September 26th, 2017

oh gosh ITS TIME TO START THE NEXT CHAPTER, HERE WE!!! GO!!!!!!

So, in the interest of full disclosure, over the break I:
- caught up on patreon rewards
- finished the script for chapter 5
- finished thumbnails for chapter 5
- drew this
- began work on the chapter 4 book

THINGS I DID NOT DO:
- finish formatting the chapter 4 book
- finish editing the thumbnails for chapter 5
- get any kind of buffer at all

So! I'M GONNA DO MY BEST!! The script took longer to wrangle than I expected, but now I'm really excited about this chapter and I hope you guys enjoy it!
In the meantime, I'll do my best to get the next book put together, and I'll keep you guys posted here and on twitter if it looks like anything's gonna be late.;u;

For now, you can vote for a bigger version of the title page image. :>

Vote Incentive for This Comic.

Comment by White Rice

Ooh, I had almost forgotten that this was when you said the break was over (I remembered late September, and that was about it).

Here's to a successful & stress free execution of the next chapter (or at least one with manageable issues if/when they occur) and the rest of the chapters to come.

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posted at 12:16am on September 26th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

Ahhhhh thank you so much!!! I'm excited to get into this chapter! :D

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posted at 11:34pm on September 26th, 2017

Comment by The Quiet One

It's not technically the 26th yet where I am, but I thought I'd check the Runewriters page just in case, and just seeing the title page for Chapter 5 made me flail with happiness (and I had a bit of a rough week last week so could use some happiness).

But please don't stress too much about not getting everything done that you wanted to - if you end up needing to delay some things - please do so, guilt and stress free!

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posted at 12:34am on September 26th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

omg, I'm so glad!! and Oh My Gosh y'all are entirely too kind -- thank you so much for your understanding/support/coolness!! I WILL DO MY VERY BEST! :D

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posted at 11:34pm on September 26th, 2017

Comment by MagpieM

I am really digging the environment in this chapter title page thing. Very pretty. And I'm quite curious about the carvings around the cave.

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posted at 1:28am on September 26th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

Ahhhh thank you so much! (tbh I'm really proud of it, and had to show off the big version, too!! x3 just comparing it to the title page for Chapter 1 is, uh, pretty wild honestly. WEVE COME A LONG WAY )

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posted at 11:35pm on September 26th, 2017

Comment by Terrana

Hooray! "Tentacle difficulties" hahaha

Good luck with all the fun stuff ahead!

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posted at 2:17am on September 26th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

Thank you so much!!! SHOULD BE A LOTTA FUN

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posted at 11:35pm on September 26th, 2017

Comment by VeryPaisehSingaporean

Hi!

I found this comic in June, and I'm so glad it's back!

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posted at 2:44am on September 26th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

Ahhh hello!! and gosh, thanks for sticking with me through the break!! :D

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posted at 11:35pm on September 26th, 2017

Comment by Tama

MULORN PUPPIES

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posted at 4:22am on September 26th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

EVERYTHING IS BETTER WITH PUPPIES

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posted at 11:36pm on September 26th, 2017

Comment by Random Passerby

Whoooooo!

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posted at 4:45am on September 26th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

YEAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

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posted at 11:36pm on September 26th, 2017

Comment by Himochi

This is so pure and cute 😭💖✨

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posted at 5:20am on September 26th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

um, excuse me himochi, they are not cute they are MIGHTY, FEARSOME HUNTERS,

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posted at 11:38pm on September 26th, 2017

Comment by The Wing

Yes! Welcome back Shazzbaa! I've missed you!

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posted at 8:03am on September 26th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

Ahhhhhh thank you, thank you!!! ;u; I missed you guys too! ITS GOOD TO BE BACK!

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posted at 11:36pm on September 26th, 2017

Comment by rainycity1

Hooray! You're back!

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posted at 10:36am on September 26th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

ahhhhh thank you so much! TIME TO GET DRAWING

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posted at 11:37pm on September 26th, 2017

Comment by Hethaa

Puppies!!!?!????!??!?!?

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posted at 11:10am on September 26th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

PUPPIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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posted at 11:37pm on September 26th, 2017

Comment by Ikwig

Heh, given where we left the gang at the end of last chapter, I somehow did not expect the opening page of the new chapter to be so . . . peaceful and adorable! Now I'm even happier to see Runewriters return!

It sounds like you had a successful and worthwhile break (after all, none of us ever gets EVERYTHING on our to-do list done) - great job and well done! Take your time with what's left and do it the way you want it to be done; as I think I've said before, one of the things I love MOST about Runewriters is how well crafted it is! I don't mind waiting as long as at the end of the day you're pretty happy with it, because then I know it will be worth it!

