Thanks to all that attended the session Cindy Grigg and I are presented at Salt Lake Comic Con FanX at on Friday, April 18, 2014 at 10:00 AM! Great questions and awesome discussion and judging by the comments afterwards, there was a lot of useful information learned along the way.
Here’s a link to download the slide deck from the session:
Writing Software Showdown Slides
I’ve been kind of bummed the past few months with the amount of books I’ve read that I won’t mention here because they were such a disappointment. As I mentioned in a previous post, I don’t do negative reviews. Most of these books were self-published and unfortunately it showed. I have absolutely nothing against self-published books. In fact, I love them and couldn’t be more excited about this publishing option.
It’s not every self-published author but a disturbing number are still not taking it seriously. They are designing their own covers (it looks like they’re using MS PowerPoint). They’re not paying for editing services so the books are riddled with grammatical errors. Worst of all, they seem to not be using a critique group or beta readers to find plot holes and make the story more interesting.
Here’s a few of the things that these “let-down” books had in common:
Grammatical errors – I know it costs money and I know for many self-publishers, money is super tight. I want to be sensitive to that but I feel like if you can’t care enough about your readers to hire a copy editor, then it’d be better if you hold off on publishing.
Amateur book covers – I wish I could post some examples and I don’t want to hurt any struggling authors but frankly, you know when you see them. Covers put together by non-designers in a non-professional way. Even spending a small amount of money with an up and coming designer makes a world of difference.
Poor plot structure – Plot holes, scenes that should have been cut, and confusing chapters are just unacceptable when the competition is so fierce today in publishing.
Weak story – This is my biggest annoyance. Give me something I haven’t seen before. Surprise me. Make me feel something. Don’t give me cliches, tired dialogue, obvious story lines, and overused settings.
To be fair, it’s not only a problem with self-publishing. Several of the books I’ve read recently were published traditionally and while they didn’t suffer from the grammatical errors and the book covers looked at least passable, many were just not great stories. Confusing, boring, full of plot holes, and overflowing with cliches. Frankly, I’d rather deal with grammar errors than a boring story so I guess the above applies to everyone.
The thing is that in many cases, at least traditional publishing provided a filter for the garbage. Now that the barriers to publishing are broken down, it’s harder to tell what is quality and what is crap. A quality cover, a great first page, an excellent story, an awesome blurb. Those are things that can help a self-published book compete with the big boys.
There’s already a stigma associated with self-publishing so if anything, a self-published book needs to be better than the average traditional published book just to be competitive. I truly believe self-publishing can be successful (it already is for several unique books) and is the most exciting thing happening in publishing today but self-publishing’s only going to hit the great heights it’s capable of if self-publishers take it seriously and invest their writing work with quality and value.
Last year, Salt Lake City, UT had their first ever Comic Convention and it was a unbelievable success. It set new attendance records for the biggest first-year comic con in history. It was also the biggest convention ever held in Salt Lake City. This year (2014), they are going even bigger and have two separate Conventions planned. September will be the next Comic Con but next week: April 17, 18, & 19 will be the first ever Salt Lake Comic Con FanXperience 2014.
Salt Lake Comic Con was gracious enough to ask me to come and present at FanX. I’m excited to be speaking on several panels & sessions for all three days. I’ll try my best to make it fun and informative and share what I know with a smile 🙂
FanX differs from comic con in that it is more focused on meeting celebrities. The guest list is massive for this event and the focus is on coming to meet some of your favorite creators and actors from comics/TV/movies, getting autographs / pictures, and cosplaying. There will also be a series of daily workshops and panels for attendees to check out and a floor show with vendors selling celebrity art & memorabilia.
Here’s the list of Panels and presentations I will be on this year:
1:00 pm: DIY Filmmaking: A Guide to Independent Cinema
2:00 pm: Taking that First Step: Creating an Independent Comic Book
10:00 am: Writing Software Showdown: The Best Tools for Writing Novels, Screenplays & Comics
* I will be co-presenting this session with the amazingly talented Cindy Grigg.
