headfeathers
So I've been working on a new comic, AFTERLIFE, and I thought I had it down pat. I knew the beginning, I know the end and I've got the two main characters pretty well fleshed out.
But then I start thumbing out the first chapter (every chapter will be eight pages or so, and they'll be traditionally American to change up again from RISERS, which I did right-to-left) and I have to drop in a throwaway character. For a giggle, I draw in another character that I really, really hoped would be published SOMEwhere by now, just to keep him fresh in my head.
So I'm six pages into the first chapter, and it hits me how this story could work even better if I leave this character in. If I leave him in, I'm creating a storied universe, and this story would fall in his realm, but would be told from another POV than his. This would add depth to all of his stories (and there are quite a few in my head and on paper in various forms) and would even allow him to interact with another, still older, character of mine, previously published by myself.
I'm sure this makes absolutely no sense to anyone but me, so for that, I'm sorry. You'll get over it. It will all make sense in a few years when it all starts to come together. I believe you'll be hearing some about this as time goes on, but this is the process I'm going through. The story was one thing until I noodled a bit with it, and now it's something better, more definitive for my having delayed and thought it through a little more. It doesn't hurt to've re-read Archie Goodwin's and Walt Simonson's MANHUNTER, either, which is part of the inspiration for the form of the story, along with some theme elements from DEPECHE MODE and STEELY DAN songs. See if you can figure out which ones when it comes out. And as for when, I'm aiming to launch in mid-March on my ComicSpace page. I want to have the end drawn, as well as the first two chapters before I launch. Then, I will work fairly organically to that foreshadowed ending, and if I choose to end it early, I won't have as much work to do. That's one thing I learned from finishing RISERS, to have the end done when I start. That may change eventually, but for this project it's the way it is.
PROCESS is everything. I love reading about how other writers work and how they view what they do. That's why I read Neil Gaiman's journal, subscribe to Warren Ellis' BAD SIGNAL and re-read Patricia Highsmith's book on writing mysteries and thrillers. Add in some of the behind-the-scenes stuff that Stephen King throws around (On Writing, for instance) and you'll know what I mean. I love introductions like Harlan Ellison's for SHATTERDAY that give you those insights. I'm pretty good at picking out potential sources of other people's works, but it's nice to be wrong and think "Oh, yeah, I totally see that, now" every once in a while.
PROCESS leads to EVOLUTION which extends THE LINE. Funny how that all ties in together.
For all of that, though, I am done with Jackson Rand, who's story turned out to be longer than I initially anticipated back in 2000. Have I done him justice? Artwise, not really. Storywise, yeah, I think so. Jenny's got one more story in me, and it surprised me to see her pop up in RISERS, but that's the way it goes. Back to process, I suppose. But Jackson's arc is finished. He's got nothing more to say or be said about him.
So, for those of you who've been with me since 2000, following that story, it'll finish up next week. For those of you who've joined me along the way, thanks, and stick around for AFTERLIFE. I think, if I can get it all together, it won't take nearly as long, and will be, I hope, something that will help bring me closer to having some sort of career in comix.
Edited to add:
PROCESS LINKS: Kazu Kibuishi; Matt Fraction on The Engine; Joey Manley on The Engine; ACT_I_VATE; The Chemistry Set; Me, a lifetime ago
But then I start thumbing out the first chapter (every chapter will be eight pages or so, and they'll be traditionally American to change up again from RISERS, which I did right-to-left) and I have to drop in a throwaway character. For a giggle, I draw in another character that I really, really hoped would be published SOMEwhere by now, just to keep him fresh in my head.
So I'm six pages into the first chapter, and it hits me how this story could work even better if I leave this character in. If I leave him in, I'm creating a storied universe, and this story would fall in his realm, but would be told from another POV than his. This would add depth to all of his stories (and there are quite a few in my head and on paper in various forms) and would even allow him to interact with another, still older, character of mine, previously published by myself.
I'm sure this makes absolutely no sense to anyone but me, so for that, I'm sorry. You'll get over it. It will all make sense in a few years when it all starts to come together. I believe you'll be hearing some about this as time goes on, but this is the process I'm going through. The story was one thing until I noodled a bit with it, and now it's something better, more definitive for my having delayed and thought it through a little more. It doesn't hurt to've re-read Archie Goodwin's and Walt Simonson's MANHUNTER, either, which is part of the inspiration for the form of the story, along with some theme elements from DEPECHE MODE and STEELY DAN songs. See if you can figure out which ones when it comes out. And as for when, I'm aiming to launch in mid-March on my ComicSpace page. I want to have the end drawn, as well as the first two chapters before I launch. Then, I will work fairly organically to that foreshadowed ending, and if I choose to end it early, I won't have as much work to do. That's one thing I learned from finishing RISERS, to have the end done when I start. That may change eventually, but for this project it's the way it is.
PROCESS is everything. I love reading about how other writers work and how they view what they do. That's why I read Neil Gaiman's journal, subscribe to Warren Ellis' BAD SIGNAL and re-read Patricia Highsmith's book on writing mysteries and thrillers. Add in some of the behind-the-scenes stuff that Stephen King throws around (On Writing, for instance) and you'll know what I mean. I love introductions like Harlan Ellison's for SHATTERDAY that give you those insights. I'm pretty good at picking out potential sources of other people's works, but it's nice to be wrong and think "Oh, yeah, I totally see that, now" every once in a while.
PROCESS leads to EVOLUTION which extends THE LINE. Funny how that all ties in together.
For all of that, though, I am done with Jackson Rand, who's story turned out to be longer than I initially anticipated back in 2000. Have I done him justice? Artwise, not really. Storywise, yeah, I think so. Jenny's got one more story in me, and it surprised me to see her pop up in RISERS, but that's the way it goes. Back to process, I suppose. But Jackson's arc is finished. He's got nothing more to say or be said about him.
So, for those of you who've been with me since 2000, following that story, it'll finish up next week. For those of you who've joined me along the way, thanks, and stick around for AFTERLIFE. I think, if I can get it all together, it won't take nearly as long, and will be, I hope, something that will help bring me closer to having some sort of career in comix.
Edited to add:
PROCESS LINKS: Kazu Kibuishi; Matt Fraction on The Engine; Joey Manley on The Engine; ACT_I_VATE; The Chemistry Set; Me, a lifetime ago