Writing resources!

Note: This was supposed to go up last week and I ended up pressing save to draft instead of publish for some reason. Oops. Anyway, here it is.

Disclaimer: Before I start I have to point out that this is by no means definitive, but I thought it’d be cool to list the resources which I have found helpful in my (very) short time aspiring to write comics.

Whilst I have only written for the small press so far I thought it’d be useful for others starting out ,or those who are interested (Why?! Run for your lives!) in writing for comics, to make a list of the websites, podcasts, and books I’ve found useful so far.

Websites

Digital Webbing: The forums on this website are a great starting place for those looking to write (and draw, letter and ink) for comics. The forum members are a good mix of newbies and veterans, with sage advice being doled out by both. Unsure of script formatting? Looking for an artist or letterer? This is the place to start. A great resource and community.

Other places that are similar (especially in the area of assembling a creative team are the forums over on Deviant Art and Penciljack. Other assorted creative discussions can be found at Jinxworld, Standard Attrition, Whitechapel, Panel and Pixel, and the 2000AD Forum.

For those looking to break into the house that Tharg built, writing and submitting a Future Shock (a short five page story) will be your first port of call. Submission guidelines can be found here. A useful community to consider if writing a Future Shock is Scriptdroids, which provides a forum like atmosphere where one can post their story for feedback and advice.

An excellent ‘uber rescource’ is the Creator Help section of Caleb Monroe’s website. The page provides a huge list of resources covering all aspects of the comic creative process.

One way to understand formatting of comic scripts and to work out things like pacing and dialogue is reading professional comic scripts. Lots of them. This is where the excellent Comic Book Script Archive comes in. There are a large number of scripts to download from a wide variety of genres and writers and comes highly recommended.

A short while ago Optimum Wound compiled an excellent list of every comic book publisher and their submission guidelines. It’s yet another excellent resource that a great deal of care has gone into. Have a look here.

Steven Forbes runs a great column over at Project Fanboy that is geared towards the beginner, providing a step by step look at the creative process, genre, and even the business side of the industry.

Twitter

Twitter of course has exploded in recent months. As well as the more social aspect the service provides, many comic pro’s are more than willing to hand out sage advice from time to time. The following list is writer biased (there are many excellent artists handing out equally good advice) and contains people who have consistently handed out great advice and observations regarding breaking into the industry with an emphasis on writing.

• Neil Kleid
• Tony Lee
• Ron Perazza
• C.B Cebulski

There are probably people missing from this list but the above are people who have tweeted things that have really resonated and stuck with me personally.

Podcasts

Whilst there are no specific comic book writer podcasts (that I know of) there are many comic centric podcasts which touch upon or talk about the creative process.

• Word Balloon: John Siuntres interviews a comic book professional on a (mostly) weekly basis. His interviews with writers such as Matt Fraction, Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, Jeff Lemire, Jason Aaron are a goldmine of information and tips. They offer great insight into the minds of some of the greatest writers working in the industry today. I cannot recommend it enough, the archives are a veritable goldmine waiting to be discovered by the budding creator.
• Creative Screenwriting Podcast: Whilst not strictly comics centric this podcast like Word Balloon provides some great insight into the minds of some of the most talented writers working today. Mileage varies depending on the guest that week but again, the archives are your friend.
• Webcomics Weekly Podcast: A podcast run by Scott Kurtz (PvP),Brad Guigar (Evil Inc.), Dave Kellett (Sheldon), and Kris Straub (Starslip). This podcast, as the title suggests, has an emphasis on webcomics. Again valuable insight, tips and discussion are the order of the day.
• iFanboy and Around Comics: Whilst both are usually more geared towards discussing the latest releases and issues in the world of comics both shows sometimes run interviews with writers and artists that are a great source of information. Whilst not as meaty as the Word Balloon interviews they are still a great listen. Archives again, are where it’s at.

Books

There are a few books about comic scriptwriting on the market. What one person finds helpful another may not so bear that in mind when perusing the following titles.To begin with I’ll list the books helped me the most, my ‘essentials’ as it were.

• Writers on Comic Scriptwriting Volumes 1 and 2: These books contain interviews with a number of established and new comic writers. The interviews cover things such as breaking in stories, their working process and habits and influences. The majority of the interviews also contain script excerpts so the reader can see the different approaches one can take with a comic book script.
• Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud: This is to me is the textbook to really deciphering what comics can do as a medium. McCloud talks through such issues as comics history, structure and composition. He does all this of course via the medium of a comic book. Easy to grasp and absolutely essential. The sister volume ‘Making Comics’ is more concerned with the physical creation of the books but is still a great read.
• Story by Robert McKee: I’ve seen numerous professionals in all manner of creative industries recommending this book. Whilst I understand it isn’t for everyone I found it (for the most part) very helpful. McKee talks in depth on such topics as structure, character and dialogue and the principles of writing a strong story.  A rule of thumb for most of these texts: don’t take everything in them as scripture. Incorporate what YOU feel comfortable with, what makes you feel positive about creating something.

