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November 09, 2006
Idiots'Book Volume Two
Indeed we have been busy. Facial Features of French Explorers has hit the streets, but we had little time to rest on our laurels. The day after we sent Facial Features, we were busily at work on the follow-up volume. We chose a very short story I've been kicking around for a while as the framework. It has since undergone some revision to conform to our joint vision for how it will work as an illustrated piece. Though the writing delighted me, I never really understood what it was about. In the course of several informal sessions in which we talked through our ideas, Robbi and I have landed on an interpretation that pleases us both. The text was bent in a new direction, and I prefer the revised version to the original. It has been transformed by her images which, by design, do not merely illustrate the words, but offer an accompanying, somewhat independent narrative. Vital details central to the meaning are missing from the text. And vice versa. The two are inextricably entwined. Without its partner aspect, the meaning of both is lost.
Or so we flatter ourselves in believing.
We should finish up the illustrations and text layout in the next few days. Then the weekend and next week I'll return to the dining room table for production. I'll aim to be more cool-headed about it this time, learning from the harsh mistakes that proved so trying in the production of FFoFE.
We decided late last night on our nightly walk with Iggy in the park that the time has come to structure our days a bit more thoughtfully. Though we've gotten plenty accomplished over the past two months, the work has come in fits and starts. We have so many projects and plans and not much of a compass for keeping them straight. We've decided to try having twice weekly meetings (Robbi is loathe to call them "staff meetings, perhaps they are "creative meetings) during which we will discuss our various projects, set deadlines, allocate responsibilities, and make each other aware of what the other is up to.
We'll see how it goes. One of the ironic problems with days free of structure is the tendency to get nothing done. We've failed at previous attempts to live by a schedule, but we both think there is merit in approaching our open hours more purposefully. I haven't really buckled down in working on revisions to the handful of stories I'm hoping to finish. Robbi hasn't gotten around to setting up her printmaking space so that she can work on her fine art. We have the time but are struggling to find the will. But we're both getting frustrated, to point at which we're ready to impose a bit of discipline.
I'll report on the meeting tomorrow. For now, it's time to get some sleep.
Posted by bogenamp at November 9, 2006 02:17 AM