Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for August 16, 2009
Transcript:
Dog: Maybe wolf-girl's author should figure out how the story ends before she begins to write it... Kate: You're not helping... And now we return to the adventures of Wolf-Girl, prehistoric crime fighter! From the safety of a fallen tree that spans the ravine lair of the ugly cave marauders, Wolf-Girl listens to their evil plans for another raid. "Come on," she whispers to her fringed companion, "we have to go warn the tribe!" Suddenly, Wolf-Girl sees their path is blocked by a hungry cave bear! They turn to run the other way... only to be met by a ravenous Raptorsaur, who apparently didn't know it was extinct! How will Wolf-Girl escape this impossible, deadly trap?
grinstoya about 15 years ago
Knowing where you’re going… interesting concept.
i_am_the_jam about 15 years ago
Odd, that’s what I always do: start from the ending and work to the beginning.
IncredibleWerekitty about 15 years ago
Oops?
Superfrog about 15 years ago
Well that’s one way to spoil the fun, ‘fanged companion’.
pouncingtiger about 15 years ago
Wolf Girl should learn a lesson from Spaceman Spiff (from Calvin and Hobbs). Make it an ongoing saga.
carmy about 15 years ago
Oh, the irony!
durtclaw about 15 years ago
Try the olfactory distress signal, 150 decibels should do.
Bittermelon of Truth about 15 years ago
durtclaw you want Wolf-Girl to raise a stink? Perhaps you meant “ultra high frequency” distress signal.
GROG Premium Member about 15 years ago
Start with a story outline, then flesh out the details.
Lurah about 15 years ago
That would ruin the fun of creation!
3hourtour Premium Member about 15 years ago
…this would be a great time to start the ‘Wolf for Clunkers’ program….
moonrise293 about 15 years ago
Uh Oh! Looks like it’s time for the Captain Eddie BELCH again.
Charles Brobst Premium Member about 15 years ago
Wolf-Girl and her trusty companion Cave Dog leap off the log even as the Cave Bear and Ravenous Raptorsaur charge each other, float past the Ugly Cave Marauders (boys) who shake their fists in frustration, then she swims downstream chased by giant crocodiles and races through the venomous snake and man-eating-plant filled jungle to warn the village just in time.
gjsjr41 about 15 years ago
Only to find everyone in the village has mysteriously disappeared.
Wiley creator about 15 years ago
“Wiley, how much is apple paying for the product placement? Hope it’s lots.”
Nothing, dammit! I keep trying and they won’t bite. I’m hoping one day Steve Jobs will call to thank me and offer me a new system. Mine is a few years out of date!
ninmas about 15 years ago
kate?
Wildmustang1262 about 15 years ago
Kate has a wonderful imagination! Danae’s imagination….ummm is kind of terrible but that is the way she has.
CogentModality about 15 years ago
BinaryWiener said
durtclaw you want Wolf-Girl to raise a stink? Perhaps you meant “ultra high frequency” distress signal.
Perhaps a reference to today’s B.C.
hannabell about 15 years ago
He must be talking about the health care issue
Varnes about 15 years ago
Lurah, I agree. Sometimes when I write a story I’m surprised at where it ends up. Sometimes a Muse takes control and writes it the way it wants too, with or without your help!.
Nairebis about 15 years ago
Stephen King never plans his stories, he writes ‘em straight out of imagination. It seems to have worked out well for him.
J.K. Rowling, on the other hand, meticulously planned everything.
Different people work different ways…
cleokaya about 15 years ago
I’ve been working on a novel for years and still haven’t come up with an ending.
benbrilling about 15 years ago
Wiley: While you are waiting for Steve’s eye, you can clip a book light to the top of the notebook for that modern lighted keyboard effect.
lazygrazer about 15 years ago
My backspace key is worn out trying to change the future.
SF-napkin about 15 years ago
JUMP FOR YOUR LIVES QUICK!!!!!