The above three titles are probably the books I’ve returned to time and time again, but there are others which I’ve read which are all helpful in their own way.

• Ultimate Spider-Man Scriptbook by Brian Michael Bendis: As mentioned before, it’s a good idea to try and read as many comic book scripts as possible. This book provides a good cross section from the ongoing USM series. Each script is prefaced by a piece of commentary from Bendis illustrating story choices and structure. Another good one to read to get a good sense of structure, pacing and especially dialogue.
• Alan Moore’s Writing For Comics: A small volume in comparison to the other titles on this list but, hey, it’s Alan Moore. Brief but insightful.
• The Writers Journey by Christopher Vogler: I think it was Geoff Johns who recommended this in an interview. This book takes the stages of the Hero’s Journey (as laid out by Joseph Campbell) and talks about them in the context of constructing a story. The book is centered on screenplays but the principles and ideas can be applied equally to comics.
• On Directing Film by David Mamet: Bendis has recommended this in a number of interviews and it’s not hard to see why. It’s another brief book but Mamet is an excellent guide, talking about shot choice, character and dialogue in a very compelling manner. Again, it is geared towards film but the majority also applies to comics.
• On Writing by Stephen King: Part memoir part guidebook. This was the first book King completed after his infamous accident and I can’t recommend it enough. King writes in a direct down to earth style, getting across ideas and concepts that no writer should be without, whatever the medium.
• Best of Tharg’s Future Shocks by Various: This book is here for those looking in the direction of 2000AD. This volume includes works by future superstars Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison and Peter Milligan. There is no better inspiration or education for writing a good future shock than reading the best the concept has to offer.
• Strunk’s Elements of Style: A small, simple volume covering basic grammar and punctuation. The book also has a section on common mistakes which is worth the money alone. Small but essential.
• How to Make Webcomics: This volume from Image Comics is by the team behind the Webcomics Weekly Podcast mentioned above. The book covers almost every aspect of creating your very own webcomic from web hosting  to merchandising. Whilst the book is mostly geared towards the cartoonist it contains many useful sections for those looking towards the web as a publishing avenue.

The last two volumes are not comic centric but are two books that had a profound effect on my nonetheless.

• War of Art by Stephen Pressfield: I found this book via a recommendation in the afterword of “The Nightly News” by Jonathan Hickman. The book explores the notion of Resistance (think of it as a force, procrastination is just a sub section of it) and how it prevents us from undertaking creative endeavors. The term ‘life changing’ is bandied about far too often by some people. So I’ll merely say that it changed my attitude to the time I devote to creating and writing for the better.
• The Successful Novelist by David Morrell: This one was a recommended book by Tony Lee via his Twitter feed. Whilst some of the aspects Morrell covers in the book are done better elsewhere, there was one section in particular (concerning planning and outlining)  that has changed my work habits for the better.

As I said at the beginning this is by no means a ‘definitive’ list and I don’t claim to be any kind of expert or future superstar in the making. I, like many others, am merely trying to find my way in a creative field that many find daunting. This list is mean to provide a few pointers towards resources, people and texts that I have found to be insightful, interesting and inspirational. I hope that people will check them out and find them equally useful.

Iron Harvest-Some thoughts.

So with last weeks concluding page (I hope you all read it ) ‘Iron Harvest’ has wrapped. I thought I’d post a little about how it came about, a bit of behind the scenes as it were.

The germ of the idea started when I read the graphic novel ‘Shooting War’ by Anthony Lappe and Dan Goldman. At one point in the book there was a scene (you’ll have to excuse my lack of memory on the context) where a room full of soldiers were controlling some unmanned combat drones and robots. Whether it was the artists intention or not it reminded me of a LAN gaming event. Thus the world of video gaming and the future of warfare collided and an idea was born (As an aside I highly recommend ‘Shooting War’).

I came up with the basic idea of drone’s being controlled by video game players first of all and went from there. This was all before the rise of drone’s into international headlines. There were a few articles here and there in science journals and the like, that’s all. The first few drafts of ‘Iron Harvest’ (back then it was called ‘Fragfest’, naming it after the game was Rick’s idea) were in the vein of ‘All the President’s Men’ as a journalist tried to uncover the truth behind the relationship between a shadowy multinational and a games company. Personally I thought it felt a little flat and I went back to the drawing board.

