A Big Thank You

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who supported Artifacts #33 being released last week. I'm just happy to have produced a comic that so many people enjoyed.

I promise more projects in the future, but for now enjoy your Wednesday pull lists!

Writing Comics with Ken Porter - Part 1: The Idea

The first installment of many!

The most dreaded question in any facet of the writing kingdom is “where do you get your ideas from?” For budding writers or creative types, it seems like a valid question. There wouldn’t be content if people didn’t have a means of finding ideas for stories, projects, or other endeavors. The truth is that generally creative people can’t turn it off. It just keeps happening. The best way I can describe how my process works is in two words – what if?

But it isn’t just the two words that contribute to my wondering imagination. I’m also heavily influenced by music. I walk the dog every morning and take lots of other walks just for fun. Each time I hit the pavement or trail I throw my headphones on and pick music that suits my mood. I’ve always been really into visual mediums, so music is also visual for me. What I mean by that is that while I’m listening to any song I default to picturing images to go along with it. Sometimes it’s a fake trailer for a movie. Other times I just let the images pour over me. To be honest, when I’m in a bit of a rut, I’ll listen to theme songs of cartoons and TV shows I liked as a kid (or now) and think about how I would reinterpret them. Aside from divine inspiration, this is how I usually milk the ideas out of my skull.

Once I have an idea for a comic book and have a story locked down I think about how long it should naturally be. Is it a one-shot, an original graphic novel, or a mini-series? It might sound strange to decide how long a story is going to be before you write it, but in comics you’re working in pages and limited space. For example, a lot of the Big Two (Marvel and DC) comics are just about 20 pages long. That means that every story told by writers at those companies have to be told in 20 pages or in parts of that increment. Independent series have a bit more leeway with the page count, but it’s still around 20 or 24 on average.

This doesn’t have to be set in stone. It usually changes after a day or two of outlining, but it’s good to know within a good margin how long a story is going to be before you start it. I guess at least for me it is. One thing about writing comics is that there is no set way to approach or script a story. It’s similar to screenwriting, but doesn’t have all of the rules and regulations. The concept of pacing is really important, so if a story seems like it’s going to be too condensed or too fluffy I’ll trim or expand where necessary.

When the idea is fleshed out I make a one-sheet that has all of the series information. This isn’t for anyone else to see but me. It’s just a guide so that I don’t forget.

Here’s an example.

Title: A Crazy Space Adventure

Genre: Science Fiction/Action/Thriller

Length: 4-Issues (20-Pages Each)

Synopsis:

Captain Space Guy and his crew struggle to solve a murder mystery before the killer can crash their ship into the sun.

Characters:

Captain Space Guy

This is where the description would go. Etc.

And that’s generally what I do first. I need to know what the story is and who the major players are. Then I usually write out a treatment, or complete story in paragraph form, of what happens in each issue below that information. That way I have a guide on how to pace the pages of the story later.

I’ll get more into how I decide to pace out pages in the second installment, but for now I hope this helps with anyone who uses Google to try and find information about comic book writing.

Comment with any questions you might have!

The Three Dates Rule - Humorous Essay

This is a humorous essay I recently wrote in my Writing with Style class. I thought I would go ahead and share it with all of you.

The Three Dates Rule

Anyone who tries to tell you that dating has concrete rules is a liar. That or they've never been on an actual date in their adult life. When you try to put rules on something as complicated as romance you end up with creepy contractual obligations. One of the biggest myths is that after three dates you’re going to have sex with the other person. No contest, it’s set in stone. This rule has been perpetuated in pop culture for decades and has been floating around since the days of Seinfeld. I don’t like to be told how much time I have to spend with someone before I can sleep with them, or that I have to sleep with them on the third rendezvous. It puts a whole level of pressure on the situation that no one is talking about but everyone is thinking. Because, let’s be honest, sex is always on your mind when you’re attracted to someone new.

            I sometimes wonder if this rule stemmed out of the popular baseball metaphor. The whole first base, second base, and third base representations of how far you made it with the person you went out with the night before. The general consensus is that first base is making out, second base is a feel of the breasts, and third base (and I kid you not with the number of times I've seen this typed online) is “manipulation of the vagina.” Those are four words I never want associated with me in the history of my dating career. It sounds like the opening statement for a very unpleasant prosecution case in a court of law. Another thing that doesn't play fair in this scenario is that it’s only counting achievements for men on the female body. Where’s the equivalent for women? I would love to see an exchange where a couple of ladies finally get their due.

            “I made it to second base last night,” says the first woman.

            “You cupped his balls? Were you checking him for cancer?” asks the second. They then smile and share a high five. Because hey, she deserves it just as much as any guy would in that scenario.

This brings me back to the whole rule about three dates and then a mutual agreement to jump in the sack. Do women think this about guys too? I know it’s a common thought that the woman has to sleep with you on the third date, which is the creepiest form of punch-card romance I've ever heard, but do women have the same standards? Women could very well be thinking that they just have to take a guy to dinner three times before he’ll finally put out. I’d like to think not, but the stereotype for the time frame might have already driven it into their heads. It’s definitely infected the minds of enough men willing to jump at the chance of guaranteed sex.

I’m not saying that people should wait longer, or abstain, or take the advice of any after school special where a cartoon mascot tells them how to control their body. If Bugs Bunny tried to tell you when it was appropriate for you to sleep with someone else would you take it seriously? It’s already hard to hear abstinence advice from animation, but then to hear it from a rabbit that bases half his jokes on dressing up in drag and seducing other men is downright ridiculous. He clearly has his own issues he needs to work out, and maybe a commitment to a lifestyle change, before he dispenses abstinence advice to anyone. What it really boils down to is for the feeling to be right. If you put a time stamp on everything in a relationship then you’re just going through the motions until you reach the next step.

Let’s pretend that people do go through a time-plotted relationship. On the first date you kiss. On the second date you do a little more feeling around. On the third date you actually have sex. On the fifteenth date you jokingly throw out the idea of one of you wearing a costume to bed, which may or may not be greeted with hostility. On the fortieth date you notice your significant other talking about how attractive your best friend is just a little too much. On the one-hundredth date you have to get married, no exceptions. And if you don’t make it to five hundred dates by the end of your fifth year of marriage then you have to get divorced. See how stupid that is? Although it might work out for the best if you do get divorced because they were clearly harboring feelings for your best friend anyway. Still, it’s stupid to put a numeric value on it.

The bottom line should be that dating and sex should have no rules. As long as consenting adults are both interested, enjoy each other’s company, and don’t find the other one too repulsive, everything should be fair game. One, two, three, or a hundred dates later, there’s should be no time commitment for reaching any base or home plate. And if there is a book with these rules, do you trust the person who wrote it? No one who makes rules in their favor to get laid is someone worth listening to, although they might just have an obsessive compulsion disorder focused on baseball.