Auuugh. I’m so tired of people comparing Digger to other works. Cant people appreciate that it’s a seprate being!? I want going to say anything, because people naturally compare, but it was bothering me so much. I’m an unpublished writer, and it really bugs me if I let someone read something I have going, and they compare it. It makes me feel as though I’ve failed.
Emily — I don’t know why someone comparing your work to something they know and love, something successful and engaging, would make you feel like you’ve failed. I would think it’s nice that they read it and it reminds them of another excellent thing that they’ve read.
Unless you’re going for complete envelope-pushing originality, which is possible but daunting, for both writer and reader…
That sort of originality is overrated, IMHO. I think all of the things I’ve read (or watched) that have really affected and inspired me have done so because of how they used and reinvented existing ideas, rather than for how strange and new their ideas were — maybe that says more about me than anything else, but … 🙂 Having a few cultural reference points is not a thing to be despised.
And it seems to me that those on here who compare Digger to other works do so for the purpose of aggrandizing it, to tie it in with other mythologies that are very successful, popular and dear to our hearts. Ursula herself has mentioned how her writing and art were influenced by Terry Pratchett (cf footnotes) and Jeff Smith’s Bone comics (mentioned in a note early on, after Digger first ventures out of the temple)… so, I respect your view, but I’m not sure I understand where the problem is. I don’t think anyone means any disrespect by comparing Digger to other lovely things that it may remind them of.
*shrug* Just my two bits, of course.
I have to agree with Emily. As a writer, I can say it is really kind of insulting when your work is constantly compared to other things. It implies you aren’t original, that your works can’t stand on their own, that they aren’t interesting in of themselves. Also it’s really obnoxious.
Don’t do it! Don’t swear total obedience to random sketchy strangers! noooo~
Dammit, Jim!
Dammit, Jim! I’m a wombat, not a lungfish!
And this is where the narrative is given its first solid deadline.
Manuel is looking more like a Womble with every panel.
I don’t know from Wombles, but those eyes seem really odd, and maybe a bit menacing …
“Obedience” rather than “Obediance”
I’m wondering why his mask is so long…
This story feels like a mix of Redwall and Lovecraft’s Dreamworld; I’ve seen this merchant before, on the way to Unknown Kadath. 😉
Manuel’s appearance puts me in mind of the Spy vs Spy comics.
word-nerdgasm… ! *happy sigh*
Auuugh. I’m so tired of people comparing Digger to other works. Cant people appreciate that it’s a seprate being!? I want going to say anything, because people naturally compare, but it was bothering me so much. I’m an unpublished writer, and it really bugs me if I let someone read something I have going, and they compare it. It makes me feel as though I’ve failed.
Emily — I don’t know why someone comparing your work to something they know and love, something successful and engaging, would make you feel like you’ve failed. I would think it’s nice that they read it and it reminds them of another excellent thing that they’ve read.
Unless you’re going for complete envelope-pushing originality, which is possible but daunting, for both writer and reader…
That sort of originality is overrated, IMHO. I think all of the things I’ve read (or watched) that have really affected and inspired me have done so because of how they used and reinvented existing ideas, rather than for how strange and new their ideas were — maybe that says more about me than anything else, but … 🙂 Having a few cultural reference points is not a thing to be despised.
And it seems to me that those on here who compare Digger to other works do so for the purpose of aggrandizing it, to tie it in with other mythologies that are very successful, popular and dear to our hearts. Ursula herself has mentioned how her writing and art were influenced by Terry Pratchett (cf footnotes) and Jeff Smith’s Bone comics (mentioned in a note early on, after Digger first ventures out of the temple)… so, I respect your view, but I’m not sure I understand where the problem is. I don’t think anyone means any disrespect by comparing Digger to other lovely things that it may remind them of.
*shrug* Just my two bits, of course.
@Eugene- its the second. the fist was the obligatory year-and-a-day before they count you as dead.
Dammit Jim! I’m a merchant, not a murderer!
You were all thinking it. I even saw a few incomplete versions near the top.
But what if the virgins are already dead? You didn’t answer the question!
I have to agree with Emily. As a writer, I can say it is really kind of insulting when your work is constantly compared to other things. It implies you aren’t original, that your works can’t stand on their own, that they aren’t interesting in of themselves. Also it’s really obnoxious.