For the first volume, I had finally drawn and decided on a group of
core characters, listed their relationships, and had a general idea of
where I wanted the plot of the series to go. Of course, I had to start
somewhere, and I was then tasked with coming up with a relatively brief
(less than 200 page) pilot that introduced all of the characters with a
relatively unrelated plot thread so that they could all meet or have
some of their background explained.
To do this, I started to outline the plot by listing plot points
linearly, stopping when something became too absurd or nonsensical, and
came back to it later. Sometimes the absurd stuff stayed in, or was
sidelined for use in something else. After coming up with a linear plot
thread that satisfied me, I went in and added bullet points to each plot
point, delineating characters actions, motivations, pivotal lines of
dialogue and denoting what themes were being explored in each. After
making this more detailed outline, I could cut or add to the outline, or
move things around, so that the tone of the volume was appropriate.
I find it best to let an outline like this lay for while, in case you
decide to alter an overarching theme or plot thread. It just lets you
take care of the big stuff first before working with a microscope on the
dialogue, gestures and mood of each little scene.
As soon as I started illustrating Volume 1, I was outlining Volume
2. As soon as I got done with pre-production on Volume 2, I started
getting into Volume 3’s outline. I also have a few roughs for Volume 4
and the entirety of the series. This allows me to have something to
refer to when I get a new idea, or need to change a detail well before I
actually start putting the hard work of drawing everything.
Monday, December 24, 2012
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Workflow Post 1b) The Importance of Bar Napkins and Being a Lonely Alcoholic
In the last Workflow post, I typed briefly about how important it is
to jot down and chart your every idea to add some insurance of
permanence to your brief creative sparks. I’m going to combine this
advice with a useful creative impetus that always works for me in this
post. What is this creative impetus?
Beer and a crowd of drunk people.
Drinking is a well acknowledged first step to memorable experiences, even if those experiences have to recounted to you secondhand, in some of the more regrettable cases. Pulling drunken misadventures from your own life can be a potential well spring of ideas, but you’re still limited if you only pull from what has happened to yourself or friends. Plus, it’s not always a positive that you’ll remember everything about them. So here’s a good method I’ve devised:
Walk into a bar on your own, order a drink, ask for some napkins, and start writing. Write whatever is on your mind, and keep your ears open for conversation. Every time you hear a gem, write it on another piece of paper, then return to your own writing. If you spend enough time writing, some of the bar goers will become curious and will ask you what you are writing and maybe even make suggestions, talking on and on about cool ideas they’ve had for books or movies. Steal all of this. They probably wont put it to use, but you can. This is a reasonably good way for introverts to meet people in bars as well.
Little jokes or funny exchanges you hear in bars make pretty good flavor text or one liners. In Druid City, a good deal of the extra dialogue I write alongside crowds in a party, restaurant or bar scene is lifted directly from something I’ve overheard. I’ve had people tell me tales or recount bizarre imagery that will definitely find its way into something that I do. Save all of your bar napkins, and if needed, type them out the following morning so you can separate the great stuff from the schlock.
In my next Workflow post, I’ll be yammering on about creating an outline for the novel.
Beer and a crowd of drunk people.
Drinking is a well acknowledged first step to memorable experiences, even if those experiences have to recounted to you secondhand, in some of the more regrettable cases. Pulling drunken misadventures from your own life can be a potential well spring of ideas, but you’re still limited if you only pull from what has happened to yourself or friends. Plus, it’s not always a positive that you’ll remember everything about them. So here’s a good method I’ve devised:
Walk into a bar on your own, order a drink, ask for some napkins, and start writing. Write whatever is on your mind, and keep your ears open for conversation. Every time you hear a gem, write it on another piece of paper, then return to your own writing. If you spend enough time writing, some of the bar goers will become curious and will ask you what you are writing and maybe even make suggestions, talking on and on about cool ideas they’ve had for books or movies. Steal all of this. They probably wont put it to use, but you can. This is a reasonably good way for introverts to meet people in bars as well.
Little jokes or funny exchanges you hear in bars make pretty good flavor text or one liners. In Druid City, a good deal of the extra dialogue I write alongside crowds in a party, restaurant or bar scene is lifted directly from something I’ve overheard. I’ve had people tell me tales or recount bizarre imagery that will definitely find its way into something that I do. Save all of your bar napkins, and if needed, type them out the following morning so you can separate the great stuff from the schlock.
In my next Workflow post, I’ll be yammering on about creating an outline for the novel.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Workflow Post 1a) The Initial Spark (Myth)
I’m going to start elaborating on my creative and crafting processes,
building from the workflow post I wrote a good deal of time ago. Step 1
was:
1. Scripting (Goes from small ideas and dialogue written as notes to an outline, the outline then becomes a script and after a lot of proofing and rewrites, I’m ready.)
So I’m going to handle that one in a few steps, namely, the very first sparks of an idea, and some advice on how to deal with them.
So for those wondering, here’s how I got the initial sparks for Druid City. The idea to start up a full blown graphic novel series came to me after doing some work for an acquaintance on a small comic series. The little comic never went anywhere, but it at least got me thinking. Thinking about WHAT exactly, is the question. Truth be told, I don’t remember a single thing about how I first got the idea for Druid City. My first memory of it is creating a diagram with character names and relationships, a little activity I had a number of times before. I had no plans to set it in my hometown, no definition of Hunter’s character; virtually none of the characteristics that Druid City has now.
