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thesweetnessofsalt · 2 months

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Process Blog #3: Development

Yes, development!!! We’re going back to the beginning, folks.

The Sweetness of Salt has been running for almost four years now, and it’s starting to feel like ancient history even to me. Social media is really only good for what’s most recent, and even that’s fleeting. If anything, this particular blog is a way for me to collect and share the sprawling, disparate elements of my comics journey before they disappear into the ether forever.

Now, I love hearing other comic makers talk about their work. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s one I seek out often. So if it’s your cup of tea as well, then I cordially invite you to my Process Blog Tea Party.

We’re going to chart The Sweetness of Salt’s growth from the beginning, chronicling all of its major milestones and changes (well, most, anyway) and providing context. You can refer to this handy visual as we go:

(ALT text for graphic here)

Would you believe that piecing this together was super difficult?? It’s a good thing I kept diaries for most of 2019 and 2020, because like I said, social media isn’t a great record, and I lost some data earlier this year in a computer failure. But now I have this super cute growth chart for my brain child, so. Worth it. <3

2019

I’d been wanting to start a webcomic all year (/my whole life) but only started putting together some ideas that fall. I’d decided on a mermaid romance and had every intention of making a short comic for Inktober (remember when everyone was still obsessed with Inktober?). Instead, the project grew into a full-out webcomic.

I had some notes about the whole story, but only worked out an opening scene at this point, which appears basically intact in the actual comic (minus Arlo, who was written out for my drawing comfort, then written back in when I got more of a handle on comics making).

“Seaside Comic” Early Outline ALT Text Here

So, I can’t really share any full outlines for TSOS, because some bones are there from the beginning and spoil the last chapter. Please accept some spoiler-free highlights from these early drafts instead:

Aunt Cecilia’s original name was Celinda

The story would’ve been told through voicemails & phone calls between Leah and her aunt

It took place in 1980’s Washington and the vibe was foggy/chilly

Sha had straight hair, Leah’s was curly

I once described Sha as ‘pale and iridescent as a fish belly’ which is pretty but I’m glad I made her more of a real breathing girl

The romance moved much more quickly, with earlier affection/kisses

THERE WAS A MAGIC WINDCHIME! But it didn’t really do anything. I drew it once here, though, in Ch1 Pg 5:

This Q&A pretty much has the word on what inspired me to make TSOS, so I won’t get into that here. Onward!

2020

Concept for Sha (Feb 2020)

Concept for Leah (March 2020)

Over that winter, I made concept art of the girls and struggled with the comics part of making comics. I still hear this a lot from new creators: I can’t start making comics because I don’t know how! And the response is always, you can’t learn how to make comics without making comics.

I think in most cases, the refrain is true. You really can’t learn without doing when it comes to comics, no matter how much you study.

I hated this idea; I wanted to learn, THEN execute, not at the same time. I spent a lot of time at the library and on comics blogs, trying to absorb comics power through osmosis and still not having drawn a single panel. But as I came to learn, the stuff Scott McCloud was trying to teach me could only stick once I’d made a few comics myself.

The thing that pushed me over the hump was actually pretty simple: I was working in a horribly dysfunctional office environment at the time, worsened by the pandemic, and the project was quickly becoming my solace. Not starting felt worse than actually trying, so around February, I started making my first thumbnails.

First draft of TSOS Page 1 (Feb 2020) LOL at Arlo peeking out of her bag here

A very crunchy screenshot of old vertical thumbnails for TSOS Chapter 1

TSOS has been using a standard page format for a while now, but at the beginning, I was thumbnailing two pages stacked vertically. I didn't want to use the mobile scrolling format completely, but thought I could compromise. I still don't really know how effective this posting style was, but in terms of comics creation, I decided it wasn't for me. I'd shifted totally away from it by Ch 1 Pg 35, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

TSOS debuted on May 1 on Tapas, to coincide with Mermay. I believe I only had a one episode buffer at the time, with only the first 5 or 6 pages completed. Not sure why I waited until June to post to Webtoon, but I was probably just trying to give myself an update buffer in at least one place.

TSOS’s first cover and title..which I now see is slightly crooked

TSOS had a much stronger launch than I could have possibly anticipated, and I was happy and proud and learning so much and - terrified. I didn’t know what I was doing, and suddenly I had hundreds of eyeballs on my work, then thousands. I was so scared that my inexperience would kill my career before it ever began.

This isn’t a healthy thought. I know that. The stakes were also never that high. But there’s a reason I didn’t start drawing comics until I was 25, and it’s the same reason TSOS’s story is the way that it is. My young adulthood was traumatic, and then I started making comics in a pandemic. Then I got laid off from that horrible job - a blessing and a curse. TSOS was born into a tough time, that’s all I’m saying.

The lay-off did mean that I could really commit to TSOS for a hot minute, and for the first time, I could really dig into making pages. TSOS’s first major rewrites also took place that winter, with the vague non-ending replaced with an actual resolution (and most of what happens in Chapters 3 & 4, actually). Everything got expanded or shuffled around as I switched from a minimal outline to an actual script.

2021

By the opening of Chapter 2, I felt like I was starting to hit my stride. Thumbnailing pages was still a struggle, but I was finally starting to get a sense of how this comics thing worked. I was incorporating more backgrounds into the art, and the story was progressing.