Virtualjump about 15 years ago
Hey, who actually plans out their endings? I always just write like crazy and then look back to see what I actually did. Of course, that’s also why I have stacks of unfinished stories…
lewisbower about 15 years ago
With wolf-girls ability to control time and gravity this should be easy
ladywolf17 about 15 years ago
Wouldn’t you know it! i get up this morning turn on my computer and some of my friends tell me to check out Non Sequitur, because it is so totally me they said.
kirbey about 15 years ago
LOL crazy !
wahahahahahahahahahh.
NoBrandName about 15 years ago
I’ve heard that back in the days of the weekly cliffhanger serials they would alternate writers from week to week. Each week the writer would try to create a totally impossible situation, then leave it to the next writer to figure out how the characters would get out of it.
yyyguy about 15 years ago
hey cleo: i’ve been working on an ending for years, and still haven’t come up with a novel!
@Wiley: I’m liking these “repeats” (which aren’t to me). i thought this strip was mainly Danae and Co., but now see that it’s actually so much more. Thanks for being so creative.
wicky about 15 years ago
Jump! and land on tha gang members.
4deerinmyyard about 15 years ago
“Wolf-Girl and her trusty companion Cave Dog leap off the log even as the Cave Bear and Ravenous Raptorsaur charge each other, float past the Ugly Cave Marauders (boys) who shake their fists in frustration, then she swims downstream chased by giant crocodiles and races through the venomous snake and man-eating-plant filled jungle to warn the village just in time.” (Cabrobst)
“Only to find everyone in the village has mysteriously disappeared.” (Birthday Suit)
However, there are giant footprints leading into, and out of, the village. They are too large for cave bear but too small for raptorsaur. There are dark streaks in the dirt which Wolf-Girl’s wolf assures her are indeed blood.
There was only one thing to do….
NEXT!
serenasakitty about 15 years ago
Aww, come on. Tell me. I don’t want to wait to find out the ending.
Ushindi about 15 years ago
Hey, cleo, I’ve been writing the story of my life for years, now, and I STILL don’t know how it ends…….
Pilegirl about 15 years ago
How did you know this is just what I’ve done with my story http://www.squidoo.com/calamarikid. I have written three episodes and I have no idea where I’m going. You even have my Apple laptop right!
pbarnrob about 15 years ago
Robert A. Heinlein once gave a commencement address at Annapolis; it was summarized in an Analog editorial, but you can find the thing elsewhere (Google’s your friend). It’s also quoted as a 1947 essay titled “On the Writing of Speculative Fiction” in several places.
These five steps each cut the wannabe writing population by IIRC about half, and that’s why there are, of the ~250m population of the US at the time, only a couple thousand full-time writers. (Paraphrasing):
Write it down. Finish it. DON’T change, except by an editor’s request. Actually be brave and send it out; you’ll get rejections. KEEP sending it out until it sells. Then you’re a writer.The Old Wolf about 15 years ago
I hope I’ve given a clue somewhere as to how much I enjoyed today’s strip…
morgana about 15 years ago
The people who read Non Sequitur are definitely the most interesting of all….Wiley, you rock.
hintzy about 15 years ago
I read that Douglas Adams invented the “Infinite Improbability Drive” that powered the Heart of Gold because he needed a way to rescue Arthur and Ford after being pushed out of an airlock:
“Adams realized that he had worked the story into a dead end, thinking in frustration that the only solutions would be ‘infinitely improbable.’ In a flash of insight and what Adams called ‘mental jujitsu’, the Infinite Improbability Drive was born.”
UEME96 about 15 years ago
I think it is great that Wiley actually participates in this website. Wiley, I think you are a creative individual. Please keep up the good work.
This message brought to you by a proud CONSERVATIVE.
Potrzebie about 15 years ago
Hintzy: the IPD is a fine example of Deus Ex machina.. For another fine example, watch Olive the other reindeer.