The little ideas that build into bigger ideas are called sparks for a reason. On their own, they don’t really amount to anything. If you really want to develop into a productive creative type, the first habit you’ll have to get into the writing down every little idea that you have. After collecting enough of them, they can kindle a much better original idea. The lesson here is that human brains aren’t that impressive, and to get the most out of them you’ll have record everything worth a damn and test it against other ideas new and old.
So it always pays to keep a notepad, and more importantly, a pen or pencil on your person whenever possible. This leads well into my next post, 1b) Bar Napkins
1. Scripting (Goes from small ideas and dialogue written as notes to an outline, the outline then becomes a script and after a lot of proofing and rewrites, I’m ready.)
So I’m going to handle that one in a few steps, namely, the very first sparks of an idea, and some advice on how to deal with them.
So for those wondering, here’s how I got the initial sparks for Druid City. The idea to start up a full blown graphic novel series came to me after doing some work for an acquaintance on a small comic series. The little comic never went anywhere, but it at least got me thinking. Thinking about WHAT exactly, is the question. Truth be told, I don’t remember a single thing about how I first got the idea for Druid City. My first memory of it is creating a diagram with character names and relationships, a little activity I had a number of times before. I had no plans to set it in my hometown, no definition of Hunter’s character; virtually none of the characteristics that Druid City has now.
The little ideas that build into bigger ideas are called sparks for a reason. On their own, they don’t really amount to anything. If you really want to develop into a productive creative type, the first habit you’ll have to get into the writing down every little idea that you have. After collecting enough of them, they can kindle a much better original idea. The lesson here is that human brains aren’t that impressive, and to get the most out of them you’ll have record everything worth a damn and test it against other ideas new and old.
So it always pays to keep a notepad, and more importantly, a pen or pencil on your person whenever possible. This leads well into my next post, 1b) Bar Napkins
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Chapters 2 and 3 preview pages
Here are the preview pages for Chapters 2 and 3. 3 is in the sketch form, as I thought some people might want to see that.
My general workflow for a volume
BTW, here’s the general work flow for a volume. (Most efficient that I’ve found so far.)
1. Scripting (Goes from small ideas and dialogue written as notes to an outline, the outline then becomes a script and after a lot of proofing and rewrites, I’m ready.)
2. References (Take a trip to Tuscaloosa to get all the photos I need of real locations)
3. Character designs and pre-production (I mostly work on character clothes and new designs for pre-production. I draw out a map for the settings when I sketch later)
4. Thumbnails (I follow the script and thumbnail each page based off dialogue, scripted visual motifs and general panel layout philosophies.)
5. Scan Shit! (Scan in all my sketches, thumbnails and character designs)
6. Panels (Panel every page in Photoshop based on the thumbnails)
*Repeat steps 7 through for every chapter at a time, so I don’t get bored*
7. Dialogue Bubbles (Write out the dialogue for each page in photoshop and set it in a bubble.)
8. Sketching (Complete sketches of figures and backgrounds based on thumbnails)
9. Digital Inking (Ink over the sketches)
10. Color (Add some of that patented grayscale)
* All chapters complete*
11. Complete chapter leaves (newspaper mock-ups, misc)
12. Compress (Delete all text and compress all pages to .tifs)
13. Add vector text in Illustrator (for everything)
14. Bring .ai’s into InDesign.
15. Lay out Book.
16. Proof
17. Finished for Print.
18. Save all .ai’s as .png and bring them into Word template file for eBooks.
19. Paste all pages and name the chapters.
20. Convert Word file to an .epub and disperse.
21. Done!
1. Scripting (Goes from small ideas and dialogue written as notes to an outline, the outline then becomes a script and after a lot of proofing and rewrites, I’m ready.)
2. References (Take a trip to Tuscaloosa to get all the photos I need of real locations)
3. Character designs and pre-production (I mostly work on character clothes and new designs for pre-production. I draw out a map for the settings when I sketch later)
4. Thumbnails (I follow the script and thumbnail each page based off dialogue, scripted visual motifs and general panel layout philosophies.)
5. Scan Shit! (Scan in all my sketches, thumbnails and character designs)
6. Panels (Panel every page in Photoshop based on the thumbnails)
*Repeat steps 7 through for every chapter at a time, so I don’t get bored*
7. Dialogue Bubbles (Write out the dialogue for each page in photoshop and set it in a bubble.)
8. Sketching (Complete sketches of figures and backgrounds based on thumbnails)
9. Digital Inking (Ink over the sketches)
10. Color (Add some of that patented grayscale)
* All chapters complete*
11. Complete chapter leaves (newspaper mock-ups, misc)
12. Compress (Delete all text and compress all pages to .tifs)
13. Add vector text in Illustrator (for everything)
14. Bring .ai’s into InDesign.
15. Lay out Book.
16. Proof
17. Finished for Print.
18. Save all .ai’s as .png and bring them into Word template file for eBooks.
19. Paste all pages and name the chapters.
20. Convert Word file to an .epub and disperse.
21. Done!
Monday, November 12, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
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