11:00 am: Conceptual Design in Comics and Film
6:00 pm: 39 Steps to Bates Motel: Why Hitchcock Still Resonates
10:00 am: Downton Abbey: How a Stuffy British Drama Became One of TV’s Most Addictive Shows
If you are planning to attend FanX, would love to see you so come by and say hello!
A documentary recently came out on Blu-Ray that does a great job of telling the story of the making of The Who’s landmark album Tommy. The documentary is called: Sensation: The Story of the Who’s Tommy. Highly recommended for any fan of The Who or classic rock in general (frankly, anyone who loves music).
What struck me most as I watched the film was how hard the band pushed themselves out of their comfort zones. Before Tommy, The Who’s music was very mainstream, jangley, pop. Tommy put them decidedly on the “rock” map and catapulted them easily into the top three rock bands (The Beatles and The Rolling Stones being the other two) in the world at the time.
There’s a lot to learn about creativity and art from Tommy. It’s not even my all-time favorite album from the band but it is brilliant, it’s bold, and it’s so important. Tommy was released in 1969, the same year we walked on the moon and frankly, it took rock music to the same grand heights of achievement.
The documentary spends a lot of time interviewing Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey (the only surviving members of the original band), getting their analysis of the recording and song writing process and a lot of interesting stories along the way. There were a couple of things in particular that really made Tommy special as both a creative project and musical art form:
Quite a bit of the album is played as well throughout the documentary which will make you want to go listen to the entire double-album afterwards. If you haven’t heard Tommy before, now you have some homework because it’s a masterpiece. If it’s been awhile, you’ll be dying to spin it again after watching this documentary. If you want some creative inspiration, this is definitely one to watch.
Back when I started working on Shutter (a horror comic book series), I started getting questions from friends and acquaintances, wondering why I was writing a horror story. If you’re a horror fan, then this question probably seems odd and confusing. But if you’re like (what seems like) the vast majority, horror is a scary thing you avoid and in most cases don’t understand (or want to).
The first question to ask is what is horror? There are so many categories within the horror genre. Here’s a quick list of a few of the most common:
This is only a short list, there are many others but it doesn’t begin to include all the aspects of horror. Just because a book or a film is not specifically cataloged in the horror genre, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have aspects of horror. There are a lot of action, science fiction, fantasy, dramas and even comedies that have really scary moments. That’s because horror isn’t a genre, its a feeling.
But when people have asked me why I would write horror, why focus on something so terrible and nasty, why bring more negativity into the world (as they perceive it), I’ve had trouble articulating a succinct answer. I love being scared. It’s fun. I love stories with characters that are in near hopeless situations and seeing how they get out of it. I love supernatural stories, exploring the unknown, what could be possible.
Many people think they don’t like horror but these same people have watched countless other movies and read several books that had horror elements. A lot of the Twilight Zone’s episodes were straight-up horror but it isn’t traditionally classified as a horror show for instance.
Horror writer Michaelbrent Collings made a statement in a panel at LTUE 2014 that really helped me articulate why I love horror. Here’s a paraphrase of what Michaelbrent said:
Horror is the only genre that allows a writer to bring a character to their absolute deepest, darkest, lowest point. And because the character can be brought so low, the final redemption of the character is more powerful than any other genre.
A good example of this is the account of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Whether or not you believe in the story, one of the reasons it still resonates so strongly with people around the world is that Jesus was brought lower than imaginable through his trial, whipping, and crucifixion. It is true horror. So his subsequent resurrection and ascendance into heaven is that much more satisfying and wondrous.
It’s a better way of describing it than any I had heard before. There are other reasons of course, but the main thing about horror for me is that the character arc can be bigger, more impactful, more satisfying than any other genre. That’s why even my non-horror stories many times have horror elements to them.
It may come as a shock to find out I was a judge at the 2014 Miss Pleasant Grove Pageant. It’s not something I’ve ever done before or thought I’d ever be involved in but I’m honestly glad I did it. Thanks to a good family friend for thinking of me, I was asked and I thought about it for a minute… then said, “why not?”
