About a year ago I came up with an idea, out of the blue (as is my style), that to my knowledge has never been done before.
A flipbook Graphic Novel.
I haven't come up with any concrete ideas, just a few basic ones that I think would work well. It will most likely be some kind of Noir book with two lead characters, one per "half." Each story would stand alone on it's own but if you read both, there will be a kind of tapestry as they weave in and out in various ways.
Of course the midway point of the book would be the end of both stories. I have a visual in mind, which is a double-splash of each character looking into a reflective surface (Water? Blood? A mirror? I haven't really decided yet) and not only seeing themselves, but it would also be the point in which the two leads meet.
At least it sounds cool to me...
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Artists I know and why I am uncomfortable.
Yeah...so I know a few artist types. I guess it's hard not to in Philadelphia, which is a bit of an artsy place, so long as you know the right people.
Thankfully, they all want to do some kind of comic/graphic novel with me.
The only thing is...I don't know if they can.
"It's not me, it's you."
I've known my best friend Seth since we were 8 years old. We hang out pretty regularly these days and talk online every day. So yeah, we're still tight. He does computer stuff at a college in center city. He also draws his own tattoos, which are probably the most out-there (in a good way) tattoos I've ever seen. We've been trying to find something to work on for at least 10 years. He always tells me "I'll draw whatever, so long as you write it." That's all well and good, but I've never actually seen sequential art from him. Plus, I figure his regular day job is his priority so I'd better come up with something damn good if I want it to actually happen. I know these people in real life so having a conversation about what THEY want to draw should be easy, right? Yeah, I can write whatever but I'd rather it be something we're both equally invested in to keep him happy and producing. Aside from that, with Seth I would want to work on something that's a real testament to our 20 year friendship instead of just some random bullshit. Something like the "Wake Up" arc in Daredevil that Bendis and Mack did.
There's also Seth's brother Jude. Yes, their parents are goddamn hippies. :) Jude has been taking art classes in school and I always study his stuff when I walk through his room. Some real mind-blowing stuff. He's only recently mentioned to me an interest in working together on something. We'll have to talk it out further some time in the future. As close as I am with Seth, I think that Jude and I may have a better shot at actually completing something. However, as with Seth, I haven't seen any sequential art from Jude. Can he tell a story with his art?
Then there's Steve. Seth met Steve while they were both waiting for the same person to sell them some paraphernalia. At the time, Steve was a cook at the bar that I go to now. He has since moved on. He's a tattoo artist in his spare time. He does Seth's tattoos and he'll be the guy I go to eventually to get The Trust symbol put on my body somewhere. I consider him a good friend, even though we've never actually had a one-on-one conversation. He's one of those life-of-the-party types. But unlike other people with that "type" where you can tell they're forcing it, it's as natural to him as breathing. He's into comics but not as big as me or even Seth. One time he told me that he wanted to tattoo Venom and one thigh and Carnage on the other. I really hope he decided on something else. Though I guess they would kind of fit in with the Optimus Prime tattoo he has on his back. So, yeah...he seems like an easy-to-please type as far as finding something to work on. Anything with ninjas killing zombies with some Punk Rock girls thrown in is right up his alley. However, yes, as good as a tattoo artist as he is, I've never seen any sequential art from him either!
I don't know whether to just talk with these guys and write something or give them maybe a few shorts just to see what they can do.
I also know this guy Dave, who bartends at the place I go to, but I don't know what kind of working relationship a writer and a sculptor can have. He showed me a bust he was working on when I went to the bar on New Year's Eve and it was actually pretty impressive. The next time I saw him I asked how he "digs in" and all he really said was he makes a small version first. It can't be that easy, can it? Sounds like another talk with him is in the wings.
Anyway, down to the bottom line. Like I said, I'm up for writing whatever regardless of the genre. I would also try to do like what Bendis said he did on Ultimate Marvel Team-Up and write to his artists' strengths, even though I don't know what those are as of yet with my people. I have a good idea of where each person's interests may lie, but I still feel I need to talk to everyone to get some kind of indication on how to proceed. I want to keep everyone happy so that work can continue, which would make me happy.
Thankfully, they all want to do some kind of comic/graphic novel with me.
The only thing is...I don't know if they can.
"It's not me, it's you."
I've known my best friend Seth since we were 8 years old. We hang out pretty regularly these days and talk online every day. So yeah, we're still tight. He does computer stuff at a college in center city. He also draws his own tattoos, which are probably the most out-there (in a good way) tattoos I've ever seen. We've been trying to find something to work on for at least 10 years. He always tells me "I'll draw whatever, so long as you write it." That's all well and good, but I've never actually seen sequential art from him. Plus, I figure his regular day job is his priority so I'd better come up with something damn good if I want it to actually happen. I know these people in real life so having a conversation about what THEY want to draw should be easy, right? Yeah, I can write whatever but I'd rather it be something we're both equally invested in to keep him happy and producing. Aside from that, with Seth I would want to work on something that's a real testament to our 20 year friendship instead of just some random bullshit. Something like the "Wake Up" arc in Daredevil that Bendis and Mack did.