It was around this point that drones started to gain a lot more traction in the headlines. A raid here, a raid there, and even a few pieces on how the pilots and technology to pilot drones were heavily involved with gaming. Clearly I was onto something. It was also around this time that Rick Ross became involved. I’d met Rick via the boards at Digital Webbing after he replied to an ad I’d placed (the project never happened by the way, but I think I got a good deal out of it ). Eventually, we got to talking about his website and its anthology like nature. I can’t remember who mentioned the idea of working together first (probably me, I have a lot more to gain by Rick drawing my stuff than he does writing mine I think) but I mentioned the basic outline of the idea of Iron Harvest to him. Rick liked it and encouraged me to work on it some more.

The title ‘Iron Harvest’ comes from the term of the same name. This term is an annual harvest when people collect and retrieve any ordinance that hasn’t been expended. I also thought the term sounded perfect for the kind of pretentious overblown titles, war video games are often guilty of.

It wasn’t long after this that I had the notion of not having a central character in the traditional sense. Instead the game was the strips star, permeating every page in one way or another. The idea that each page would take on the form of a different type of media also came about at this time. Rick cemented this further by suggesting that each page stuck to a strict six panel grid (a great touch I thought). Rick also played a huge part in crafting the pacing of the ending of the strip, moving panels around and suggesting a slower burn on the last page building up to the reveal itself.

During the time I was redrafting the strip, a book entitled ‘Wired for War’ by PW Singer began to get a lot of press (featuring in Wired magazine amongst others). The book covers the future of warfare with an emphasis on unmanned vehicles. Whilst I read the book far too late for it to have any direct impact on the strip it did open my mind up to the various directions a story on the subject of unmanned warfare could go. Almost as a result of this (and also via Rick’s suggestion) I’m planning to take some of the elements of ‘Iron Harvest’ and the research I’ve done post-strip and spin them off into something a bit meatier.

All in all I’m extremely happy with the strip. A large part of this is due to Rick’s splendid art (I especially dig the last two pages). I know this was a bit of an experiment for him with each page calling for something different and I think the final results are great. The best part of writing in the comics medium for me is that moment when you first a page or visual that has been in your head for months. The art for Iron Harvest was better than anything I could have forseen. Rick has a real eye for capturing expressions and mood and I can’t speak more highly of the work he put in on the strip.

Give Rick’s site a visit today and you’ll be treated to the first page of a brand new strip penned by Rick himself, ‘Varangian Guard’. It further illustrates Rick’s talent of being able adapt his style to a number of genres.

Iron Harvest concludes

The final page of ‘Iron Harvest’ went up on Agitainment yesterday and can be found on the front page here:

http://agitainment.com/ics

For those who are late to the party or just want to read the thing in one sitting, click here.

The plan is that later in the week I’ll post a bit about the influences of ‘Iron Harvest’ and maybe some future plans I have in store for it.

Iron Harvest- Page 4

The penultimate page of Iron Harvest came out yesterday over at Agitainment! Comics.

The link as usual is http://agitainment.com/ics.

I really love the way Rick has taken the original remit that each page (which are all six panel grids) is told through a different medium and incorporated it into the strip. I know that he’s used a lot of new techniques and tools for the strip and I have to say it’s impressive for a first effort. Of course Rick is no slouch in the pencils department. The complete stories such as UFO, The Gryphon and The Collector are all worth looking at and can be found on the same site as Iron Harvest.

When Iron Harvest concludes next week I think I’ll post a little about my influences for the story etc and how it all came about.

Iron Harvest Page 3, out today!

Rick has a new page of ‘Iron Harvest’ up today and it looks fantastic.

Click through to http://agitainment.com/ics to have a look.

In other news, this site was having a bit of trouble last week with all of the posts disappearing. A quick question on Twitter and it was fixed. The power of social media, eh?

Huge thanks again to Nicholas Butler for fixing the blog!

His home on the web can be found here http://www.loudmouthman.com/

Thanks to Benjamin Read for the assist too! (he can be found here http://www.benjaminread.co.uk/)

Both are top guys and worthy of follow status on Twitter too!

That’s all for now.

‘Iron Harvest’ continues!

I’ve been having some problems with the blog lately (I’m not even sure this post will show up properly until I click the ‘Publish’ button) and so this is a little late being posted.

The second page of ‘Iron Harvest’ is up and we get a great look at Rick’s great art!

http://agitainment.com/ics/

Do you know what your video games are doing?

