I’ve been writing book 2 of this series in some form or fashion, with intensity and purpose for… about 9 months. I began it right after I finished work on book 1 and it became a huge struggle because I decided ultimately that I wanted to trim what could have been an ongoing series into 3 books. 3 books felt like all of the time I needed to wrap this all up and do it well. But there was a lot of ground to cover and making it all work and not be rushed or convoluted has been a real challenge. Especially with book 2.
This book has been a hard hard lesson in rewrites. It gets better with every adaptation but the struggle of it is just grueling. It’s hard to look at a body of work, be ready to step into production and then reset your brain because the story isn’t there yet.
It’s sort of interesting working on comics, because the writing process with them often seems like it’s a pretty loose thing with most of my peers. We tend to throw together a workable draft and then move forward without much refinement. Which I understand because the process of making the comic is so time consuming you can begin to feel like you’re not getting anywhere if you stay in the writing phase. But I think it’s worth it to really have your script as solid as it can be before you start drawing pages.
I really don’t want to just make another book, and also don’t want to spend years of my life and money making something I know could be better with a bit more effort. So when I get feedback, and it’s earnest helpful feedback, I take it to heart. It’s important to remember that the people reading your script, if you write that way, are a taste of your audience. And you want to rock that audience and have them be with you the whole way. So be open and attentive to what their thoughts are.
One of my favorite thoughts on writing for graphic novels comes again from Kazu Kibuishi. He and Jason Caffoe talk a lot about how brief the reading experience is with a graphic novel. The amount of time someone spends reading your book may only be thirty minutes. So in the end you want to give them something that sits with them a long time and you don’t need it to be long to do that. So as I am working through this book I am always working back through if this experience will be something people will really enjoy and cherish. It’s anyone’s guess and that’s what makes the whole experience difficult. All you can do is work your hardest and then get some feedback and then press forward.
But I have a few quick tips I’ve picked up and work through every time I write a script and rewrite it. I hope they’re helpful.
– It’s hard, just accept it and keep going. Writing is in the rewriting, they say, so just understand that this process is at times very long and frustrating. You can do it though!
–Try and keep the ideas expressed in the book simple and clear. I have very little interest in creating an ambiguous piece of literature. In the end I want everyone to understand the story and hopefully the themes I am presenting. An audience will process it all their own way, but I can do some work to control that. If it’s unclear what a character’s motivation is, then you probably need to re-address it. Often people say they do these things to show the complexity of a character. More often than not though it’s just bad writing.
–Trust your instincts more. In a recent feedback session with my friend Stephen McCranie he was getting really excited about certain ideas and directions I could have or should have taken my story. The funny thing is, almost everyone of them was in my idea book already. I just discarded them in favor of other paths. Those other paths though often muddied the waters on clarity in the story. So try going with your gut more. We’re all consumers of media and stories and we know a good story when we see it. Use that experience to guide you. I know I should more.
–Never stop rewriting. One thing I am not saying is that once the script is locked, you never touch or change the story again. I see the script as being the worst version the book could be. I’m always looking for ways to build on it and expand the story. At every part of the process there should be moments of discovery. But getting the structure and feel of the book as solid as possible is essential.
Happy writing!
This is a great podcast on rewriting: http://www.writingexcuses.com/2011/03/20/writing-excuses-5-29-rewriting/