Chapter 2 Pages 3 - 5 (wow, much background, very sense of place)

But we’re still in the thick of the pandemic at this point, and I was losing the momentum I’d built after I was initially laid off. I’d started watching my nieces every week, who were both very young toddlers, and my family was going to host a wedding at our house that summer, which I couldn’t really leave due to the pandemic. We also had no air conditioning, and the house was reaching the high 90s many days.

So for a time, TSOS switched to limited color in an attempt to make pages go a bit quicker, and ultimately had to go on hiatus all summer. Once the temps cooled down and the wedding passed, TSOS started updating again.

Unfortunately, I think the old limited color pages were lost when my computer crashed earlier this year - most of what was lost was from Chapter 2. The best example I could find is this old update post - see the consistently orangey hues on Leah and the items on the table. I wasn’t a fan of this palette and hated these pages, but I was still getting pages out - that was important, too. It's just not a compromise I’d like to make again.

In October, Tapas invited TSOS to be part of its Creator Bonus Program! This program rewards creators based on view count, and I was pretty excited to be a part of it. Tapas was TSOS’s first home, after all, and is still my favorite place to share my comic.

2022

I got a good mental and emotional boost from being part of the Creator Bonus Program, and by March, TSOS had transitioned totally back to full color. Old pages were recolored, and I started making my favorite pages yet (the garden dance, the pond - basically Chapter 2 Page 23 onward). I was so, so proud of these pages, omg. They’re still some of my favorites and very quintessentially TSOS to me.

Chapter 2 Pages 23, 34, 36, and 46

March is also when I first took on some freelance work, and I signed on to illustrate three short kids comics which would tie me up periodically over the next two years. But the freelance to TSOS balance was okay in 2022, and I was trucking right along.

Chapter 2 was due to wrap in November, bringing The Sweetness of Salt to its halfway point at last! I took some time before the next chapter to make revisions - I was feeling pretty self-conscious of my old pages, and the story’s writing as a whole. Revisions focused on re-lettering and making small dialogue or layout tweaks for story clarity. Two pages were also added to the beginning of Chapter 1 to give Leah more of an introduction.

Chapter 1 (New) Pages 1 - 2

Following the revisions, I also tweaked my script. I had another 50 comic pages under my belt and a better understanding of how my writing translated to the page - and how my characters think and feel. Nothing got a huge overhaul, but I was able to solve some story problems that had been bothering me for TSOS’s entire run. Yay! Things seemed primed for me to start Chapter 3.

Even better, Tapas had reached out to me in September about joining the Early Access Program. When I told them I intended to take a big break before the next chapter, they were more than accommodating. I could re-launch whenever I was ready. I just had no idea how long I was going to have to keep the news secret.

2023

In January, I added even more freelance work to my plate: art managing other projects, which involved relaying notes between the client and artist, as well as controlling for quality and accuracy to the script. I really loved this kind of work, but for various (client, vendor, I-am-not-suited-for-management) reasons, it wasn’t an easy experience. It also coincided with the third and last of my illustration gigs. Naturally, I ended up burned out.

I struggled to work on TSOS again for most of this year and I didn’t have new pages again until July. I had to create all new artwork for the Early Access launch, and build up my buffer again. My freelance gigs didn’t wrap up until September - that’s also when my computer crashed and I lost a bunch of work. And I was really nervous to tackle Chapter 3’s subject matter. Progress was super, super slow.

Frankly, one of the only things that wasn’t awful about this time is that I love, love, love these pages. I do. It really pulled me out of the darkness to make them, and I think this chapter’s been pretty good. It’s a chewy one! I’m excited about basically all of it.

Chapter 3 Pages 1 - 3

The rest is pretty recent history! TSOS re-launched as Early Access this past August, and the folks at Tapas were so patient about the hiatus. The team there is encouraging and kind, and I’m a very lucky, very grateful gal.

At the close of 2023, Chapter 3 is about 30% complete and for the time being, I’m working on TSOS full time.

Closing Arguments

Ok, so like…what was all that about? 🙄

Like I said, social media isn’t a good record of events. My memory isn’t a reliable source, and not even my actual archives are very good. I’d like to have this charted out somewhere, even if it’s just for my benefit. But we can all learn from my TSOS history report, I promise!

No story emerges into the world fully formed, independent of a creator’s situation or the environment they live in. TSOS has gone through many changes. It's been shaped by a pandemic, by platform restrictions, by my own growth as a comic artist, by the very medium it’s presented in.

That medium is, of course, not just comics but webcomics. One page at a time, direct from me to you, most weeks out of the year over many years, complete with author’s notes and WIPs and yes, tweets (you would not believe how much of this timeline I could piece together through my Twitter archive alone).

All this to say - you’ve been watching me make this story, but you’ve also been watching the story make me. That’s why webcomics are special. It’s a medium full of people making what moves them, and inevitably finding others who want to be moved in the same way. I mean this completely unironically: webcomics are the purest form of art to me, and I love them. Thanks for reading mine. 💛

This blog was originally published 16 December 2023 for 1$/month+ supporters on Ko-Fi!

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#the sweetness of salt #webcomics #process blog

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