The first part of ‘Iron Harvest’ has hit today on Rick Ross’ Agitainment Comics website. The strip will be updated every Monday for the next four weeks. Enjoy!

http://agitainment.com/ics

Also, Rick recently did an interview with Cosmic Book News in which he talks briefly about Iron Harvest and his site as a whole.

http://cosmicbooknews.com/doi/rrossinterview

A quick update

Just a quick update on things I’ve been doing since the post-con blues that came with leaving Bristol behind.

‘Iron Harvest’ kicks off on Monday on Rick’s site. I’m pretty excited to see what Rick comes up with style wise. Each page in the strip is based around a different format of media and sticks to a rigid six panel layout. I plan to ramp up the advertising presence of the stip over the weekend in prep for the first part hitting on Monday morning.

I also have two submissions for two separate anthologies for Ape Entertainment going through the grinder. I’m waiting for word back on one with the other receiving good feedback and ,if all goes to plan, it should be picked up.

I also have ‘The Edge of Creation’ coming out for Futurequake. I believe it will be in the next issue which if memory serves will be around the time of Brum Con. Bryan Coyle is the artist on that one and I was impressed with the rough layouts he sent me recently.

‘A Hobby a Day’ is another strip that will be coming out in a FQP title. No real updates on that though other than an artist being attached.

As far as longer form projects go I have several on the go. All of them though are still very much in the early stages. I’m still very much trying to find my process for writing and forming longer narratives . I can usually structure and get down the beats for a short story fairly quickly now. With stories taking place over a number of issues and chapters though I still feel my pacing and structure is a little off.

I’ll round the post off with stuff I’ve been enjoying.

Listening:

The Tony Lee/Dan Boultwood panel from Bristol Con is well worth a listen and is both equally disturbing and hilarious.

http://geeksyndicate.wordpress.com/2009/05/13/gs-bristol-comic-expo-09-two-drunk-guys-in-a-panel/

I’ve also been enjoying Word Balloon lately with some great interviews including Jason Aaron, Geoff Johns and Rantz Hosely.

Reading:

I finished Matt Kindt’s excellent ‘Super Spy’ (Top Shelf). A great book and well worth seeking out for afficinados of espionage, history and good comics in general.

I have the latest issue of ‘Guerillas’ waiting to read.

Watching:

Ah Summer. Hot days, warm nights and a lack of quality shows (Dexter etc being the exception). With that in mind I’m playing catch up with some shows (Dollhouse, Breaking Bad,Friday Night Lights) and rewatching a personal favourite, The Wire.

Time to crack on.

Expect more updates closer to Monday when Iron Harvest finally hits.

Bristol Expo

Whew! What a weekend!

My con experiences up to this point have been limited to Birmingham, with Bristol being only the third con I have attended. The first two cons in hindsight were akin to one dipping their toe sheepishly in the water. The bar was heaving on Friday night and it was great making impromptu friends as the night wore on.

Come Saturday morning I was handing out ‘Iron Harvest’ leaflets to those waiting to get into the convention space proper. One of the strangest experiences I had was when I would hand people a leaflet and several minutes later get a ‘Thanks for the leaflet!’ tweet. Bizarre!

Despite the limited resources I had (and the small amount of time to prep something for the con) I feel ‘Iron Harvest’ had a presence at the con with a lot of leaflets handed out–though I imagine more than a few were discarded.

It was also nice to finally put faces to a few names, finally meeting the first artist I ever worked with, Brett Buckle. I also forged a few new contacts.

It was also nice for Chris Staros (Top Shelf) to take a few minutes out of manning the Top Shelf booth to give me some feedback on the structure and makeup of a pitch document I’d put together. As one of my weakest points it was nice to get some input that showed I was doing something right!

Plus points: 2000AD Panel and Al Ewing dressed as Tharg (amazing scenes), seeing the Futurequake guys (including meeting Brett), the coolness that is Twitter during a con.

Minus points: Was it me or did the air conditioning just NOT work in the convention space?, missing the Tony Lee/Dan Boultwood panel (I hear it was full of laughs and debauchery as expected), missing the chance to meet a few people, and finally being confined to my room on Saturday night with horrendous stomach cramps.

Overall I learned a few valuable lessons concerning promotion and pitching, made some new friends (both physical and on Twitter) and saw some great comics.

Iron Harvest promotion.

So here they are, the ‘Iron Harvest’ leaflets that Rick kindly produced ready for this weekends Bristol Expo.

Whilst it may seem a bit overboard for a single strip I think it’ll be an interesting experiment at the very least. I’m interested in which methods and aspects of promotion work, what works best etc and this is good experience towards that.