Since we're going to be bringing back the Creator's Interviews, I'm thinking we should make them as interesting as possible for both the interviewee and the readers!

So what questions would you like to be asked/ to read the answers to in a text interview?

Post them below! I'll be taking from this pool if I'm the interviewer, and will urge other interviewers (if we go with that option) to do the same!

Well, I guess a good (and pretty obvious) starting point is inspirations. That can run a pretty big gamut, so there's a lot of different ways creators can answer - inspired by another story, or maybe the works of a specific artist, inspired by a song, by an idea or a moment, inspired by some sort of belief or message you want to portray, or maybe some specific experience in your own life, ect…there's a lot of options, so it's open ended enough to be interesting from person to person.
And as someone who loves learning how things are made, it's a fascinating subject. The process isn't entirely the material creation after all.

…don't really have a specific wording for a question in mind, though, haha!

Maybe ask them how they go about designing characters! Like what inspiration/reference they use or what design philosophy they do for their story, other hobbies and interests they have that may affect their work, other works or genres they enjoy consuming. What they plan on working on in the future after their comic is done, why they chose to put their work on the duck and of course the classic “what's your favorite color”!

Has your work ever surprised you? Whether artistically, thematically?
Do you set limits for yourself. Tell yourself I'm so not doing that.
Have you ever totally changed your mind about an element of your work?
Do you have specific “muse” (inner voice) that speaks to you or is a chorus of influences?
Do your characters ever step in and change what you have planned? Do they seem to have a life outside of your corpus of work featuring them?
Your comic; TV ongoing series, miniseries or movie franchise?

What part of the creative process do you enjoy the most? Is it the drawing, the writing (storywriting, character writing or worldbuilding) or coming up with ideas and concepts in your head, ar all of the above? How much of your daily thought goes into your creative works? Is it all planned beforehand or is everything a work-in-progress that can be altered at anytime? Does your characters and stories appear anywhere else outside the comics, or will in the future?

Here's some (I hope you read these in Jonathan Frake's voice)



How did you end up choosing the webcomic life?

When did you discover the world of webcomics? What was the first webcomic you recall reading (and enjoying especially)?

What do you do when/if you find motivation flagging, or do you never have artist/writers block?

Do you listen to music or podcasts while you work, or are you a total sensory deprivation kind of artist? (No distractions!)

What program/media do you use to produce your comic? Have you worked with other mediums? Is the one you're working with now your favorite, or would you prefer something else?

How much time in your day or week do you dedicate to the process?

Which character of yours is your favorite, which do you find yourself identifying with most, have any of your characters ended up being more trouble than they were worth?

What are your aspirations, either comic or life-wise?

Any mistakes you made that you gained insight and wisdom from in the end?

What's your favorite go-to work beverage?

What's your philosophy for your work, that is, do you have a goal you want to reach or a message you hope to convey?

Who is your target audience? Have you ever been surprised by the audience you ended up appealing to, or does your comic reach your exact target?

(I'll maybe come back with more later)

People who want to be interviewed, better start getting your answers together now and writing them down. When the time comes and the questions start you'll be surprised how quickly forget everything and suddenly you're struck with writer's block.
Remember also this is your chance to really promote your work and share with the world the incredible effort you have put into your work and why everyone needs to read it.
I should volunteer to do some of the interviews but I tend to be very irreverent and snarky. Not sure people want to deal with my sarcasm and repartee.

When you create a character, do you start from the flaws or from the positive traits?

Do you use some sort of narrative scheme/formula/structure?

When you first start thinking a story, is your fist idea the beginning? the ending? or perhaps some character, or something else?

What is your inside leg measurement?

What's you're favourite flavour of Bleach?

Drugs, yay or Nay?

If you could be any animal in the world, why would you eat gluten free haemorrhoids?

Who would win in a fight between the Justen Hawkins and Justin Bieber?

Do you think AI should take over, or are you wrong?


Maybe I'm trolling.

THere's a few solid suggestions, but personally I'd be interested in creator specific questions and a personal touch.

What about a thing where like the person who got interviewed can leave a question for the next person… I think I saw that on TV or something.

