Interrupted Podcast with Marshall Dillon

Hello Internet!

I'm a little late on this one, but I wanted to share the new episode of the Interrupted Podcast again. Marshall Dillon asked me to come on and talk about some of my writing history and process, and of course we went off topic in the best ways possible.

Check out Episode 9: "That's a bad idea, Kenny."

I had a great time talking with Marshall about writing comics and how I put a script together. I was also jazzed to talk about Barnstormers!, which I'm collaborating on with Renata Castellani.

Subscribe to the podcast through iTunes and give Marshall Dillon, Ben Hunzeker, and Chris Kirby a listen on your phone or mp3 player.

Talk to you soon!

- Kenny

Rewriting While Writing

Hello Comic Book Fans!

I wrote a new page of a script I'm working on called Hit 'em High this morning. I only had five to six panels to tell a complete scene and the shift from the character being in a hopeful state to going to a disappointed that he got what he wanted state.

Does that make sense? It's early and the coffee hasn't kicked in yet.

Coffee approved by the Comics Code.

I only got the one page done this morning, but I took extra time to make sure the scene worked (at least for this draft). I used to rush through drafts just to finish things, but I feel like my writing has improved by slowing down and making sure I do rewrites as I work.

Stephen King's On Writing had a few sections that talked about writing and rewriting. I haven't read the book in several years, but I remember him saying that you shouldn't do rewrites until you've walked away from the project for a little while.

Here's a related quote from On Writing from Business Insider:

Part of "22 lessons from Stephen King on how to be a great writer" businessinsider.com

This is the most direct quote I can find that talks about "identifying the trees" when it comes to character, but it applies to all aspects of the story.

My only problem with waiting so long to work on a draft is that your intentions and idea of the story can change after waiting. I might want to completely change what the story is about and undo the original intention of the piece because I waited to long to go back to the project. Rewriting while writing allows me to think about what's happening while I write instead of after I write the story.

Do you feel the same way?

Would you rather wait to rewrite a story until after you've completed the entire project?

Post a comment and let me know!

Thanks for listening to today's rambling on writing and comics and a bigger thanks for reading this blog post.

Talk to you soon!

- Kenny

Writing a Comic Book Memoir: Part 4 (Restructuring)

Hello Comic Fans!

It's been a few days since I've updated, but sometimes life finds a way to stop your blog. Sometimes its with hospital visits and helping family, sometimes its because someone created dinosaurs in a theme park by splicing frog DNA.

Well put Dr. Malcolm.
(You can find this on Etsy by sweetandlovely)

But I've still been writing and working on the memoir whether I've posted about it or not. Gale and I email frequently and talk about the project, as well as just check up on each other since we're both quality people. I'm going to say it a lot, but Gale is a fantastic collaborator.

Right now my challenge is breaking the second chapter. I have a general outline and a solid ending, I'm just discovering new recurring themes and elements in my true story that I didn't notice until now. It's like my life is a movie I've had on in the background a hundred times, but never sat down to actually watch and analyze the damn thing. Once you do you start noticing some pretty interesting stuff.

One recurring element in my life is prison or imprisonment. I'm kind of the black sheep of my immediate family, because I'm the only one that's never been incarcerated. But there's a period of my life that was very much like being in prison, and playing with that element in the story is going to be important.

At least I think it will be.

I'll be sharing some layouts and character sketches in the next post, as well as a more solid synopsis. I wanted Gale's permission before I started posting stuff, because this is her project just as much as it is mine.

I'm also willing to share script pages and talk about the writing process if anyone is interested. Just leave a comment with any questions you have and I'll make sure to answer them!

Thanks for reading and keep on writing!

- Kenny

Writing a Comic Book Memoir: Part 2

Hey Readers!

Despite a very surprising and stressful day I was actually able to get a few script pages of Crowbar done today.

This was me today.

One thing about writing a true story and focusing on the key scenes of my life that relate to the narrative is that I'm having to do a lot more skips in time than I originally thought I would. I knew going into the story that there would be major events at different stages of my life, but I wanted to try and convey the same feelings or problems over the course of years on a single page.

I think I covered it in this first draft, but luckily I can always go back and rewrite it if it doesn't work. Knowing that I'm going to have to rewrite a story eventually is a blessing when it comes to moving on with the project. One of the things I clashed over with some of my professors in college was that most writing students aren't taught to finish anything.

