DD4 Chapter Four Flatting & Live Stream Update

First of all, thank you to everyone who has been leaving nice comments and sharing the retrospective posts. I was nervous about writing them (and still am), so I'm glad they are being enjoyed.

Second, I'm half-way finished flatting Chapter Four. I wanted to be further along by now, but it is what it is. There's no external deadline, of course, but I am nagged by my own expectations and I want to be respectful of your time and participation, Dear Patrons. Unfortunately, for the next two weeks, our kiddo's preschool is on "Spring Break," and my partner's work schedule aligns unfavourably, so many of my morning work-hours are gone. To compensate, my plan is to do what I usually do: focus when I can and power through as best as possible.

Ha ha, that's how all the best artists credit their success, right? "Power through!" Mozart had a "Work Hard, Play Hard" bumper sticker on the back of his carriage.

LIVE STREAMING

I'm going to try this!

TL;DR: I've scheduled a stream on YouTube for next Monday, March 18th, at 1:00pm Pacific.

With all the side-ventures I've been trying, I keep running into the same problem: they take too much time away from my primary focus, making the actual comic.

(Tangent: I usually feel confident about doing side-ventures during the winter, and only just realized that this is because there is no gardening to do during the winter, so "free time" reappears from seemingly nowhere.)

Retrospectives. These take a lot longer to write than I thought they would and do not move DD4 forward. But I only have a few more retrospectives to write, so they present no major threat to progress. I'll do them, they'll be good, and we can continue on.

Process Videos. Naturally, I can't make a process video without also making a little progress on the comic. That's good. Unfortunately, they take way too long to edit. That's bad.

Reader-Directed Short Stories. This was fun. I would do this all the time, if I could. Unfortunately, they also take too long to write, and contribute nothing to the progress of DD4.

So it's time to try Live Streaming, which — the way I imagine it — will let me get "real work" done on DD4 and be fun to watch.

I need to do this anyway, because I keep fantasizing that I can. I keep window-shopping for camera adapters and microphone arms — all the paraphernalia I can buy to make a pro-level stream — but I haven't actually tried doing it yet. This is typical behaviour for me.

I suspect I can blame part of the streaming itch on being middle-aged and thinking it's essentially exciting. I remember a time when it was amazing just to see video on a computer. I am equipped with the context to find internet live streaming thrilling and novel.

I also enjoy watching live streams. Mostly video games, sure, but a few art streams, too. I accept that crafting a quality live stream is difficult and takes care and attention, but I also feel like, "hey, I could do that."

But there's no point in investing in a glorious streaming studio and getting all my hopes up unless I know I can do it. Can I actually work while streaming? Will it be an entertaining stream? How stressful will it be? Will it be fun? Will I be able to maintain a regular schedule?

I already have what I need, technically speaking: a capable computer, a web cam, a good mic, and good internet speeds. Let's give it a shot and see how it goes.

My first trial stream is scheduled for March 18th (a Monday) at 1:00pm Pacific.

I am going to try to colour-prep ("flat") two pages, each within an hour. You can see the pages above, at the top of this post. There will be a timer on-screen, so we can all count down together. I've been clocking all the pages I've prepped this week, and it's been close every time. Some have been winners, some losers.

In my imagination, I build up a streak of "wins," and the question of "will he be able to maintain it?" becomes a source of excitement and tension over the course of several streams.

I think it will be fun. :)

The stream should be available at this link. I will post again on the day!

If it works — if I can accomplish what I need to accomplish, if the stream is fun, and if the overhead is manageable — I'll turn it into a regular thing!

- - - - -

Okay, back to flatting. Next week, we'll just see how all this streaming stuff goes. Also I need to prepare my Chapter Four acknowledgement pages, but I think I'm going to do them differently this time, which I'll post about soon.

Until then,
I remain,
equipped with the context to find internet live streaming thrilling and novel,

TC