The Job of an Editor

For my webcomics, I serve as both writer and editor.  The writing part is something most people understand - I come up with a plot, write a script, and give it to the artist to pen the pages.  It's the role of editor that most people don't understand.

The basic way to view it as I'm like a traffic controller, managing all aspects of the comic's creation.  When the story is written, I get it to the artist right away.  Then I approve the artist's rough pencil layouts, sometimes making suggestions on how the page is going to look.  There may be something important that needs shown that I know will show up later in the story.  After I give a final thumbs up, the artist gets started on the final pencils.  Then I get it to the inker, then to the colorist, and finally to the letterer.  

All along the way, I have to make sure each creator is getting paid for their work, based on established page rates and a contract that we've negotiated and signed.  Each member of the team is due compensation for the work they've done.  It helps me in that I get quality creators, and it helps them by giving them a professional credit as they build their resume and work toward achieving more in their comics careers. 

Today was a good example of me spending time as an editor.  I got the final page of art for issue 1 of The Rift, and I promptly got the final 4-page installment to the letterer.  I also talked with my artist for The Rift to see about his interest in continuing to work future issues.  For ClosetWorld, I received the final inked page 1 of installment 4, so I sent it to the colorist.  And I communicated with my ClosetWorld colorist about his payment for a previous installment.  

The trick when being a writer and an editor is not to get so bogged down in editorial work that you forget to spend time writing.  This means constantly looking ahead, making sure that installments are written ahead of time, so when the artist is done, he's getting the next installment.  This is money in their pockets, and for many of them, they factor that payment into their monthly budget.  I don't want to be the one that holds that up, so I'm always looking ahead, making sure I've got a script ready for them.  

It's a juggling act, but if you love comics as much as I do, every step is worth it.  It's certainly worth it when you see the pages come in and your vision comes to life.  There's no greater feeling in comics than to see the final letters completed and the comic being released, hopefully for others to enjoy.  

The Villain's a Hero

I've been working on my new comic series, Re-Do, and one of the first things I do is to write character sketches for each of the major characters.  I don't want to give away his identity, but the villain in issue 1 plays a key role in the story, and a lot of mystery surrounds this villain.  When his identity is revealed at the end of issue 1, it leads to some major questions.  

Having a good villain is a huge part of a good story.  Look at Star Wars.  It would not have been the same if Darth Vader was not as effective a villain.  Or look at Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.  What made that movie work so well was Khan and his obsessive quest to find and exact revenge on his white whale, Admiral Kirk.  

The problem a lot of people make is that the villain is SO villainous as to be a caricature.  The fact is, the villain is the hero in his own eyes.  He's doing something for what he deems to be noble purposes or for some reason that justifies his actions, otherwise he wouldn't be doing it.  We're all the hero of our own stories, and villains are no less the same.  

I'm still working through the backstory of my villain, trying to figure out what makes him tick.  His history is there; I just have to uncover it.  Once I know what makes him do the things he does, then I'll better be able to write his character, to make sure he does things in a manner consistent with his background.  My villain may not be doing good things, but he's doing them because he feels he must.  My job is to figure out WHY he feels he must.  And then pit my hero against him and let the conflict begin.  

That's really the essence of good drama.  Two opposing forces, both convinced they're doing the right thing, let loose on each other.  I can't wait to see where their conflict takes them.  It's as much a joy for the writer as the reader to see where their journey takes them.  

More to come on the development of Re-Do.  I'll use this page to step through the creation process and how I approach it.  

What's in a Name?

I was trying to figure out the whole backstory of my new independent superhero character, and after racking my brain for something new, something original, I came up with a new name that no one's used before.  I've been debating whether or not I should tell you the name, but I think I'll hold off for now, since the name is so important to the character's origin and backstory. 

Once I had the name, the origin of the character and how he got his powers suddenly came into focus.  It's funny how that works.  I didn't expect that, but a lot of times as a writer things come to you in ways you don't expect. 

I remember that at the end of my conspiracy thriller novel Honor, the hero was shot and bleeding near the end of the novel, the bad guy standing over him with a gun and about to kill the hero.  I sat there for three days not sure how he would get out of it.  I'd painted myself in a corner, and I was afraid I'd have to go back and re-write that whole scene.  I sat and thought those three days, trying to find some way out.  And then out of the blue, it hit me.  I knew exactly what had happened and how he would escape.  I was so surprised by it that I was sure everyone else who read it would be equally surprised. 

You never know how ideas will come to you.  It's as random as life can be.  But I know that the story is there, somewhere.  You just have to give it time, keep thinking through it, holding fast to the knowledge that the story is there.  Your job is to write it down when it reveals itself.  It's one of my favorite, and scariest, parts of writing. 

This makes me think of an exercise I did that led to one of my favorite stories (in fact, my first published short story).  I wrote a random scene for a science fiction story titled The Rift (now being released in comics form at www.ComicCritique.com).  Then I wrote a second scene for the short story which took place four days earlier and seemed to have no relation to the first scene.  Then I wrote a third scene which took place four months earlier, and again it seemed to have no relation to the two prior scenes.  I stopped then, looked at the three seemingly random scenes and told myself that I had to figure out how these three scenes related and worked together as part of one story.  It took me a while to uncover what was going on, but when I did, it was one of the most rewarding experiences I'd had in writing.  The story was there.  I just needed to discover it.

