The PROCESS: The Choices made and the thinking behind.
Hey Guys!
Now, last post I said that didn’t feel it was possible to teach someone about the creative side of writing: In my opinion, either you’ve got the skill or you haven’t.
Now, that being said there are aspects of the creative process that can be explained in reagards to why I chose to do a particular thing or not-Basically, for me, it’s starts with a question: What if this happened? How would this person deal with that situation? Having spent a at least ten years of my life in therapy has helped me get a grasp on human psychology (what drives us to do what we do) and I believe ALL writers should spend at least some time studying Psychology as understanding what motivates us is the key to character development.
Of course understanding the why isn’t enough; Writers, by nature are people who take the why and then communicate it to their audience in a way they can understand.
In other words: It’s not just the idea, but the execution of same that makes the difference.
Case in point: A friend of mine has written a book. The idea is good: A slave Woman is made a Vampire and must now wrestle with whether to maintain her faith in God, or let go and accept that she is indeed a lost soul beyond redemtion.
The execution, however, is another point entirely; The book reads more like a rough first draft than a completed novel fit for publication-At least, that’s my opinion. Her family and other friends have read the book and think she’s golden. and, so long as people are willing to pay her for copies of the book, who am I to argue?
Well, were I her instructor, or a member of her writing group, I’d have argued my point quite a bit, but this particualr writer doesn’t feel it necessary to take classes or engage with other writers (too much of a hassle in her opinion), which is sad, because in my opinion, she could have ended up with a really good book had she at least allowed one actual writer (as opposed to an overly biased family member).
But again, this is all my opinion. Her family and friends seem to have no problems with SPAG (Spelling Punctuation And Grammar) mistakes or the lack of anything akin to style or tone (And yes, I am taking into account that I could just be jealous she’s found more people to buy her first novel than I did mine). But to me, the book reads like it was written by a fourth grader with a good idea, but no clear understanding of how to put it all on paper.
And yes, I could go on and on, ranting about what I believe to be wrong with the book and how it can be remedied, but honestly, why bother? This blog is supposed to be about the work I’m doing and why I’m doing it, so, allow me to get back on track.
Which was about executing an idea-Or, more importantly, how I execute my ideas.
ATCON is great for this because it allows me to provide visual aids-You know, actual pages that people can look at which I hope will further communicate my ideas.
So, allow me to reiterate: It is vital to understand the why of someone: What it is that drivrs him or her to do (or not do) the things they do (or don’t). You need to understand this for each and every character you write (though, in my opinion, most characters will tell you that stuff if you’re willing to sit and listen to them). And, as much as you need to understand your characters, you need to understand the universe they inhabit (though, if you’ve listened closely to your characters, this information will come to you quite easily).
These things will then lead you to get a clear grasp on everything from the way they dress/speak to what they choose to eat, as well as what they choose to hate/care about.
For me, to ensure I’ve gotten things down pat, I make notes about all this-For ATCON though, I originally just sat down and wrote the screenplay, but I have also collected a crapload of source material: Pictures of everything from photos of actors who in my opinion best represent a particular character, to photos of clothing, space ships, starfields and of course, having movies like Underworld, Skinwalkers and The Howling (the inspiration for ATCON) on DVD, and my iTunes library and Netflix queues.
I keep these things all close at hand while I’m working-they help keep me in the right “headspace” needed to do the work. I find a lot of writers do this as they begin work on a project even if it’s just picking out the music they wish to listen to as they work (AccuRadio.com’s Radio Celt is my choice these days, though I always reserve the right to change things as I need to). Other writers may simply write out story elements or “beats” on 3×5 index cards-There is no set rule for how to do this.
Anyhoo, once I’ve worked out the who, what and why, it thens comes to getting to the how. The execution of the story, which is simply, how I go about telling that particualr story to an audience.
Well, as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, my skills in screenwriting and storyboarding are instrumental as the screenplay serves as my blueprint for the graphic novel-Ive already put quite a lot of effort into working out the look and feel of the universe my characters inhabit as well as (this is vital for genre writers) what rules have to be obeyed and which ones can be broken (my Werewolves can change at any time of the eday or night/month, but can still be killed by silver). This makes things a bit easier for me as I’m not trying to think up every bit of action/dialogue as I go along-S0 much of my story is already there.
And of course, my understanding of film directiing and storyboarding allows me to work out a “shot list” if you will: The number of panels needed to convey what happens per scene as well as what has to happen in each panel along with what angle/lighting is necessary to vividly protray what’s happening at that point in the story.
A moment of caring soon to be interrupted.
Okay, I know this looks bad...
And of course, to remember to put in enough room to insert dialogue/thought balloons, etc,.
What follows next is; How do you put all that together to make a graphic novel? I start with a blank page set to the parameters set in this case by Lulu.com, my epublisher. (I’ve set the link to their site detailing their criteria before-go look it up).
This is basicallyt where I start, with a black page.
In the case of ATCON, I thought a black background would help set the overall style and tone of the book (and, I REALLY like black backgrounds-So SUE ME)
Once I’ve worked that out, I begin to think about where to put the panels for a particular scene on the page-I also work out how many panels should (or in some cases, can) go on a page. This is important, because too many panels on a page laid out higgledy piggledy can only be described as a bloody mess.
Each panel on the page should guide you through the story in a logical fashion.
When working on the layout, I always want to make sure that no matter how many panels are on a particular page, each panel guides you to the next in a logical and easy to follow fashion.
On the left is an example from the book: Josette comes across a survivor of an “attack” hiding beneath a desk.
Now, as I began working on the graphic novel, I became aware that something was missing. something that wasn’t necessary (or workable) for the script, but was vital for the book as that was Josette’s Narration in which she imparts (among other things) the wit and wisdom of her beloved “Mu’dea”. What I’m hoping this will say to the audience is that Josette is someone who, while she herself is part of the new world with its advanced echnology, her roots are deeply set in an older world where survival relied more on a combination of common sense, street smarts and folk wisdom.
This, in my opinion adds a layer of enrichment to the story and takes it out of the run of the mill “monster tale”.
There are times when street samrts and a solid right cross are just what a girl needs.
While Josette is not a fish out of water, her background allows her to take a different view of the situation as well as gives her the skills necessary to survive. What can I say? I really SUCK at writing damsel in distress stories.
- Screw the CALVARY, I GOT HIS!
Anyhoo, that’s about it for this installment, I hope you guys got something from this. I for one feel a bit less antsy about talking about the actual work “process”-I actually read in an interview a long time ago where a woman said she prefered not to talk about her projects as she was working on them as that served to rob the project of its power-Which is her opinion.
