January 4th, 2010 by Neal
The Hal comic, Sex in Trade, is done. I’m now going to spend a few weeks reading and deciding what to do next. I have a Hal book in me right now, and the basic underpinnings of a good plot, but I may just do something else this time, depending on how the books move me one way or another.
More news soon.
December 18th, 2009 by Neal
Okay, nine hours of editing, the script is completely reformatted, edited down, and I think… I THINK…. in the can.
One more read-through, and it’s set, I do believe. I can do that leisurely tomorrow.
Sex in Trade done been traded.
December 17th, 2009 by Neal
Neal tired. Neal did much editing. Neal changed the entire script format, culled even more dialogue, and is at peace with the form, to a degree, at least.
Sadly, Neal has one more day until he’s supposed to take a week and a half off, so he may be:
As it stands, though, I feel relatively confident I may succeed. And if not, hey, what the hell, I’ll work on.
I learned so much from this script, it feels rad.
December 16th, 2009 by Neal
There is something very fun about discovering a new medium and a new way of coming at my craft. I’ve written some forty comic scripts (I think seven have been drawn), but something always jumps out to nip you in the ass and say, “Hey, you don’t know all you think you know.”
I can academically look at a script and know that pictures drive a comic, and that the words should be minimal, but the decisive factor of how minimal is a matter of both taste and subjective judgment, and I haven’t fully formed that judgment yet. I study scripts from professionals, I look at what works in a comic and what doesn’t.
Bendis, for example, has a ton of dialogue. Others have small dialogue, but many panels. Others have few panels and medium dialogue. I’ve been looking at them all, particularly the ones I admire.
Past Lies, Whiteout, Queen and Country (less mystery, yes, but usually with an element of intrigue), Criminal. They all come at it from different angles.
Hal is a jabber-jaw, which is a real pain in the ass when trying to cull it down. I have spent most of this third draft taking down the dialogue. It quite literally went from 163 pages to 143, I think it is now.
My novels were coming up short on word count because I edit so hard, so I spent a lot of effort learning how to make my character express himself more, how to elaborate on surroundings more, and now I turn around into a minimalism on beyond levels I’ve experienced.
It’s fun, if scary. I’m still working at it.
I thought I was going to be done tonight, but now I realize I need to pop in at least a few more drafts. I’ll probably finish just in time to turn thirty. Wootah.
December 9th, 2009 by Neal
…is done.
At least the rough draft. Now, to edit…
December 8th, 2009 by Neal
I’ve pounded out the mystery portion of the book, and now I’m hitting the denouement… this all went so fast. Comics are definitely faster than novels, but oy, kind of strange nonetheless.
I’m really enjoying this process.
December 7th, 2009 by Neal
I guess that’s as good a line of dialogue to end a day on as any other.
I did a lot today, but it doesn’t feel like it. Ah, action scenes.
December 3rd, 2009 by Neal
Now there’s a character in the Hal Universe named Asshole Pete, following my example the other day. That’s how we do.
I am currently REALLY enjoying this process. Graphic novels give you room to breathe. I was scared at first, but I am warming to it.
December 1st, 2009 by Neal
Heather is Bitch’s real name, but if she ever hears you call her that, she will pull your scrotum off. I call her Heather in my head, but on the page, it’s always Bitch, because that’s what she wants. Is that possible to believe? If it isn’t, you probably don’t write much.
The thing I love about Bitch as a character is that she actually does more physical damage to Hal on a regular basis than the villains who are trying to silence and stop him. She literally hits him with cars and tries to kill him on a regular basis.
I had to visualize her a little more for the comic (something I try not to do in novels, following the lead of others who have wisely suggested leaving such to the reader). Her attire in this escapade, I have determined, is a peasant shirt with no bra, a utilikilt, and Doc Marten boots with no socks.
God love that mutant. Only Hal could otherwise.
The only thing I hate about her character is the way I feel at times I have to tiptoe around her name. But then, that’s the job of writing, to couch concepts in such a way. It’s a lot harder with something I know to be blatantly offensive to most out of context. But then I just say to myself, do you care for people who take things out of context and distort them?
Nah. I mean, how many can there be? Bring it on!
::Suddenly panics, realizing his audience is the comic book crowd.::
All kidding aside though, Bitch as a character is Bitch in the same way a biker guy might call himself Asshole Pete.
“Why ya called Asshole Pete, Asshole Pete?”
“Because I’m about to break this chair on your face, Stephen!”
“Why?”
“Because I can!”
See, that flies with big dudes, but it doesn’t so much when you’re playing with the term Bitch, especially given that she’s a teeny lady. At the same time, if you never push boundaries like that, they never get explored, and I’m comfortable enough that my intent is benign to carry on.
Oh my God. I just realized something hilarious. More on that in the next book. Not to crypto-post it up, but I just realized something awesome. But that’ll be for another day.
November 30th, 2009 by Neal
Progress is still strong. I am always discomfited by pages without dialogue, mostly because I love dialogue, and also because it feels lazy, to a degree, to lean on the artist like that to tell the story. I did three pages of it, and in 100 that will seem like nothing, but to write it is somewhat strangely stressful. It needed to be done, though. Can’t have a character talking to himself for the sake of talking to himself, or my character would be like this blog. Hey-oh!
At any rate, work continues apace.
