Welcome to The Writer’s Blog Tour, where writers answer four
questions and then pass it on. I got nominated by top 2000ad scribe David Baillie,
the swine, and you can check out his answers here:
http://davidbaillie.net/blog/
What am I working on?
Mostly I’m trying to buy a car, cutting back the conifers
overhanging the pavement, and raising a three year old. That kind of stuff takes
up half of every week. When I’m not fending off Edinburgh’s shadiest auto
dealers or wiping sick off the bed I also write a bit. Specifically I’m writing the
new volume of Death Sentence, which I’m trying to make better than the
first.
I’m about half way through and it’s going surprisingly well so far. The first
issue’s all drawn and it looks absolutely beautiful. I also got some gorgeous X-men art back this
week, so I looked that over and tweaked the dialogue and captions to match all
the cool ideas the artist had. That’s enormous fun and quite surreal, looking
at Wolverine and Storm doing what I told them to do. Finally I did some work on
a brand new series I can’t discuss just yet – other than to say it’s dark and
twisted and funny and beautiful and I’m hugely excited to be doing it.
How does my work
differ from the others in my genre?
Hrmm. I try and make whatever I write unique to me, my
personality, my way of seeing the world. All good writers do that, I think -
and if you’re true to yourself you can’t help but create something original. I didn’t get into comics to work on other
people’s characters, or earn a living, though I’m happy to do either where it
intersects with my own passions. I just wanted to express something personal,
and create something special, and damn the consequences. It’s a lot like
jumping off a high cliff into thick fog and hoping there’s a soft landing. It
takes balls – or desperation – or both. I’m very lucky that, right now, I can keep doing
that to the best of my abilities – such as they are – though whether it’ll last is
anyone’s guess. I’m just enjoying it while I can.
Why do I write what I
do?
Complex reasons:
Partly because no-one was writing the kinds of characters I wanted to see. Partly escapism - a reaction to settling down. Partly the sheer joy
of having an idea and making it tangible, transmitting my thoughts to others. Partly
because I’m a Dad now and I love the flexibility writing brings as my daughter
grows up. Partly because it was a childhood dream to write these kinds of
stories, and fulfilling that dream makes me very happy. Partly because all
these ideas just keep popping into my head and I have to get them all down.
Partly because it’s what I’m best at in the world, for whatever that’s worth. And partly ‘cause I’m lazy. I mean, I can
wrestle with the interior monologue of a character with the best of them but I
used to wipe old people’s bums for a living so, in that sense, writing is very easy
- an honour and a joy. I just roll out of bed and start jotting things down.
There’s no hassle with writing. It’s just you, in a locked room.
How does my writing
process work?
Well, there’s a much longer step-by-step in The Guide to
Making Comics (in the back of
Death Sentence 1 to 5) but in a nutshell I simply note down ideas all the time. Every week I read them
back and one or two will stand out as interesting. I’ll write them up into
little synopses, which are mini stories a paragraph or a page long. While I’m
doing that all kinds of character moments, visuals, scenes, and dialogue will
occur and I’ll jot them all down in a freeform way. I come back and read it all
after a break and if it grabs me I’ll continue. But I also reject a lot of my
own stuff at this stage too. A lot of good writing is editing, in my humble
opinion – binning and amending all the rubbish. There’s a lot of plotting next,
turning the notes into individual scenes with a sentence long description as to
what the scene does and why. I write those on little cards and shuffle them
around on the floor, change them, combine them, replace them until the story
really motors. If I get stuck at any point I go for a run, or go swimming, or
driving, or wash up and after a while my subconscious figures it out. When I’m
happy with the scene flow I just grab each card, read what it says, and write
that segment of the story. I’ll try each scene a few different ways until the
characters and the situation ring true. I tend to do dialogue first, no panel descriptions. The dialogue triggers the other stuff like a mnemonic, so I
don’t write that bit till the very end.
When I’ve got something that makes me happy I go back and edit it, which
usually means chopping the meandering guff at the start of every scene. I
always try and come in as late as I can. Then I write up the scene
descriptions, spell check and format it all properly, and send it off.
Prose is similar, but more metronomic. I write about 5000
words a day. Every morning I read it over and fix whatever I don’t like, then
write another 5000. That leaves plenty of time for thinking, usually while I’m
doing something practical away from the computer. All the clever works done in the head, and all
the graft is forcing yourself to sit down and churn out the words. I’m very
much of the ‘create a pile of chips’ school. Inspiration’s great but you can’t sit
around waiting around for it.
Writing isn’t rocket science. I mean, you need talent and to
study the craft - the mechanics of what makes a compelling narrative or character
- but after that instinct, heart and discipline are much more important. And you
have to live a life beyond writing – otherwise there’s nothing to write about.
Then you just throw down all the ideas in your head with as much passion as you
can muster - and fix it later. There is no empty page. Though I’m no master and I don’t ever want to be. The day I stop learning is the day I’ll
stop writing.
Who to pass this
on to? So many great writers, so many wiser heads. I could have nominated a
score of people but the three writers I admire who got back to me first were...
INJ CULBARD: Writer/Artist and the author of some wonderful Lovecraftian
adaptions and Celeste from Self Made Hero
/http://injculbard.tumblr.com/
Check them out; they’re a diverse and talented trio.