I guess that's what writing is.  Discovery.  We uncover truths buried inside us through our characters.  Our job is to throw out ideas and conflict, throw characters into the middle of it, and see what they do.  I never get tired of finding out how the story goes.  I hope you do to.  Trust yourself in your writing - the story's in there.  You just need to wait for it and write it down when it reveals itself. 

No Time to Waste

They say you make time for the things you love.  I love my wife, so I make time for her.  I love to read, so I make time for reading.  And I love to write - but the question is how to make time for writing given how busy my day job is.  I believe the answer lies in finding efficiencies and looking for writing time when it's not obvious.  For several months, I've been working every morning before my wife gets up, knocking out anywhere from a half hour to an hour of writing-related work before getting ready and dashing off to work. 

This past week I was out of town at a conference for work, and I found slower times during the speaking sessions that allowed my mind to work out details and plans for my new superhero series, Re-Do.  I kept a notebook so I could jot notes down from the conference in the front and notes from the comics series in the back.  Believe it or not, I was able to fully focus on the speakers and still get some quality work done on the series. 

As my day job is about to get busier and my life will have even less time, I realized that one long stretch of wasted time is my commute to and from work.  I life about 45 minutes away from where I work at Ft. Bragg, leaving me with a minimum of an hour and a half of dead time that I usually fill in with talk radio, music, or mentally working out story elements.  This week it dawned on me that I can do the actual writing without having my computer or notebook with me.

I have a digital audio recorder that's been in my desk for a couple years now.  My plan is to take it with me and record page, panel, and dialogue as if I'm at my desk writing.  Then, when time permits, I'll sit down and input it all into the computer.  In fact, the moment I sit to actually begin writing will be my first time to edit, refining the work as it's being entered. 

If it turns out how I'm hoping, this should be a significant boost to my writing time and will help keep me on the pace I'm hoping to keep.  I'll let you know how this experiment goes in a future blog.  And if you know of more ways to be more efficient, I'd love to hear them.

 

Where Do Ideas Come From?

A lot of writers get asked where do your ideas come from.  The answer for most of us is, I don't know.

I've developed a number of current and potential independent comics ideas, and so far, all of them have been either science fiction, horror, or some form of fantasy/fairy tale.  I had yet to come up with an independent super hero-related idea, and it's something I'd been wanting to do for some time.  Many times I'd told myself I really needed one, just to see what I could come up with.  Mark Millar has done multiple independent series such as Kick Ass, Nemesis, and Superior, Brian Michael Bendis has Jinx and Alias, and Ed Brubaker is writing the independent Incognito.  But every time I purposely tried to come up with something, nothing would come.

Today I decided to try again.  And today the idea struck.  I don't want to go into too much detail on the series, but it's called Re-Do.  The idea came so fast and so completely that I surprised myself.  I sometimes get ideas that formulate over a period of time, but this one seemed to spring fully grown right from inception. 

I can say the idea came as a result of a technique I learned at writer's conferences.  I was told that one thing that helps when pitching agents or editors is to pitch your story using a what if scenario.  For instance - what if a woman and her son are trapped in a locked car on a hot summer day by a rabid dog (this is the premise of Stephen King's Cujo)?  Or, what if humanity's only hope against an invading alien species lies in the training and command of a fleet by a small child (Ender's Game)?  Or my second novel, Honor, what if a cadet at the Air Force Academy discovers a terrorist plot big enough to kill tens of thousands and he's the only one who can stop it? 

Oh, all right, I'll tell you the premise I came up with for Re-Do, but I don't want to go into too much detail since there's other juicy parts that came to mind that are best discovered when it's released someday.  The what if for Re-Do - what if the world's only superhero, aged and on his deathbed, is given a chance to go back and re-do his life, remembering everything that ever happened in his past (every fight, every decision, every choice)?  As he reaches key moments and decisions in his life, he'll remember his past and how those events occured (similar to flashbacks in Lost) and we'll see how, if at all, he does things differently as well as the consequences. 

I loved the idea instantly and thought it's something I've personally never seen done.  Yes, many heroes become unstuck in time, and they've even been forced to re-live their own past (look at Ed Brubaker's recent Captain America Reborn).  But as far as I know, these characters have not consciously been able to alter their past and reflect on choices they made and how it could all change.

Maybe the idea sprang from recent thoughts I've been having about how I can never re-live my own past.  My time growing up in Kentucky in the 1970s and 1980s only resides in memory, as much as I would love to experience it again.  To see it through the eyes of today. 

So that's how this one came for me.  Every idea is different, and the way I come about them is unique.  But given enough time, the ideas do come.  It's my favorite part really, more than the actual writing.  I love being an idea generator, and sitting down to put it to paper is the laborsome part to me.  Paraphrasing Peter De Vries, I love to write, but I hate the paperwork.  I just wish writing wasn't so much paperwork.

