December update.

Hey, everyone.

So, obviously, this is not an episode.  I’m working away at 122, and I wasn’t ever planning on posting one over the Christmas weekend, so instead I’ll post 122 sometime mid-week, and that way the difference between 121 and 123 will be split more equally.  I also had another big project that I was working on this week, so I fell a little behind.

It’s interesting looking at where things are at right now.  In some ways, I had hoped when this all started that Dry might “catch on,” even if only to a very limited audience.  I guess you can have your own definition of what “catching on” means — and I certainly don’t mean to diminish my appreciation for those that have continued to read.  In my own mind, I saw maybe twenty people reading on a weekly basis, and something of a comment life on the blog, where people traded thoughts and ideas, even if were only a few comments per episode.

I haven’t really been surprised that it hasn’t gone that way, and I haven’t really been disappointed, either.  For one, that was never an expectation, but a simple hope.  Each episodes gets between four and ten hits, which has remained pretty consistent since the third or fourth week.  Comments are sparse, which is understandable because there’s not really a lot to talk about.  All of this has, I think, changed the way that I look at Dry: The Serial as an entity.  At least, I think that’s been a large contributing factor.  When I originally conceptualized the blog, I saw it as more of a product, something I would submit to the world each week to entertain readers and, in return, receive feedback and consider reader’s responses.  Since I don’t think anyone I don’t know reads on a regular basis (and since a lot of people I do know do not read regularly, if ever), I’ve come to see it as a lot less of a product and more of a process — simply a process that I make public.

That’s a big part of the reason that episodes have become a little more sporadic: if I were viewing this as a product, deadlines would be much more important, as they would be with any product (e.g. if I were writing scripts for TV), but as a process, the “deadlines” are more of a guideline.  On the one hand, I understand the value in keeping yourself on a schedule, even if it’s a self-imposed one.  On the other hand, I’m basically producing the first draft of a novel and rushing through sections unnecessarily is just going to make it that much harder during revision.  I’m glad to be doing it this way: even if I don’t hold myself rigidly to the every-Friday routine from the beginning of the season, having a deadline, even a soft one, helps it keep it at the front of my  mind, helps maintain a sense of urgency.  Although I’m still really excited about Dry, knowing my personality, it would be pretty difficult for me to motivate myself to write even with the regularity I have now without some source of external pressure.    Additionally, if any of the readers get any amount of enjoyment out of reading it, for whatever reason, that makes me glad I’m doing it online, too.  I also think it’s good because of the way I’ve begun to see the story.  Looking back, I see lots of problems through the first twenty episodes.  There are things I wish I could go back and add, subtract or change from earlier episodes.  My tendancy would be, if I wasn’t doing this online, so spend a bunch of time going back and re-working old sections rather than pressing on till the end.  Though I haven’t read a lot about the craft of writing, I’ve heard that it’s best to finish a draft, even if it’s shitty, and then go back and retool it later on, even if it requires a lot of revision.  So, pressing on with the story as-is, getting all the way through, is key at this point.  And this process is helping a lot toward that end, I think.

So, all that to say, thank you again for everyone who has participated so far.  Hopefully it won’t be long before the season is done and we can discuss the first draft of Dry – Book One: The Rebellion or whatever the final name ends up being.  I feel like I always run the risk of coming off all “wah, pay more attention to me,” when I write updates like this, but that’s really not how I intended it all — I’m very happy for all the interaction I’ve had with readers since this all began.  Just wanted to give you all a look at how I’m viewing all of this these days.  Still very excited about it!

 

Keep your eyes out for 122 some time mid-week!

 

Love.

 

- Matt