This is a fantastic pool of questions! :DDDD

I agree with Tantz_Aerine! These are all great questions. I'll add, “Do you create your line art traditionally with pencil/ink-on-paper, and then scan it into an program?”

Back in the Stone Age, we would shop talk about what tools we used (pencils, brushes, inks, and types of paper).

Here's more!

Whats your stance on originality, do you think it is the most important thing or do you believe that making the best version of a story is the key to a successful comic?

How would you handle running into your comic doppelganger? Many instances of people creating something incredibly similar without knowledge of one another have happened, but what would be your reaction to this uncanny occurrence?

Do you think you have a good balance between the writing you do for yourself and that which you do to appeal to the audience's preference?

How much does reader feedback factor into your writing process, do you let reader interaction guide any of your story decisions or do you stick to your guns when it comes to the story and what you plan to establish? Have you ever been influenced to change something based on either negative reaction or lack of clarity toward your intention? On a more positive side, have you ever added something into your work specifically because you knew someone in the audience would appreciate it?

Do you often read through your own archive or do you never look back?

Do you have an ending in mind already for your story?

Would you ever want to see your work adapted to another medium such as animation? How much would you compromise on the story for that to happen?

Would you want to exist in the setting of your comic or is that a big “heck no!”

How would you describe your relationship with your work?

(since I saw in the newspost images will be in these, this opens possibilities I was holding back on before so now here I go!)

What page would you consider your “milestone”, where you had a major breakthrough or epiphany? That first page where you said “Yes, I've gotten better at ___”, a culmination of your hard work and effort, where you finally overcame something you were struggling with. In other words, what page are you most proud of?

Which page is your favorite of your archive and what makes it special?

Do you have any fond memories tied to any pages that you think of whenever you see it?

What page would you say is a pure example of your comic? If you had only one page you could show to a potential reader, which would it be?

Which character do you enjoy drawing the most? The least? Who would you redesign if you had the chance and what changes would you make?

Which of your characters is the most likely candidate for being a certified Tumblr Sexyman? If you don't wanna answer that, just show us who seems to be your audience's favorite character!

Ya'll have some great questions to ask.

Some very informative. Some would be quite challenging to answer.

Much better questions than the “professional” newscasters and sportscasters come up with.

I agree. These interviews are going to be really interesting to read.
I won't mind interviewing someone if you're shorthanded. It's text interviews, right?

—–

How did you come up with your user name and comic title(s)? What do they mean (if it isn't obvious)?

Do you do anything artistic other than comics? What do you do?

If you got an offer to make a movie based on your comic…
…would you agree?
…who would you like to cast as your main characters?
…what kind of movie would it be? (e.g. live-action or animated? CGI or traditional animation? independent low-budget or blockbuster? and so on)

Phone oracle: Open a messenger app on your phone, type “I had a drink with a duck and” and add five randomly chosen words from that predictive text thingy. What does the message say? (Ok, maybe this one's too stupid.)

If you could have a dinner with two famous people, no matter whether they're alive or dead IRL, who would it be?
What would you have for dinner and where?

Tell us a joke. (This one's mean!)

Aliens, zombies, ninjas or pirates?

Which creator would you most like to read an interview of?

lothar wrote:
What about a thing where like the person who got interviewed can leave a question for the next person… I think I saw that on TV or something.

This one should definitely be in all of the interviews!

plymayer wrote:
Ya'll have some great questions to ask.

Some very informative. Some would be quite challenging to answer.

Much better questions than the “professional” newscasters and sportscasters come up with.

That's why I said for those who want to be interviewed, start prepping now. Write down your notes for all the questions so when they come up you won't be challenged. Put some thought into being interviewed and plan ahead. Doing an interview amd just supplying monosyllabic answers will be seen as arrogant, condescending and paint the person interviewed as a colossal butthole regardless of what really happened.
And no cop outs. By preparing ahead of time you can put together a decent answer by giving every query a nice long time to think things over.
Unless you're so into the self depreciation and flaggelation because you hate yourself that much and full of general contempt for everyone for whatever reasons.

For what it's worth I want to read meaty interviews that provide a look into the artist's creative process. We know you're doing what you're doing, but why did you choose this particular way to do things?