Now off to do my happy dance: RUNEWRITERS IS BACK!!!!! :)

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posted at 1:48pm on September 26th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

oh my gosh, Ikwig, this made me smile so big.... you're entirely too kind. Thank you so much for not just your understanding but your encouragement too!!! You guys are the best!!! ;u;

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posted at 11:37pm on September 26th, 2017

Comment by Toanovu

PUPPIES :O :O :O

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posted at 8:01pm on September 26th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

okay, based on feedback from this title page I'm gonna have to rewrite the entire script to be entirely about muulorn puppies

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posted at 11:38pm on September 26th, 2017

Comment by SirBlackAxe

oh man I'm excited that Runewriters is back

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posted at 10:20pm on September 26th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

AHHHH thank you so much!! IM EXCITED TO BE BACK

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posted at 11:38pm on September 26th, 2017

Comment by reynard61

Add me into those who are glad to see you back. *squees internally*

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posted at 3:34am on September 27th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

omg thank you so much!!

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posted at 1:58am on October 1st, 2017

Comment by Cleo-San

Shazzbaa, you don't know how much I missed RW! T__T I missed Jonan's... fresh and charming way a lot! =P Also, I love Xira! <3 Aaaah, I can't say how happy I am to see you're back! <3

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posted at 2:15pm on September 27th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

omg! thank you cleo!! (also this might be the first time Jonan has ever been missed for being fresh and charming xD )

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posted at 1:59am on October 1st, 2017

Comment by Karen

Welcome back! Looking forward to new adventures. And as has been said, we are all more than happy to wait through certain delays for art of this calibre.

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posted at 8:30pm on September 28th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

Ahhhhh gosh, this is so kind to say!! I really appreciate you all so much!! ;u;

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posted at 1:59am on October 1st, 2017

Comment by TheOtherDibbler

Woo!

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posted at 6:50am on September 29th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

YEAH!!!!!!

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posted at 2:00am on October 1st, 2017

Comment by Kaya

Hey, welcome back!

As usual, super excited for this comic. :D

But just out of curiosity: You've been working on this comic a long time! Any thoughts you'd like to share on how comicking has improved your art or storytelling abilities? Is it something you'd recommend? Asking for a "friend" who's interested in starting a comic to hopefully start consistently improving. ;D

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posted at 4:55pm on September 29th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

You can definitely see how much my art has changed over the course of the comic just by looking back at some of the older pages, but here's another pretty decent before & after -- I originally drew the characters on the top banner rotation before I started the comic, then redrew them a little bit after coming off the long hiatus!

I do feel like a lot of storytelling things, both long term and short term, kind of "clicked" more after I started trying to tell a story. I started Runewriters with like... half of the script for Chapter One written, and loose guidelines for the rest. Now, I like to have an entire chapter scripted before I start on it, because it helps me make sure the whole thing works in terms of pacing and information. I was wondering a bit ago, "would it have been better to wait to start RW until I had the whole first chapter scripted?" and I think, for me, it wouldn't have done me much good -- because before I made Chapter One, I didn't really have a good handle on what I needed or how to catch things in the script that would need to be tweaked. It was making that first chapter that taught me what to focus on and improve for the next time!

Anyway, for comics as a way to improve -- I'd absolutely recommend it, but I'd also make sure to warn that it's a lot of work!!
But I definitely believe the best way to get better at comicking is by comicking, and there are a lot of little ways comics really help you improve a lot -- comics involve a LOT of drawing, and drawing something over and over from panel to panel. Comics also require you to draw whatever the story needs, so I've ended up tackling poses, expressions, creatures, environments that I normally would be reluctant to draw.

A lot of folks recommend a shorter comic with a definite endpoint as your first comic (my first was technically As We Were, which was 100 pages long), and a lot of this is just because you'll be learning so fast that it's really common to feel like you want to change things and try something new, or that the new work doesn't match the old work anymore. But I think it depends on what you're passionate about, because honestly, it's hard to stick with a webcomic you don't care a lot about, and if what you're really passionate about is a longer story, I think that's okay as long as you're okay with the comic changing and growing along with you!!

TL;DR, yes! I think making a comic has improved my art and storytelling a LOT! I think making a comic stretches a lot of good art muscles and is absolutely a good way to stretch yourself and learn! It's also a heck of a lot of work, so don't feel bad if it's harder than expected or if you find you need to make changes to how you work along the way!

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posted at 1:57am on October 1st, 2017

Reply by PK

1. Yay, you're back!

2. I love your creation-encouragement posts.

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posted at 7:52am on October 4th, 2017

Comment by myriadism

AAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaand we're back! Gosh I'm so excited for more of this story! <3

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posted at 3:14pm on September 30th, 2017

Reply by Shazzbaa

ahhhhh I'm so glad!! I hope you enjoy the adventures to come! :D

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posted at 1:58am on October 1st, 2017




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