Comic: Will Write For Chocolate
By Debbie Ohi | August 4, 2012 |
In 2005, I started a webcomic for writers called Will Write For Chocolate:
The premise: a bunch of writers with different genre and market interests live together in a big house. My main focus at the time was on getting nonfiction articles published, so that was the initial focus of the strip’s main character, Eliza.
I didn’t have an outline or plot goals in mind. Since I was doing the comic for the fun of it, I found it more interesting to sit down with a blank template each time and come up with that strip’s story on the spot. More often than not, the strip contained an echo of what was going on in my own freelance life, or (as in the case below) in the life of one of my writer friends:
Sometimes I used my webcomic as self-therapy. Better to vent in a comic than explode at a stranger:
Since getting more book projects with Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, I haven’t been updating this comic as regularly as I should, but I still post from time to time. My drawing style has changed over the years.
Feel free to browse the Will Write For Chocolate archives (you could start from the beginning, if you’d like). I’m also starting to repost strips in chronological order to my Will Write For Chocolate board on Pinterest — feel free to repin!
— Debbie (Twitter: @inkyelbows)
Debbie Ridpath Ohi writes and illustrates books for young people. Recent illustration projects for Simon & Schuster Children’s include books by Judy Blume and Michael Ian Black. Her blog for children’s book writers & illustrators: Inkygirl.com. On Twitter: @inkyelbows
Love these comics! Thanks for a good laugh this morning, and I’m following your pinterest board now. *smiling*
This is great! I read one of the strips and thought, “both characters are me!” and another, on the “Things you should never say to an aspiring writer” where I wanted to see the line, “can you make a living at that?”
Funny– I’ve been stumped by the “what have you written that I might have read?” question before. My usual response is, “I don’t know. What have you read?”
My other favorite is, “You quit your job to do this? What do you do with your time?” No answer– just bang my head against the nearest wall.
Thanks for the smile today.
Debbie,
this strip should be syndicated in all the writing mags!
Thanks for the chuckles–so true to life of a writer.
Sob–I can’t get your Tweet This button to work. Woulda if I coulda.
best,
Cathryn
https://www.cathryncade.com
Wow (mistakenly first typed Woe). These characters hit a little too close to home! I like your sense of humor. I’ll have to check out your comic archives. Thanks for sharing.
What an enjoyable post. I can relate to all these strips!
Thank you for bringing funny light into my world. Love those inky elbows!
Debbie:
The more people I meet, the more I’m impressed by how talented people are. We’re lucky to live in an age where we are allowed to express ourselves through our talents and have the ability to share them with the entire world. Thanks for sharing.
I have been a longtime fan of your comics, Debbie! They’re always so spot on :)
That last one highlights most of my friends’ pet peeves. Well done. I’m graphically-challenged, Debbie; I so admire your talent
Wonderful, funny, true. My mother-in-law constantly asks if I’m done writing my book yet. I just tell her no, writing a book takes a long time. ; )
Wonderful! I had totally forgotten about this cute cartoon series. Thank you for reintroducing me.
This rings so true to life, I don’t even know whether to laugh or cry.
Ok…
I’ll just smile instead … :)
Thanks for the kind words, all! I’m in LA right attending the SCBWI conference, else I’d post a longer reply. I really appreciate your comments. :-)
Debbie, I love these! And I love how your project echoes one that I did a couple years ago. Basically I wanted to write something “just for fun” while I was slogging through my novel (note: I love my novel, but let’s be honest, sometimes writing is more hard than fun) so I started a web serial, and every week I wrote about three young women who were remarkably like me and my two best friends. (Complete coincidence. Uh huh. ;))
Anyway, there’s no real point to this, except to say that you brought back good memories and made me smile with your great sense of humor. Thanks!
[…] Did you know there’s a comic strip for authors? (No, not ‘Earning Peanuts’.) It’s called Will Write for Chocolate. Check it out here: […]