But that's me.

Amelius has some excellent questions listed. Don't suppose you'd like to conduct some interviews? With Your insight I think you'd be great especially with follow-up questions.

About the interviews, is the text interviews supposed to work like this?

Interviewer sends a PQ with a serie of written questions, then the interviewed responds (again, written answers), then finally the interviewer reads both questions and answers in her/his own voice?

I ask because while my written english is reasonably good, my spoken english is much worse, and I wouldn't be able either to speak or likely to understand someone other speaking at natural speed in english (I've very big problems following the quackcasts).

So I would like to see also the written transcripts of the interviews.

Also, will the interviewer add her/his own comments to the answers?

Oooooooooooohoohoohooh I have a couple I think!

Is this your first comic? What others have you made?

Why did you choose a comic as the format for telling your story?

What does your workstation look like?

How do you balance your schedule to make time for art?

What are some shortcuts you've learned in your process that have helped you the most? What are some things you would never do again; are there some art rules or lessons you've been taught that haven't worked for you personally?

Do you have any tips for newer artists lwanting to make comics?

What's your comic's elevator pitch?

Are you trying to reach anyone specifically with your comic? Who do you hope will read it? What message do you want people to get?

What kind of comics do you like to read? Is it a different genre than you like to write?

Draw a headshot of your main character without looking at a reference >:3

Draw a headshot of your main character with your non-dominant hand (if you're ambidexterous, you don't get off easy, use your mouth or another appendage you don't usually draw with :p)

Just to keep the interviews from being one-tone and streamlined, it might not hurt for the interviewers to maybe skim through the creators' comics to give them some familiarity with them, so that they can also ask some questions that specifically relate to that creator's/interviewee's comic. Make the interviews a tad more personal, individual, and one-on-one.

J_Scarbrough wrote:
Just to keep the interviews from being one-tone and streamlined, it might not hurt for the interviewers to maybe skim through the creators' comics to give them some familiarity with them, so that they can also ask some questions that specifically relate to that creator's/interviewee's comic. Make the interviews a tad more personal, individual, and one-on-one.

An interviewer is supposed to do their research ahead of time. Do not want to go into an interview completely cold. Watch any old talk show like Johnny Carson or Dick Cavett and they always had their index cards. Barbara Walters had a letter pad. A good interviewer wants to be prepared and know something besides the person's name before asking the first question.
You have a good idea of what you want from an interviewer. That's a prime qualification for conducting an interview. Step up, you know you want to. Volunteer to do some of the interviewing. Your no nonsense approach would be great.
Doing an interview is a big learning experience for both the interviewer and the one interviewed. Never know what you're going to discover. A great example would be Johnny Carson and Carl Sagan. Sagan greatly influenced Carson which is why he kept being invited back on.

The first interview is going to go up Saturday! I hope y'all enjoy it :D After all, you all helped make it!

bravo1102 wrote:
A great example would be Johnny Carson and Carl Sagan. Sagan greatly influenced Carson which is why he kept being invited back on.

With all due credit, Sagan was an interesting guy who always gave interesting answers and information. Me, I'd be pulling back from the interviewer in horror and saying, "How should I know the answer to that? You really think I know what I'm doing?"

I hope everybody has fun with this!

Some questions I came up with! ^^

-Do you have any early concept art of your comic you'd like to share?
-How different are your characters now vs when they were first created?
-Can you imagine your characters befriending any characters from other Drunk Duck comics? If so, which ones? (lol I stole this one from a CF thread)
-Or the opposite. lol Can you imagine your characters being enemies with any characters from other Drunk Duck comics?
-Which came first for your comic: the story or the characters?
-What inspired your comic's setting?
-Are there any fun little tidbits about your comic that you want to share? Examples: hidden easter eggs, funny facts about your characters that won't make it into the comic, funny rejected ideas, etc.
-If you were forced to remove one of your characters out of the story, who would you choose and why?
-What is your process for writing dialogue? Do you ever act out scenes to get the dialogue right? (lol I hope I'm not the only weirdo that does this XD)
-Do you have any pets? Show us!

i had to actually use my brain to make more questions and it took a lot of brain power so hopefully their good

how long did you plan your comic to be? was it shorter or longer than you expected?

do you like other comics on the duck? if so which ones?

do you use other sites to post your comics?

which do you enjoy more? drawing or writing the comics?

what's a favorite childhood food?