First time screenwriting

One week into the new year, and I can report that writing is going well.  The biggest work I've done is digging into my first screenplay, an adaptation of my 4-issue webcomics horror story, Devolution, found at www.ComicCritique.com.  Having already written the story, it's made the process easier since I know where the story is going and, more importantly, what the whole point of the story is. 

That hasn't diminished the challenge of writing my first screenplay.  I still have to learn the art of crafting a story that comes across as something that catches an agent, reader, executive, and a studio's interest.  I love the story and its themes, but I must learn how to craft it as best I can as something that someone would be willing to spend money making it and that someone else would be willing to spend money to see it.  In other words, it has to be marketable.

Some may think the zombie horror genre is anything but marketable, that every last drop of originality has been squeezed out of that towel.  I would point to the recently released 6-episode run on AMC of Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead.  The strong critical accolades were matched by its popular appeal (it had the highest viewership of any original cable television show this season).  And the critical and popular praise was definitely justified on all fronts; from writing to acting to directing, the show was terrific.  On top of this, you have an upcoming movie version of the popular novel World War Z due in 2012, with Marc Forster directing (Quantum of Solace, Stranger than Fiction, Monster's Ball) and Brad Pitt starring.  This might be the perfect time to pitch a low-budget, high-concept zombie flick to a studio looking to make its mark. 

In addition to writing the story, I've dived into a few resources to help me learn how to do this.  Don't have time for film school or online courses, so books and screenplays will have to do.  I picked up Syd Field's The Screenwriter's Workbook as well as Your Screenplay Sucks!: 100 Ways to Make it Great by William Akers.  I also got scripts to the Dawn of the Dead remake and The Matrix.  And I want to get screenplays for Panic Room (which my story somewhat resembles) and 127 Hours, as both do a great job of having a story centered around almost one setting, similar to Devolution.  If anyone knows of any other good books on screenwriting or good scripts, let me know.

I've finished the first draft of Devolution Act I, and now I've mapped out the various sections of Acts II and III.  After watching Panic Room tonight, I'm already realizing what I need to do to change some things in the latter two acts. 

I've worked on some other writing - a little comics work and some slight development toward a new novel - but mostly it's been about the screenplay.  I'm enjoying it immensely and hope I can keep this pace in the coming weeks.  All things considered, it's been a good start to writing in 2011.  I'll keep tapping away and learning as I go. 

Happy 2011

Happy 2011 everyone, and welcome to the new MattYocum.com.  I hope to keep a reasonably consistent blog going here to keep you up to date on my life and in particular my writing.  As I usually do at the beginning of every year, I've made big plans for what I hope to accomplish in 2011, and we'll see how much of it I'm able to work in with a full time job in the Air Force and with plans to expand our family through adoption this year.

So what's coming out now and what's to come.  Right now I have two comics projects in the works, the first of which is a science fiction series titled The Rift that's already had a few installments released at www.ComicCritique.com.  With art by Alex Amezcua and based on a published short story I had many years ago, The Rift will follow the lives of those affected by an event on a Lunar colony, and the opening 3-issue arc covers the ground in the original short story.  I have long-term plans with The Rift that I'm excited to see come to light.

The second series that's in development right now is a light-hearted fairy tale adventure called ClosetWorld.  It's got a fantastic artist in John Amor who's got just the right style for this series.  The early installments are coming together, and installment 1 should be posted soon to www.ComicCritique.com. 

That's not all I have on tap at the moment.  I've got a few other comics I'm developing, including the early work on a vampire series called Communion that exposes the truth about real-world vampire cults.  And I've got pitches in with Marvel Comics, so we'll see if I can get one of these off the ground.  My last issue with Marvel came out in Wolverine #900, and it gave my former webcomic artist Jake Bilbao his first Marvel work, for which I'm extremely proud of him.

In addition, I've come to realize that the season of the zombie story is still in.  The Walking Dead hit the TV world by storm with a justifiably critically acclaimed 6-episode opening season on AMC and was promptly accepted for a second 13-episode season beginning Fall 2011.  And sometime in 2011 (I believe) the movie version of the book World War Z should be arriving in theaters.  With that in mind, I've decided to take the first step to building a screenplay around my 4-issue miniseries titled Devolution, found again at www.ComicCritique.com (you're starting to see a theme here with my independent work). 

Never one to rest on too few projects, I've added one more to the mix, a new novel.  Just last night my wife and I had dinner and came up with a fantastic idea for a new novel, a thriller that's so perfectly up my lane that I started as soon as we got home and worked all through the night last night (yes, I rang in the New Year writing, that's how excited I was).  This action/conspiracy thriller will be titled A Heart for bin Laden and follows a Special Operations airman on his search for the truth about his twin brother's death.  It's going to be a lot of fun to write, and hopefully I'll be able to fit this in with all the other projects.

Woven in all of this writing is all that's happening in life, including the impending adoption into our family.  Plus I have my work, which should be ramping up in the near future, and I've got to find time to work in my studies for the Air War College, a professional obligation now that I'm a lieutenant colonel. 

So, a busy 2011 awaits.  I can't think of a better way to start it than to get writing.