I was chatting with someone recently, and all of this comes from that chat I’ve had a few times over the years. So, I need to vent a bit about a few things that keep coming up when I offer to help new creators. Basically, it involves these two things:
1) “I have a thousand characters and hundreds of worlds ready to go.”
2) “I’m writing a 100K word long novel so readers can get caught up and understand my 22-page comic book.”
Creators who cannot write a story tend to overcompensate by making exhaustive lists of characters and worlds.
I do not mean this to be condescending (that’s when you talk down to someone). Still, I’ve learned that when someone truly wants to be a creative storyteller and they don’t know how, that desire usually manifests itself in long lists, very detailed lists of characters and worlds, ‘story ideas,’ and so on. I don’t mean this to be demeaning; most of these people I’ve chatted with were very sincere and earnest. They wished they could just get it done. So, all that creative energy becomes a tidal wave of lists. I get it, and I do not envy that feeling.
I touched on this in Part Two when I said to choose one character and tell their story. But, seriously, you have to narrow your focus, tell one story, and leave all the rest behind. It needs to happen; you have to let go.
And there is a practical side to this you must also consider. In indie comics, you are probably looking to crowdfund, and no one wants to pay a lot of cash to get just an intro to part two. The backstory is not the story. Plus, if one ever comes, they must wait months to get a part two. So it would help if you had the story firmly established in issue one, or you’ve lost your backers. It’s like a foundation, a single brick. It needs to be a single brick, then another, and not just the first few feet of some everlong foundation.
There is no way to have an instant familiarity with your universe or world.
You need to understand that there is simply no way that you will have a ready audience, people familiar with your universe, without putting it out there repeatedly. I’ve seen this before, so forgive me, but you cannot go from no product to instant recognition and being understood. Too often, I see creators that ‘simply’ want to go from nothing to a known universe, like skipping the first draft and just writing a masterpiece. It just does not work that way; think about it. You must finish something, put it out there, and start the next part. That thing can be short or long, but it needs to stand on its own, even if another volume is coming later. You must build, one brick at a time, your foundation.
I’ve literally had one person say the bit about writing a novel so readers would understand his comic book. That is insane. Others plan to make 12 comics at once, all interweaving. But, again, most creators, or half (?), never finish issue one. Going from nothing to 12 is a bit extreme, folks. Plus, there are cost constraints; you could buy a car for the cost of making those twelve books. Plus, you’re new, so you are not going to try doing something small to learn the ropes and make mistakes? Nope, let’s get right to the masterpiece! Insanity.
One last thing, a piece of advice on choosing how you proceed if any of this applies to you. If you are doing it for them (a commercial product), do it the way they want. Please don’t make it about you. On the other hand, if you are doing this for yourself, do it your way and have fun. When it’s done, you can share it with those that want to read it, but that would not be the point. In this case, your satisfaction is the key, so do what you like. Do it for yourself or for them. Pick one.