Garfield of heathcliff?

technology or nature?

do you prefer to draw humans or animals/what type of stuff do you like to draw?

do you see yourself moving to another country,state or Provence?

plush's,action figures or Lego?

if you could have any superpower what would it be?

in your opinion what's the worst way to die?

what are your favorite comic or manga of all time?

what's something that you have a hard time drawing (backgrounds,hands,etc)

what's work of fiction do you hate with a passion?

where do you get most of your references if you use any at all?

bumping this up for obvious reasons :D

What's left? Awful lot of great questions.

-Cake or pie?
-Why is the Reuben the best sandwich ever? And if it isn't what is the best sandwich ever and why isn't it anything with a vegetable spread, cucumbers(non-pickled) or watercress?
-Are creators who do lots of drugs and or alcohol more creative than those who are just plain weird?
-Did you ever see one little thing from some media and come up with a fully formed world and storyline? Just poof?
-Do your ideas knock and softly and politely introduce themselves or do they fly in screaming their head off like a Jack Black character?
-What is the worst movie you ever watched or book you read all the way through because you believed it just had to get better?
-If someone said your work really and truly stunk, would you debate and try to refute them? Defend your work to the last, skew insults and strangle them (metaphorically if online) or just not engage at all?
-Do you keep a blunt object by your work station to hit yourself in the head with when you do something stupid? Or do you just slap your forehead or bang against the closest wall? And if the wall, have you ever left a dent or even worse made a hole?

More seriously (if that is indeed possible with me)
-What do you hate the most about the creative process?

-What do like the most about your creative process?

-What frustrates you the most about other webcomics? Frustrates you the most about media in general?

-Walk us through how you make a page. Where do you start? Do you put together the whole page or panel by panel?

-How did you get to here from where you started? Brief description of it as a journey or quest. Think Bilbo Baggins “There and Back Again”
-example: what was your first step? When did you really get moving? Any crazy adventures along the way?

-Has doing webcomics changed your life?

-What other creator would you most like to meet? Punch in the nose? Have a drink with? Marry and raise a family? Stalk and steal their shoes?

-What do you hate in webcomics?

-What do absolutely love about webcomics? What excites you the most?

-What is the most awe inspiring, gob smacking, WTF you ever saw? And did you immediately say “I gotta put that in my comic!” ?

What would be your one advice to your fellow creators?

Why the Duck?

What's the most experimental thing you've tried in your comics so far?

What makes your works different / stand out?

In what ways do you challenge yourself? What supposed inner limitations have you overcame since you started creating and what others you're set out to overcome?

If fictional characters would form an awesome band, who would play what instrument? Include at least one of your own characters as well!

What was the happiest moment of your creative journey so far? Share it with us!

Are comics more like movies,.novels or theater?

Better a good story left unfinished or a mediocre one but completed?

Does reality imitate art or the reverse? Or is art a way to escape reality?

Disco or library?

I'll try my best not to accidentally repeat anything someone else has already come up with. Sorry if I do.

* If you sat at a bar with the Duck, what would you order?

* What are the most off-putting things you just don't want to see in any comic and make you stop reading it if they do?

* Do you have a guilty pleasure? If yes, would you like to tell us about it or is it secret?
This is referring to comics, art, movies, literature and such, mostly.

* Which Duckers would you most like to meet in real life if you had the chance and they were OK with it?

* You are offered $ 60,000 to go for six months without bathing, brushing your teeth, or using any cosmetic or cleansing products. You cannot tell people why you are doing so. Will you accept the offer or pass?
(I know I've heard that one somewhere before, but I've got no idea when and where…)

* If a fairy gave you a magic ballpoint pen that lets you draw anything you want exactly the way you want in no time at all but reduces your natural lifespan by one day each time you use it, would you use it at all and how often?

* What bad habits of other people drive you crazy?