Writing a Comic Book Memoir: Part 5 (Character Sketches)

Hello Comic Book and Writing Fans!

This update is all about the artwork. Gale Galligan was kind enough to give me the okay to share some of her concept art and character sketches for the memoir. Right now I'm just going to post the character sketches for my brother and me during the opening of the book.

Clearly I have some action figure skills I should put on my resume.

Gale is incredibly talented and I'm thrilled to be working with her. I'll be sharing layouts and more character sketches as they arrive.

The ultimate goal is to complete the first 10-page chapter, which can stand on its own as a short story about how spousal abuse affects the lives of everyone involved. From there we'll be pitching the story as a complete work and then going on to finish it ourselves regardless.

I'll make sure to keep everyone posted on Crowbar as we continue with the book.

Thanks for reading! And make sure to look for me on an upcoming episode of Interrupted, a podcast hosted by Marshall Dillon.

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 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