Learning to Tone it Down
Posted by Simon J. Green | Filed under Comics, Uncategorized
I think it’s fair to say I’ve over-detailed my panels. Isn’t learning fun? We went over the first draft and ironed out some things, or, more correctly, identified wrinkles that require ironing. For a creative person whose ego is both extreme and fragile at the same time, a first draft is a horrible thing. It’s an awkward, unsure blunder into uncharted territory, a foray into the jungle that, due to its lack of age, invariably gets tangled in the vines and looks foolish in front of its party. The first draft is completely necessary though. It must be awkward. It defines misunderstandings and the parts that are weakest. It allows the editor and artist to have a peek inside the writer’s mind, a mind that may have been cocooned until now. A writer used to collaboration feels anxiety when he or she submits his first draft, but he comes to terms with it by knowing his limits and admitting that he isn’t doing this alone.
I wonder if this first draft anxiety is the biggest road block in writers who never show anyone anything? Show it folks! I guarantee there will be things wrong with your first draft, but I also guarantee that showing it to people will make your story better.
The lesson I learned from my first draft is I’ve worried too much about panel layouts. I’ve given too much thought to the angles and stage direction of characters. Am I unhappy with this revelation? Hell to the no! It frees me up to focus on just telling the story. Our delightful artists can worry about how the panels best tell that story. The experts can do what they do best. I’ve been told it depends which artist you deal with as to how detailed descriptions of panel layouts are. I can see it also depends on how important a layout is to the story. I look forward to the next draft.
Killeroo is the creation of Darren Close, all around comic geek, freelance designer and poker tragic. His parents are so proud.
March 1, 2010 at 2:14 am
I think also you’re in perhaps the unique position of writing for a character who has only really been established in his creator’s head – not an easy assignment.
But I do know exactly what you mean about anxiety getting in the way of telling anyone anything at all. That’s how we got to where we are now!
Cant wait for 2nd draft myself