There's also Seth's brother Jude. Yes, their parents are goddamn hippies. :) Jude has been taking art classes in school and I always study his stuff when I walk through his room. Some real mind-blowing stuff. He's only recently mentioned to me an interest in working together on something. We'll have to talk it out further some time in the future. As close as I am with Seth, I think that Jude and I may have a better shot at actually completing something. However, as with Seth, I haven't seen any sequential art from Jude. Can he tell a story with his art?
Then there's Steve. Seth met Steve while they were both waiting for the same person to sell them some paraphernalia. At the time, Steve was a cook at the bar that I go to now. He has since moved on. He's a tattoo artist in his spare time. He does Seth's tattoos and he'll be the guy I go to eventually to get The Trust symbol put on my body somewhere. I consider him a good friend, even though we've never actually had a one-on-one conversation. He's one of those life-of-the-party types. But unlike other people with that "type" where you can tell they're forcing it, it's as natural to him as breathing. He's into comics but not as big as me or even Seth. One time he told me that he wanted to tattoo Venom and one thigh and Carnage on the other. I really hope he decided on something else. Though I guess they would kind of fit in with the Optimus Prime tattoo he has on his back. So, yeah...he seems like an easy-to-please type as far as finding something to work on. Anything with ninjas killing zombies with some Punk Rock girls thrown in is right up his alley. However, yes, as good as a tattoo artist as he is, I've never seen any sequential art from him either!
I don't know whether to just talk with these guys and write something or give them maybe a few shorts just to see what they can do.
I also know this guy Dave, who bartends at the place I go to, but I don't know what kind of working relationship a writer and a sculptor can have. He showed me a bust he was working on when I went to the bar on New Year's Eve and it was actually pretty impressive. The next time I saw him I asked how he "digs in" and all he really said was he makes a small version first. It can't be that easy, can it? Sounds like another talk with him is in the wings.
Anyway, down to the bottom line. Like I said, I'm up for writing whatever regardless of the genre. I would also try to do like what Bendis said he did on Ultimate Marvel Team-Up and write to his artists' strengths, even though I don't know what those are as of yet with my people. I have a good idea of where each person's interests may lie, but I still feel I need to talk to everyone to get some kind of indication on how to proceed. I want to keep everyone happy so that work can continue, which would make me happy.
Projects.
Aside from the project with Tim, I have a few other things on my plate.
On the Bendis Board, there's a guy named Fygar who has made a few threads with writing exercises. They're interesting ideas but I haven't finished any contributions to them as of yet. I made some decent progress on one of them, but it feels half done.
Also on the Bendis Board, in one of the DCU threads (which is actually a catch-all comics thread, not just DC related) one of the posters made a list of properties to either write a one year guideline for or a two page script. I did both. The property was The Daily Planet. That was a lot of fun and I had a hard time actually getting it out of my head after it was posted. I'll devote a future post here to it to kind of use as my own sounding board.
During the summer, my friend Amanda was in town with her boyfriend Patrick. They live in Ohio. We went to the mall here and had a good time. For no real reason I started to write a slightly fictionalized version of my trip to the candle store there.
The other year I wrote a few pages of two guys sitting around smoking weed while discussing Christianity. I showed it to a few people and they seemed to dig it. I was happy with how that turned out. I may make it it's own thing or add it to the next item here on the list.
The big project. A guy is walking down the street from wherever he's coming from and sees a photo on the ground. He picks it up and it's actually a photo of himself in front of a foreign landmark like the Eiffel Tower or the Great Wall of China. The thing is, though...he's never been outside of the USA. Everyone I've ran this by has guessed that he's a decommissioned spy. I don't know where I want to take it, but I definitely don't want to do that. This project will require the most research and work as I intend to make photographs a big part of it. I figure I'd base it in Philadelphia because...hey...that's where I live. Easy enough to go around taking photos, right? I have a few photos for it already.
I think that's it, as far as the writing goes. If I come across something else in one of my notebooks I'll either edit this post or do a part 2.
On the Bendis Board, there's a guy named Fygar who has made a few threads with writing exercises. They're interesting ideas but I haven't finished any contributions to them as of yet. I made some decent progress on one of them, but it feels half done.
Also on the Bendis Board, in one of the DCU threads (which is actually a catch-all comics thread, not just DC related) one of the posters made a list of properties to either write a one year guideline for or a two page script. I did both. The property was The Daily Planet. That was a lot of fun and I had a hard time actually getting it out of my head after it was posted. I'll devote a future post here to it to kind of use as my own sounding board.