What was their excuse?

"It's all about the process," they said.

Well no amount of process matters if you don't finish writing the damn thing. Not every comic I write ends up being drawn or published, but I at least make sure to finish the script. I'll even finish scripts or stories for things that I know I'm not going to send out.

That's a thing I've heard about from some other writers lately, that it's good to just finish things no matter how good or bad they are. I've found that it helps me target areas where my writing could be stronger and I make a point of improving on it the next time around.

I do have some character sketches that I can share, but I'm going to ask for permission before I do that.

Until then enjoy a piece of comic book storytelling craft talk from master Scott McCloud as he talks about clarity in making comics.

Scott McCloud lays down the science of simplicity in storytelling.

Thanks for keeping up with this blog as I continue to work on my comic book memoir. Or is it just called a true story because of the collaboration thing? I still haven't looked that up, so I promise I'll do that for the next post!

- Kenny

Writing a Comic Book Memoir: Part 1

Hello Internet!

I've recently decided to tell the story about my mother's attempted murder and how it affected me as a person and eventually led me to writing and creating comics. I'm collaborating on a pitch for the book now with the superb Gale Galligan, and I decided to document the process on my blog.

Why you ask?

For a few reasons. The first is that I don't update my blog enough, so this is a chance for me to explore and talk about my own writing while taking on a type of project that I've never done before. The second reason is that I want to be held accountable for finishing the project, no matter how long it takes!

Right now I've written Chapter 1 (of 6) and Gale is working on character sketches. Once I get her permission I'll share them with you, but for now I'll show you a picture of the document I'm working on right now.

Riveting picture right there--document porn!

I'm currently envisioning the finished story at about 60 pages minimum, but for now Gale and I are only worrying about the first 10-page chapter.

More images and information to come!

Right now the only challenge I have is what to label the comic. Is it memoir? Or is it just a true story because it's a collaboration?

I'm interested in any and all thoughts on the subject!

If you have any questions please comment below and I'll address them in the next post. Until then keep reading and keep writing!

- Kenny

Su-Zan: Queen of the Wild (4-Page Comic Story)

Su-Zan: Queen of the Wild

A short comic book that Jim Towe and I worked on. Some of my favorite things in pulp stories are futuristic versions of Earth, animal people, super science, and jungle characters. I decided to mix them all into this little story.

Enjoy!

I just finished a script for a mini-series version of this story, too. I just dig the idea of a super-powered space scientist lady... Who also is a jungle warrior.

She has a lot on her plate.

Comic Book Script Archive and Formatting

Comic Book Script Archive

One of the great things about writing comics is that there's no set format for writing a script. Unlike screenwriting, where there are lots of set rules that have to be applied to formatting. I've been playing around with my own template for writing comic book scripts in word, and I've been getting inspiration from The Comic Book Script Archive, which is a part of Andy Schmidt's Comics Experience.

What I like about the archive is that has lots of scripts from some of comics' greatest writers, as well as a template from Comics Experience for newcomers to use for their own scripts. While picking the same scripting style as another writing won't make you a better writer yourself, sometimes it just helps to see how some writers tackle different panel descriptions and how they communicate to the artist.

Some of the writers that are featured are Warren Ellis, Jason Aaron, Matt Fraction, Neil Gaiman, Mark Waid, and Brian K. Vaughan.

I actually used the Comics Experience template as a jumping off point for my own script format, which is pictured below.

Kenny Porter's Current Script Template

If you want more information on how to format scripts or create your own template I'd suggest reading Make Comics Like the Pros by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente. They lay out how to create your own template in a very simple, concise way.

Grand Rapids Comic Con - Independent Comics Panel on Saturday!

Independent Comics and Such

This Saturday I'll be on a panel with Andy Budnick, Jim Towe, and Matt Maldonado talking about creating independent comics and publishing them. We'll also talk about how we got into comics, collaboration, and will be answering any questions you have about our process or projects.

Here's the information on the panel:

12:45 to 1:45 pm

Andy Budnick, Jim Towe, Kenny Porter and Matt Maldonado, “Helpful Tips for Independent Publishing”: Learn tips and tricks for publishing your own works independently. Panel will discuss Kickstarters and digital releases to shopping your material around to small publishers.

So if you're curious about making your own comics come on over to our panel and we'll do our best to answer your questions!

Hope to see you tomorrow!

- Kenny