I came home last night to find the final page waiting in my e-mail. The story is done and it looks spectacular! Gavin and inker Nick Justus really pulled it off. We're talking about what we want to do next (something modern) and hopefully we'll get paid next time.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Thoughts on Writing
Cut and pasted from a reply I made to a thread on MillarWorld.
Read all you can. Don't just read comics but novels, short stories, newspapers...anything and everything in all genres. Don't just focus on super heroes or sci-fi fantasy but westerns, romance, crime, history. You won't like everything but it will all go to make you a better writer with more depth of knowledge.
Start talking to artists. Take art classes in your high school even if you can't draw because this will help you understand your artists. It will also expand your vocabulary of visual terms which will be invaluable when describing things in your scripts. You might want to PM Elliott Balson. He's an artist at about the same stage in his career who might be willing to illustrate some of your scripts for the practice (once he finishes work on his entry for our anthology).
Learn to take criticism. No one will respect you if you can't and it does help. And if an editor rejects you with any actual criticism at all (as opposed to a form letter that just says 'sorry') this is a good thing. The editor thinks you have potential and is trying to encourage you.
Listen to writers talk about writing. Type in just about any writer's name on YouTube and you'll get bunches of videos some of which might be valuable especially this from Alan Moore.
Learn to spell, or at least spell check, and develop a decent sense of grammar. You don't have to be an English teacher but no one will take you seriously if you can't tell the difference between : and ; or there and their.
Last but not least always remember that "talent" is crap. "Talent" is something people make up to explain why they fail. What separates a writer from a reader is nothing more than will: the will to sit down at the keys for lonely, unproductive hours hacking away at something that refuses to work, and then submit it for criticism and scorn from everyone. And then the will to do it all again when it is rejected. I highly recommend that if a writer needs a job while breaking in he should go into sales because it toughens you up to rejection like nothing else.
If you want to write, write. And good luck!
Read all you can. Don't just read comics but novels, short stories, newspapers...anything and everything in all genres. Don't just focus on super heroes or sci-fi fantasy but westerns, romance, crime, history. You won't like everything but it will all go to make you a better writer with more depth of knowledge.
Start talking to artists. Take art classes in your high school even if you can't draw because this will help you understand your artists. It will also expand your vocabulary of visual terms which will be invaluable when describing things in your scripts. You might want to PM Elliott Balson. He's an artist at about the same stage in his career who might be willing to illustrate some of your scripts for the practice (once he finishes work on his entry for our anthology).
Learn to take criticism. No one will respect you if you can't and it does help. And if an editor rejects you with any actual criticism at all (as opposed to a form letter that just says 'sorry') this is a good thing. The editor thinks you have potential and is trying to encourage you.
Listen to writers talk about writing. Type in just about any writer's name on YouTube and you'll get bunches of videos some of which might be valuable especially this from Alan Moore.
Learn to spell, or at least spell check, and develop a decent sense of grammar. You don't have to be an English teacher but no one will take you seriously if you can't tell the difference between : and ; or there and their.
Last but not least always remember that "talent" is crap. "Talent" is something people make up to explain why they fail. What separates a writer from a reader is nothing more than will: the will to sit down at the keys for lonely, unproductive hours hacking away at something that refuses to work, and then submit it for criticism and scorn from everyone. And then the will to do it all again when it is rejected. I highly recommend that if a writer needs a job while breaking in he should go into sales because it toughens you up to rejection like nothing else.
If you want to write, write. And good luck!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
The Coolest Thing I've Seen All Week
Saw some of the first roughs for the story this evening and they look even better than the ones in my head. And tomorrow I see the first sonogram of my unborn child. Hopefully that will be as successful.
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