During the summer, my friend Amanda was in town with her boyfriend Patrick. They live in Ohio. We went to the mall here and had a good time. For no real reason I started to write a slightly fictionalized version of my trip to the candle store there.
The other year I wrote a few pages of two guys sitting around smoking weed while discussing Christianity. I showed it to a few people and they seemed to dig it. I was happy with how that turned out. I may make it it's own thing or add it to the next item here on the list.
The big project. A guy is walking down the street from wherever he's coming from and sees a photo on the ground. He picks it up and it's actually a photo of himself in front of a foreign landmark like the Eiffel Tower or the Great Wall of China. The thing is, though...he's never been outside of the USA. Everyone I've ran this by has guessed that he's a decommissioned spy. I don't know where I want to take it, but I definitely don't want to do that. This project will require the most research and work as I intend to make photographs a big part of it. I figure I'd base it in Philadelphia because...hey...that's where I live. Easy enough to go around taking photos, right? I have a few photos for it already.
I think that's it, as far as the writing goes. If I come across something else in one of my notebooks I'll either edit this post or do a part 2.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Mood.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled program, already in progress.
Mood. What determines mood as far as writing goes? Not just writing a character's mood, but being in the mood to sit down in front of your blank surface of choice and just crank out the hits?
If you're in a Noir kind of mood, do you force images into your head that epitomize "Noir" to you? Do you put on some kind of soundtrack to get you in the mood? Do you look up images online that convey that type of mood? Do you look at your bookshelf to see your Torsos, your 100 Bullets, your Gotham Centrals, your Criminals, and remember back to the first time you read those books and the type of mood you were in?
What if you're in the mood to write Act I of Project B, only to find Character A from Project A pounding away at the inside of your head, wanting you to start his Act II?
Mood mood mood. Moodmoodmoodmood.
Mood.
Mood. What determines mood as far as writing goes? Not just writing a character's mood, but being in the mood to sit down in front of your blank surface of choice and just crank out the hits?
If you're in a Noir kind of mood, do you force images into your head that epitomize "Noir" to you? Do you put on some kind of soundtrack to get you in the mood? Do you look up images online that convey that type of mood? Do you look at your bookshelf to see your Torsos, your 100 Bullets, your Gotham Centrals, your Criminals, and remember back to the first time you read those books and the type of mood you were in?
What if you're in the mood to write Act I of Project B, only to find Character A from Project A pounding away at the inside of your head, wanting you to start his Act II?
Mood mood mood. Moodmoodmoodmood.
Mood.
A method to the madness. Or not.
I will now attempt to pull back the curtain and look inside my own head to see what goes on in there during a standard day. Well, the stuff that doesn't deal with video games or "problems" one and two.
A few times on the Word Balloon podcasts, Brian Michael Bendis has said that he doesn't get writer's block, which is probably why he's so far ahead on his books. I don't get it either.
My problem is I end up with TOO MANY ideas in too short a span of time to be able to write them down in a book or in a word document or on a website. Each of them zips by my consciousness like a flash on a camera. It's there, and then it's gone. Words, ideas, phrases, images. They go by too fast for me to dwell on one for long.
I can never just relax because my mind won't let me. I'm always thinking of something. Always worrying. Always asking "What if this happened instead of that" or "What if I'd said this instead of that." These things I have no control over take over the forefront of my thoughts, even when I don't want them to. "Whatever happened, happened." Let it go. Focus. Pull an idea from the ether and run with it. Write the hell out of it and don't look back.
This is my life.
A few times on the Word Balloon podcasts, Brian Michael Bendis has said that he doesn't get writer's block, which is probably why he's so far ahead on his books. I don't get it either.
My problem is I end up with TOO MANY ideas in too short a span of time to be able to write them down in a book or in a word document or on a website. Each of them zips by my consciousness like a flash on a camera. It's there, and then it's gone. Words, ideas, phrases, images. They go by too fast for me to dwell on one for long.
I can never just relax because my mind won't let me. I'm always thinking of something. Always worrying. Always asking "What if this happened instead of that" or "What if I'd said this instead of that." These things I have no control over take over the forefront of my thoughts, even when I don't want them to. "Whatever happened, happened." Let it go. Focus. Pull an idea from the ether and run with it. Write the hell out of it and don't look back.
This is my life.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Problem Number Three - The Job
This will probably be very long.
I'm a writer.
What does that mean to me? It means that I'm not going to wear your uniform. I'm not going to press your buttons. I'm not going to wash your dishes. I'm not going to feed and clean your old people.
It means I write things. Words. Sentences. Sometimes even paragraphs.
Those jobs I listed above? Those shit jobs? In my worldview they don't help me get from Point A (a blank page) to Point B (a full page). Why should a Mathematician need to know how to spell?
