Original Commentary

I work weekends. I get Thursday and Friday off. It's interesting; I can run errands on my days off when businesses are actually open and there's no traffic on the way to work. I'm glad Isabel works from home because if she didn't, we'd have schedule conflicts like this - Terrence

Modern Commentary
I miss having weekdays off.

The thing about real people is they aren't always one thing. They have different sides that they show in different situations. They're complex and character traits can be shown through subtlety. Their personality is painted with delicate brushstrokes.

The thing about characters is that sometimes you want to heavily emphasize one or two traits. You have three panels a day and sometimes you have to play to the cheap seats.

This era of You Say it First is based around the first mindset, which I've mainly moved on from. - Terrence

Original Commentary

The whole "coffee solves your problems" bit was based on a comic a year ago. But it's one of Jane's defining moments. It was one of those things that just expanded itself as I wrote. I couldn't come up with anything good for iced mocha, so I asked Isabel for a random problem that people have. She said "poor hygeine".
No. "Roll again".
"Overbearing husbands".
"Fine. I'll use that".
"Really?"
"You'll see".
She was disappointed that I changed it to 'marital discord' so she says "I like 'overbearing husbands'". I ask "Is that why you married me?" - Terrence

Modern Commentary
The thing about subtle character work is that it's wordy and there are a lot of details. I always worry about the right details being emphasized.

The other thing is that I remember spending hours debating word choice.- Terrence

Original Commentary

I'm sure a lot of people think that Robert makes up things about computers as he goes along. As a technician, I can tell you that he does. And, I mean, nobody's going to call her on it. It's like astrology without the formulas - Terrence

Modern Commentary
I liked the whole "Secret Language of Coffee" thing and I wish I had done more with it. It's a good idea in the right place, but I don't think that this is the right place for it.

I also wish I had given the punchline more punch here.- Terrence

Original Commentary

I had considered adding an explanation in the last panel, of why Jake doesn't like Lemon Technology. Given that it's his biggest character trait and would've stepped on the punchline, I didn't.

What you see here was originally the first two panels of a three-panel comic. But the third panel just didn't come together and it needed a bit of space for the action - Terrence

Modern Commentary
If you don't know that Jake's defining character trait is that he got fired from Lemon Technology and never shuts up about it, this joke doesn't really land.

We probably should have had Jake rant about it once or twice more before doing this. But I wanted to reiterate that character trait here.- Terrence

Original Commentary

"My coffee muse requires more equipment than your company has". I really like that line. Enough to put it on T-shirts, at least if I made T-shirts. I don't write many lines like that. I think that's why I don't make T-shirts - Terrence

Modern Commentary
I tried to get Jane to work at Lemon Technology during The Troublesome Trouble of Kimberly Taylor-Adams.

It didn't quite come together, unfortunately.- Terrence

Original Commentary

Ah, yes, the guest bedroom. Had to mention it somewhere, you know. I really like the disappointed expression on Robert in the last panel. But Jane has thought this through a lot further than Robert. Could Robert get Jane a job in the IT department? Almost certainly not considering her lack of computer knowledge. Only so far you can go without knowing anything about your job - Terrence

Modern Commentary
Yes, Robert wants to have what Brisbane and Kimberly have.

Apart from the whole "Brisbane ghosts Kimberly for a month" thing, I mean.

They haven't gone full "business-oriented power couple" yet, but they're on the way there.

And I like how this shows how Robert is a lot more serious about this relationship than Jane is, and he's pushing kinda hard here. - Terrence