really want to do.  And TaaDaa!  Here I am back blogging again as if the whole nightmare never happened.

Better Late Than Never...

Hey you guys.  I know it's a little late but I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year!  I have been busy running around trying to keep things together.  I recently relocated my place of living so I will be going through more adjustments.  The tough thing I have to figure out now is how am I going to find a way to make time for drawing.  I know I will figure something out.  It's just going to be a tough couple of weeks.  If anyone has any advice to offer on the subject I would be much obliged.  Thanks.  :)

Speed drawing

So I have been trying to do everything faster: typing, reading, writing.  I have to write content to ensure that I have an income as I also work on my graphic novel.  I have commented before on trying to learn how to draw faster.  Well, I did a little research of my own and found this cool video on Youtube that shows a comic artist creating a page by hand in four hours.  I thought that this was pretty interesting.  I always wonder how many pages I should be finishing a week.  Right now I am on hiatus from page creation due to the fact that I will be moving over the New Year's holiday but I know that when we are in 2013 I will have to get back on the horse and krank out some mean graphics.

I use Comic Life software so I don't have to draw panels from scratch or speech bubbles.  The Youtube video just shows penciling and inking not coloring.  I wonder how long this person takes to color their pages.    I think I want to create a page a day (workday that is) come January.  I know that I will have to work eight hour days doing something else but I think that I really could manage maybe five pages a week.  What do you think?  I think coloring is going to have the final say in the matter.  Here is the link to the video I found:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJvewrWJcac

Tips on Comic Writing Jobs

So I was browsing the web and I found something kind of interesting about comic writers and breaking into the industry.  So far the advice is that there is no such thing as a writer job in the comic industry.  It has been explained as one big catch-22.  You need publishing credits to get a job but you can't get a job without publishing credits.  Obviously, this means that work in the beginning will be done on speculation, which is technically what I've done so far.  I haven't submitted to any publishers yet (I don't know if I will).  However, my source names a couple of independent comic publishers who may take on beginning comic writers who are paired with good artists.  The link below gives some industry rates.  These are just estimates.  Most writers keep their pay confidential.  I hope this is  a helpful source for any other aspiring comic writers who visit my blog: http://www.scriptsandscribes.com/comic-writer-faq/

Exactly how to pair with a good artist who will work on spec with you is whole other story.  I haven't ventured in that far.  I've done all of my own art work so far.  Some things that I have read online seem to suggest that there is a lot of conflict and tension between writers and artists.  It seems that getting better at drawing is the best and most reliable way that I can complete my project.  Does anyone have anything else to offer on that note?

A Comment on Coloring

So while I've been going crazy with content writing and other things I took some time to research methods of coloring comics.  Obviously, this can be done by hand.  That is how most comics were created back in the day.  Penciling, inking, and coloring by hand is also the simplest way for amateur comic makers to get their project off the ground without having to pay for expensive comic making software.  However, I found this tutorial that shows how to ink and color a comic with Gimp paint.  Gimp is a program kind of like Photoshop but with less features.  You've probably heard of it.  While a Photoshop licence can cost six hundred dollars Gimp programs can be downloaded for free (also download the help guide).  

Finding this tutorial made me very happy.  I have been able to create comic pages which you all have seen and I have come a long way from where I was a few weeks ago, but I am always looking for ways to improve my art work for the sake of my graphic novel fans (when I get some that is).  What makes me so excited about this find is that now maybe I can have more control over coloring my comics.  One thing that really bugs me about the sample pages that I worked so hard on is the variability of the coloring.  I tried to get it the best that I could.  Now with this tutorial from David Revoy I can hopefully make my panels look so much better.  Yay!

If you are interested to learn how to color a comic with Gimp then please visit this page at David Revoy's website: http://www.davidrevoy.com/article32/comics-inking-and-coloring-with-gimp-painter
I hope that this tutorial will be helpful to all us.  Have a great day! =P

Going Crazy Here

I'm driving myself nuts trying to focus on writing content.  I find that I am so distracted because all I want to do is work on my graphic novel.  I feel so restless.  It has been four days since I put up my campaign page.  I have only had time to promote it a little but there is still much to do.  It would be great to have a successful campaign so that I could give my full attention to Penn State Massacre.  Could you guys donate?  The minimum donation is only $1 and if you donate $3 or more you get awesome rewards and maybe even some extra perks depending on the result of the campaign.  All the money will go toward completing Penn State Massacre and the rewards for my loyal backers.  See my Gogetfunding.com page to find out how you can help bring Penn State Massacre into existence.