Miss Pleasant Grove is governed under the Miss American pageant system. The rules for the Miss America competition require there to be five judges with four being experienced pageant judges and one being what’s called a “novice” judge. That was me. I was the novice judge who had no previous experience with pageants in any way. (I’ve now graduated to experienced having judged a full pageant).
They were looking for someone from the local community / neighboring cities that would provide a unique perspective on the pageant and somehow thought of me. I decided to say yes if for nothing else than to experience something I’d never done before and maybe even come up with some story ideas or characters from it.
Like many of you, I had some negative perceptions of pageants in general. My only experiences with them were watching air-head girls on TV who seemed fake, plastic, shallow, and entirely obsessed with their looks. TV is a visual medium and so all these televised pageants only show us the girls in evening gowns, swimsuits, and different dresses. I assumed most pageants were just a sexist, shallow way to exploit women.
There may be pageants out there like the negative notions I had but Miss America is most certainly not one of them. This is an academic scholarship pageant. 70% of the judge’s score is weighted on intelligence, talent, and service the contestant performs. The other 30% is on grace, poise, and physical fitness. I was super impressed with how hard these girls had to work.
They spend literally months before the pageant preparing. They have to develop a cause called their “platform” where they do something to make the community a better place. They have to raise money for their charity. They get on a health and exercise program to foster a healthy lifestyle. They develop their talents and learn confidence that will open so many more doors to them in life.
Here’s a few thoughts I took away from the competition:
When asked at the end if I’d ever judge again by one of the other judges, I said “yes.” It was a great way to do some community service and I felt like this pageant is really something worthwhile to support.
As is the tradition at the end of March each year, I (and the rest of the CrankLeft team) attended Emerald City Comic Con 2014. This is the 7th year I’ve attended and the 4th year in a row I’ve been an exhibitor in the Artist Alley. Over 75,000 people attended this year, a new record. Comic book fans have gone mainstream in a big way.
One of the things I really love about Seattle’s comic convention is that it’s truly focused on comics. This is a convention where comics and art still rule. Some of the other conventions have become much more focused on movies and TV shows and while there’s still a lot of that at Emerald City, most exhibitors and nearly every booth in the Artist Alley is full of comics and unique artwork.
Here’s me in front of our CrankLeft booth right before the show started.
For those of you who haven’t been to a Comic Convention before (or Emerald City for that matter), here’s the lowdown:
One of the funnest things is seeing all the people dressed up. We take photos of some of the best costumes and put them up at crankleft.com after the show but here’s a few pictures I took that give you an idea of the diversity of costumes at the show. It may be a “freak show” to the untrained eye but it’s more like a second Halloween to the attendees.
I shared a few photos on my Instagram / Twitter feed but here’s a couple of others I took while I was walking around that were particularly unique:
A great Bumblebee Transformer costume.
Watchmen was one of the books that made me want to write comics. This is the best Dr. Manhattan costume I’ve ever seen.
They did a Princess Bride screening at the Con this year and it brought in some clever accompanying costumes.
I’d never seen a Zena costume before. Great design!
I loved “V” when I was a kid (still do actually). This guy had the whole costume just perfect. The rat is a great touch.
Here’s a few of the highlights from this year:
T-Shirt Blowout: We sold out of all our Big Trouble in Little China T-Shirts. Every single one, even the bunch of Double-XL’s that we’d printed too many of. Super popular item and we’ll be doing another run of those for this coming year for sure.
The last 2 of the Big Trouble in Little China shirts before were sold out.
Shutter & Bukeey new issues: Both Shutter and Bukeey released new issues. Excited to see all the new readers picking up the books and all the people who have bought issues in the past searching us out at the Con to get the next. Grateful for so many awesome fans and I couldn’t be more excited to get right to work on the next issues.
Here I am with Mike Hammons (Artist for Shutter) and Chad Bever (Artist for Bukeey) on the first day of the Con.