I'll write pretty much anything and everything. My only published work to date came about from a grade school project. We interviewed senior citizens about the history of this sub-area of Philadelphia. There was even a book signing when I was in High School. I was the only person who attended. As if that wasn't bad enough, my former Principal called me "Kenny." Better than "Brain" I guess, but not by much. I signed 3 copies of the book and then I left.
I've written enough poetry to publish a book. Of course it was all for/about someone who I no longer care for...but good writing is good writing, damn it!
I have portions of novels done, but nothing I'm really happy with as it was all written over 10 years ago.
Comics are my thing. I've written quite a few full scripts worth of crap. Some of it worthwhile, some of it not. Nothing ever really got past that point, however, as I have no artistic ability and nothing has worked out with an artist as of yet.
I'd actually stopped writing for a bit and did some illegal activities online. Fun. But at least I got to talk to people from all over the world and some of them are very good friends.
Like Tim.
The other month Tim suggested we collaborate on some kind of writing activity. I've known Tim almost as long as I've been out of work (which is either really cool or really sad, depending on your POV). I trust him and his tastes and sensibilities, so I agreed. I've enjoyed the snippets of stuff he's shown me over the years and even played armchair-editor to some of those ideas.
I told him I was open to any kind of genre, really. He brought up superhero stuff as sub-genres could be brought in to play. Okay, that's fine. For me, it's probably easiest that way. Having read the amount of superhero comics that I have, I find it very easy to write in that genre. The only problem, really, is a fresh take on something. It's easy with company owned stuff (at least for me, I have a ton of new ideas for those toys, but they aren't mine) but creator owned stuff is a little more difficult, IMO. With another genre like Noir, everything would have to be built from the ground up. I'm okay with that, like I said. It's not really something I have much experience writing, though. If we went with that, I think Tim would end up doing the heavy lifting and I'd end up filling in the blanks. At least with this superhero thing we've discussed, it's a more collaborative effort. Plus, in the one conversation we've had about it so far, the ideas came very fast for us both. I think we need to discuss it a little further before really digging in to it.
I don't really have much else going on. No "real" job. I'm pissing what little money I have away at the bar. Blah blah blah. So I'm committed to this thing now and I think at least I will learn a thing or two by the time it's all done.
I'm a writer.
What does that mean to me? It means that I'm not going to wear your uniform. I'm not going to press your buttons. I'm not going to wash your dishes. I'm not going to feed and clean your old people.
It means I write things. Words. Sentences. Sometimes even paragraphs.
Those jobs I listed above? Those shit jobs? In my worldview they don't help me get from Point A (a blank page) to Point B (a full page). Why should a Mathematician need to know how to spell?
I'll write pretty much anything and everything. My only published work to date came about from a grade school project. We interviewed senior citizens about the history of this sub-area of Philadelphia. There was even a book signing when I was in High School. I was the only person who attended. As if that wasn't bad enough, my former Principal called me "Kenny." Better than "Brain" I guess, but not by much. I signed 3 copies of the book and then I left.
I've written enough poetry to publish a book. Of course it was all for/about someone who I no longer care for...but good writing is good writing, damn it!
I have portions of novels done, but nothing I'm really happy with as it was all written over 10 years ago.
Comics are my thing. I've written quite a few full scripts worth of crap. Some of it worthwhile, some of it not. Nothing ever really got past that point, however, as I have no artistic ability and nothing has worked out with an artist as of yet.
I'd actually stopped writing for a bit and did some illegal activities online. Fun. But at least I got to talk to people from all over the world and some of them are very good friends.
Like Tim.
The other month Tim suggested we collaborate on some kind of writing activity. I've known Tim almost as long as I've been out of work (which is either really cool or really sad, depending on your POV). I trust him and his tastes and sensibilities, so I agreed. I've enjoyed the snippets of stuff he's shown me over the years and even played armchair-editor to some of those ideas.
I told him I was open to any kind of genre, really. He brought up superhero stuff as sub-genres could be brought in to play. Okay, that's fine. For me, it's probably easiest that way. Having read the amount of superhero comics that I have, I find it very easy to write in that genre. The only problem, really, is a fresh take on something. It's easy with company owned stuff (at least for me, I have a ton of new ideas for those toys, but they aren't mine) but creator owned stuff is a little more difficult, IMO. With another genre like Noir, everything would have to be built from the ground up. I'm okay with that, like I said. It's not really something I have much experience writing, though. If we went with that, I think Tim would end up doing the heavy lifting and I'd end up filling in the blanks. At least with this superhero thing we've discussed, it's a more collaborative effort. Plus, in the one conversation we've had about it so far, the ideas came very fast for us both. I think we need to discuss it a little further before really digging in to it.
I don't really have much else going on. No "real" job. I'm pissing what little money I have away at the bar. Blah blah blah. So I'm committed to this thing now and I think at least I will learn a thing or two by the time it's all done.
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