Consider the simple comic book page. I know, your first thought is: this isn’t my problem. I’m the writer, not the artist. This is National Graphic Novel Writing Month. National Graphic Novel Drawing Month isn’t for a while yet. No no no. The page is important as a unit of storytelling, and as a writer…
At this point, those of you participating in NaGraNoWriMo are halfway there. Congratulations! You have made it past the initial excitement and momentum into the phase where you really have to put the pedal to the metal to keep going. Can you do it? Absolutely! As a NaNoWriMo veteran and someone who keeps daily and…
Even if you’re sick… Even if it’s only a sentence… Write something. After all, one sentence may turn into two sentences. And two sentences may turn into a paragraph. And before you know it, you might have written a panel. Or two panels. Or even a page. No, it might not be good. It might…
Day twelve of NaGraNoWriMo, and we’re bringing in some fresh voices to add their expertise. First up is David Alan Mack, the national bestselling author of nearly twenty books, including Wildfire, Harbinger, Reap the Whirlwind, Road of Bones, and the Star Trek Destiny trilogy (Gods of Night, Mere Mortals, and Lost Souls) as well as…
Day 4. Hopefully by now, you’ve gotten an idea that you might want to turn into a story. However, you may not know how to put it down on paper. What is the format for a graphic novel script? The short answer is: it varies. There are different variations, based on how different people work…
So we’re already getting questions in (and if you have questions, post them in a comments thread or use the feedfack form for privacy) and the most immediate one is– why 48 pages? Why not 50, or 45, or whatever length seems appropriate for the story? If a picture is worth a thousand words, and…
Every November, thousands of intrepid souls, all around the world, embark on a great novel-writing adventure. National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, as it’s affectionately called by participants, was begun by Chris Baty in 1999, with the goal of getting writers to tackle a big project. But that’s next month. For October, ComicMix is declaring…
The International Association of Media-Tie-in Writers presented the fourth annual “Scribe” awards, honoring such notable franchises as CSI, Criminal Minds, The X-Files, Star Trek, Stargate, Star Wars, and Dr. Who. Nominees on hand include Alina Adams (As the World Turns), Max Allan Collins (G.I. Joe), Keith R. A. DeCandido (Star Trek), Stacia Deutsch (Cloudy with…
I was at the FallCon in St. Paul, Minnesota, a few weekends back. Nice little to medium sized Con, the sort I really enjoy these days. You get a chance to talk to the fans and see a few other friends and old pros. I spent some nice time with Pete Tomasi and sat across…
In what is being billed as the first full graphic novel to be created as a classroom project, a group of Stanford students this past year completed Shake Girl, a fictional story about a Cambodian woman who is attacked with acid as revenge on an affair. The 224-page book came from a writing class taught…
Robert Tinnell and Mark Wheatley illustrate the classic conundrum in today’s brand-new episode of EZ Street: How do you support yourself when you’re doing what you were born to do? Can you create art and still have a job? Is it worth it?
Congratulations to Dave Roman on approaching his 10th year editing at Nickelodeon Magazine! To celebrate, as many others in the comics blogosphere have noted, Dave has put together a comprehensive review of "advice for building a career as a freelance artist and/or paid cartoonist" based on a number of SVA panels and portfolio reviews he’s…