Friends and Fans: I was blown away by the support from so many fans. One of the best things about going each year to Emerald City is seeing all the other artists and friends you’ve made along the way. I wish I had photos of all of the other friends and their booths to share here. Truly, that’s one of the most special things about Comic Con.
If you’ve never gone, give it a try. Comic Con’s are super fun. If you’re a veteran of Con’s, glad to have you along and can’t wait to see you next year at Emerald City!
Tomorrow Emerald City Comic Con opens its doors for another year of comic book pandemonium. We will be in the Artist Alley at booth I-05. That’s in the front Artist Alley close to the entrance. Here’s a map of our location:
We’ve got quite a few things new this year that are launching for the first time ever. There’s a new issue of Shutter and a new issue of Bukeey. We’ve also got a special con-exclusive print that you get if you buy two or more comics (or spend over $15 on shirts and other stuff). It’s a Shutter-themed print and totally rocks. Here’s the exclusive first look:
I’ll be there through the weekend until Sunday. Come by the booth and say “hi!” I’d love to see you!
Rachelle J. Christensen gave a talk at LTUE 2014 titled: Plots to Die For. It was filled with tips and tricks on how to add more mystery and suspense to your plots & story-lines. You can find Rachelle’s website and blog here:
http://www.rachellechristensen.com/
Rachelle lead a discussion in our session where we brainstormed a plot in realtime and worked to increase the suspense and mystery within that off-the-cuff plot. Her presentations (I attended both) were very well prepared and organized and she provided a detailed powerpoint that illustrated the concepts she taught. Here’s some of my notes from the session:
What should happen in the first chapter to really draw the reader in?
Thrust the reader into the storyline
Make sure you are starting right when the story begins and not before. Pick the most interesting event that starts the story and get right to it.
Introduce the characters
Help the reader get to know your characters by their actions, not backstory.
Inciting incident within the first three pages
The protagonist’s circumstances need to change in a compelling way within the first three pages.
Character forced into action
The character must not have an easy way out. They need to be moved to action.
End chapter on a cliffhanger
The chapter should end with a story question that the reader is dying to get answered, drawing them into turning the page.
If this is how chapter one should go, then the question is:
No boring chapters. No filler scenes.
Apply pressure to your characters, then ratchet up that pressure until it looks like there is no hope.
Setting – make sure there is a reason your story is set in the place you have chosen. It should factor into the plot.
Characters – show small intimate details that leave the reader with a sense of wonder, wanting to turn the pages to explain what the writer has just shown them.
High Stakes – the only person that should feel helpless in the story is the reader themselves. Make sure your crisis is important to the reader.
Questions – create questions your reader wants answered.
Foreshadowing – hint that something might happen. Even better, throw in a twist where the hinted is different than what the reader expected.
Problems – make some of the character’s problems gray with no easy choices. Choices can be lose-lose so there isn’t a good option.
My favorite idea Rachelle brought up is the comparison of your story’s scenes to film scenes:
Apply movie budgeting to your story. If one scene in a film costs (on average) $300,000 to produce, then ask yourself, is your story’s scene worth $300,000? Would it be cut if the story were adapted for film because it wasn’t interesting enough?
Shutter Issue #2 is off to the printers and will be officially released at the Emerald City Comic Con on March 28. But in the meantime, I wanted to show a preview of some pages and the official cover to wet your whistle.
First off, here’s the cover reveal for Shutter Issue #2:
We had a lot of fun with this cover. The idea of a train being fueled by human bones. The title of this issue is the Hell-Bound Train and this cover fit perfectly with that idea.
Mike Hammons artwork is particularly stellar in this issue. My favorite page is actually one with no dialogue where Robert stares out the window as the late afternoon turns to night. I just love how the colors and tones evolve through the panels on this page.
One more. I love this creepy photographer that wants to take Robert’s picture. This is another favorite page from this issue:
This issue is a journey issue. He meets a lot of interesting characters and we get a sense that where he’s going is not going to be a pleasant place. I don’t want to give anything away because you’ll be able to read it before the end of this month.
If you don’t already have it, you can get Shutter Issue #1 here.