The Web Haunt of Ryan K Lindsay

In 52 weeks I have written 52 one page scripts. I’ve written Daredevil (and brought back Man-Bull for the fun of it) and I’ve written DC characters who I had no idea about. I’ve written Scott Pilgrim and Green Wake and a whole bunch of other stuff. But the important thing is, I’ve written.

In 52 weeks I never missed a script. Some of my offerings weren’t exactly great. You can’t roll the red over the rope with every swing of the willow but you can always give it a go. I try to write lots each week, and with a blog, thoughtballoons, TWC, CBR, Gestalt Mash, spec scripts, and critical essays for SequArt, there’s plenty to write but sometimes you don’t always get to it all. Sometimes life gets in the way (or reports, if my job is any indication) but through it all I’ve always managed to spark some inspiration for a one page on thoughtballoons. I am proud of this fact.

I had no idea how the site would go when it started. It was an idea, and a very quick and excited one, but I wasn’t entirely sure on where to go next. I took a whole weekend to stew on it, form it together, write down The Rules. Then I started to assemble my dream team. I should look back for that email I first sent because I asked about ten people aboard, maybe a dozen, and I got 7 to acquiesce. I picked writers I knew, people wanting to break in or just enthusiastic about comics. I picked people I knew from their blogs and Twitter. I picked people I liked. The team we ended up with was golden. That team has changed a bit, and will continue to in the near future (spoilers), but it’s always been a fun crew.

In fact, I’d say the writing has been fun but so has the camaraderie. Whenever we pick a character, we sling emails back and forth and it’s fun. These are people I respect and really like. To get to enjoy the past year getting to know them and work with them has been a blast. They don’t pull any punches, they let you know what doesn’t work, and they let you know what does. The site has become a real barometer for the sorts of things I can actually do with a comic script page. It’s been a true lesson.

Now the site has hit one year in and I could not be prouder. The only thing better that I’ve created in this past year was my son. To see thoughtballoons prosper is more than I could have imagined. I figured we’d keep going but a little thought in the back of my head told me it could easily peter out. People would get sick of the schedule of writing a page a week, they’d start to take time off, slowly frift away. But it hasn’t happened. Not yet, anyway. I just wanted to take each week as it came and see what the character was, have a bit of fun, and get better.

I can remember the glee with which I launched it, it was Iron Man week because the second movie was hitting screens. It went smoothly but the site feels like clockwork now. 52 weeks of basically the same thing will do that to you.

I can remember as we started to gain some press, I did a piece on The Weekly Crisis and Robot 6 linked to it, then iFanboy did a piece. Numbers certainly jumped. We saw some new PAH scripters. It was all Skittles and beer. Still is.

I have had t focus my energies of late, I only get so many hours a week to work, and Im prioritising and when the missus asked me if I’d drop thoughtballoons it was the one thing I said an adamant NO to. It’s just one page a week, I can keep that up. And I certainly will.

Here’s some links to enjoy from our past:

The Weekly Crisis breaks the news on thoughtballoons

iFanboy spreads the gospel

Now some links from our anniversary week:

One Year Later… – in which I reflect a little on thoughtballoons

The Crew – a great image Danial Carroll did of the boys of thoughtballoons

Why Our Own Creations? – this week’s character selection

Irish in ‘Heist’ by Ryan K Lindsay – my creator owned one page script

I have loved every week of thoughtballoons, every script I’ve learnt through, every script I’ve read and commented on, and every email I get to send because of it. I love thoughtballoons so much and I look forward to another year, and more.

Have you checked thoughtballoons much? Let me know what you think of the site in the comments below.

Posted on May 22nd, 2011 by ryan
Filed under: Uncategorized