XOXO,
Gossip Girl
(I'm just kidding...but I did say I was going crazy didn't I? =) )

Apologies

Again I find that I should apologize. I haven't posted for the past several days. I was in a bubble both having to deal with my campaign and mother nature's monthly visitor. But Happy Late Thanksgiving! I was really wigging out for the past two days. I've been having hormonal mood swings. I swear all could do was watch the Twilight Saga, eat chocolate and junk food, and drink wine. It was a really weird two days. I guess I needed an overall break since I have been working non-stop on this project for almost a month now. Thankfully I returned to my normal self. I will have those sample pages up for you guys in no time. They have been done for almost a week now. =P

Sorry You Guys

Hey, I'm sorry I haven't posted in the last few days. During this time I am working on five sample pages that I can use for a fundraising campaign. It's been driving me mad for the past two or three days. It was hard to get started because I ate something very wrong for my body and was kind of sick too. But so far I have two pages done and they look great for someone at my level of skill. That doesn't mean that my panels won't ever change in the future though. Remember I am going to make this graphic novel the best that I can. I will probably post the comic pages when I am done. So look for those in the future (hopefully by the end of next week).

You Have No Idea

You have no idea how much sexual harassment I endured taking the bus yesterday just to get a printer and some art supplies to continue my graphic novel.  I'm glad I did it, but man I wish there were less pervs in the world.  Here is another cover for Penn State Massacre.

Chapter 1 First Panels

So I was able to put up the first four panels for Chapter 1: The Curse.  It took a while but it wasn't so bad to work on.  Working on these first four panels made me realize that I have another problem facing me.  I don't think I can continue on without a printer and mine is miles away.  I think I will try to go into Salisbury within the next day or two to get some supplies there.  Also I tried to create another cover page but again I found myself limited with my tools.  I couldn't make a better cover page than what I already have.  I guess I will have to wait.  But at least you all can enjoy these four panels until I create more.  Let me know what you think.  ;)  

P.S. The four panels are located under Chapter 1 which is under the two prologues on my Art and Script Work page.  I will be posting work in chronological order this way.

Synopsis for Penn State Massacre

So I was able to come up with a tentative synopsis.  It may change in the future but for now I am satisfied with it.  Here it is.  I hope you like it.

Synopsis for Penn State Massacre: The Graphic Novel

In the wake of a sex scandal that hit the Penn State community a curse is set loose.  The Curse of the Wambi is an ancient evil that can only be released by raging vengeance.  Penn State student Tyler Wakefield and his friends Hodge, Alice, and Paul suspect something is awry when spiders, snakes, demons, and zombies turn up in State College, Pennsylvania--home of Penn State University.  They must work as a team to defeat the power of the curse.  The biggest threats are The Three--a trio of warrior vampires, The Master--a horned demon as fierce as Satan himself, and The Anointed One--a human of this world, a wrong-doer, evil enough to be turned into a raging monster by the curse.  The Anointed One is one anointed with evil and is preordained to cause death, destruction, and ultimate carnage where ever the curse is set loose.  Tyler and his friends are Penn State's last hope.

Recap and Stuff

So yesterday was a heavy work day.  I did a first cover page and the two prologues for Penn State Massacre: The Graphic Novel.  Today I had to take a long walk on the beach (like an hour and a half) due to being inside all day yesterday.  I got to keep sane somehow you know.  But thankfully I also finished my tentative outline for Penn State Massacre yesterday night as well.  This means that I will be able to put up a first synopsis for you all soon.  Honestly it looks like the graphic novel will be around eight chapters long.  I am so glad I got this much done already!  Oh, and happy Veteran's Day! =)

Prologues

So prologues 1 and 2 are up on my art and script work page.  I might change one or two panels because I am iffy on the color but for the most part I am satisfied with my story so far.  Let me know what you think of the prologues.  =P

Graphic Novel Title

Finally, after all that messing around I will be giving a title to my 'supposed' graphic novel.  I jumped through a lot of hoops today in order to give you all this pleasure.  I set out today to present you my title and also a cover page.  Given my lack of tools and know-how this was harder to create than I would have thought.  But I have triumphed.  The cover didn't turn out anything like I thought it would, but never mind.  I am quite proud of my hard work today even though I got tired and had to settle for what I could get done.  Enjoy!

I am getting the hang of it.

I am getting the hang of the tools that I have decided to use for my graphic novel. I don't have my printer with me which I desperately need to make my work look better. However, I am using some programs to make up for that. I am getting the hang of it!

Now all I have to do is get back to outlining and script formatting =P.