Writing on the Job

Wow. I have an incredible need to write right now. Which isn't very convenient considering I'm currently at work. True, we aren't very busy, but there is a sense of guilt I have sitting at the computer and typing when I could be...er...straightening the piles of shirts. Or...you know...other stuff.

Okay, I just did a once-over for the whole store and it looks spotless and I am still alone. I guess I'll let myself write for a while and just let that guilt grumble quietly in my mind corner (it only has one, I don't know why).

I should be working on the comic book I'm supposed to be writing. But there is something about the feeling of typing as fast as my thoughts pour out of me that I miss when I sit down to work on the comic book. I think the problem is that I'm not used to the medium. It takes me longer to write because I have to break down the dialogue into play script form, and then add descriptions of what the picture should look like. For example:

(Alex, behind the restaurant, she is leaning near the dumpsters, dry-eyed but clearly troubled. Ryland opens the back door, startling Alex.)

Ryland: Relax, love. It's just me.

(A settles back, leaning against the brick. R pulls out a cigarette and lights it.)

Ryland: Michael can be a right bastard when he wants to be.

Alex: Opinions given in ignorance can make anyone a "right bastard".

(R, smoking, looks sideways at her, his eyes teasing, smiling.)

R: Fortune cookie or ancient proverb?

(Close on A, a small smile, the first we've seen from her in a while.)

A: Experience.

R: (off) Why 'ignorance'? Not that I think Michael is particularly keen in the smarts department, but it seems an odd choice of words considering the subject.

(Still close on A, but she is no longer smiling. She doesn't look sad, exactly, more resigned, stoic.)

A: Never mind. It doesn't matter.

Just typing that up took at least 15 minutes, and it's barely a page worth of comic book. The trouble is that I constantly have to decide what you need to see. In my head, the whole scene happens seamlessly. I watch them interact as though I were watching a movie. But in a comic book I have to translate that into snapshots which encapsulate each beat of the story. I also want it to be visually interesting, and since there tend to be a lot of talking heads in my stories (there will be action as well, but the stuff I love is the character stuff) it gets harder and harder to come up with new and different pictures. Also, I'm not an artist. Maybe when I find someone to collaborate with (preferably someone who has comic book-drawing experience) they will tell me I'm doing too much. Or too little, though I doubt that's the case.

Ah well. I should bring this to a close.

See you next time, folks.

Julia out.