Viewing/reading outside of comics for comic creato

[nolan]

Okay, what are some useful things to view/read outside of comics for comic creators?

Because I think its vital that comic creators stay fresh by having regular contact with what people outside of comics are doing.

[mikem]

nolan said:

Okay, what are some useful things to view/read outside of comics for comic creators?

Because I think its vital that comic creators stay fresh by having regular contact with what people outside of comics are doing.

Reading, anything and everything. You don't learn to write comics by reading comics.

Also, I think good television is really helpful. The Wire has been extremely inspiring to what I've been doing lately.

Watching and interacting with people. Seeing their mannerisms when they talk and of course, how different people talk.

[nolan]

Hmmm...honestly I tried The Wire twice. I found it a bit boring.

I'd probbaly need to watch the whole first season from the start.

The crazy thing was that a lot of people on Talk@ got mad at me when I was making the suggestion that comic creators should be influenced by things outside of comics.

[mikem]

nolan said:

Hmmm...honestly I tried The Wire twice. I found it a bit boring.

I'd probbaly need to watch the whole first season from the start.

The crazy thing was that a lot of people on Talk@ got mad at me when I was making the suggestion that comic creators should be influenced by things outside of comics.

The Wire is similar to a lot of the HBO shows in its first season, a little slow to start. The third season was just jaw dropping.

[davidaccampo]

Understanding film and film scripts is really essential. Especially for dialogue and how it works. Moreso than novels.

But novels are great for story and for narrative. And keeping narrative prose fresh.

Man, you really need to read everything.

Are we talking about for craft or for inspiration? For craft, you definitely need to be reading all kinds of fiction. For inspiration, I think it really helps to look at non-fictional stuff, like news and history. If you want to create fiction that isn't just based off of rehashed versions of the Dark Phoenix saga or Pulp Fiction, then you need to be looking for material. Talking to friends, interacting with people, that's all really good. Look for stories in your friends. But there's also news. And if you're a high concept writer, that's especially key. Scientific news. And historical events. Historical figures and situations.

My film, Bad Habits, was based off of real interaction between an 18-year-old and his social worker, as heard on NPR during my commute.

My sci-fi script, The Maitland Exhibit, was based off a discussion with friends (back in 1999) about what would happen if the record industry DID crumble because of Napster.

My comics script Vostok is based on a real lake in Antarctica. That springboard was...OK, if it's a one-way trip, who the hell would go there?

So, that's what I'd say. Study action, visual storytelling and dialogue from film. Study comics-specific storytelling (panel structure, etc.) from really good comics. Study narrative and prose from novels. And then go find stories from the real world.

[nolan]

davidaccampo said:

Understanding film and film scripts is really essential. Especially for dialogue and how it works. Moreso than novels.

But novels are great for story and for narrative. And keeping narrative prose fresh.

Man, you really need to read everything.

Are we talking about for craft or for inspiration? For craft, you definitely need to be reading all kinds of fiction. For inspiration, I think it really helps to look at non-fictional stuff, like news and history. If you want to create fiction that isn't just based off of rehashed versions of the Dark Phoenix saga or Pulp Fiction, then you need to be looking for material. Talking to friends, interacting with people, that's all really good. Look for stories in your friends. But there's also news. And if you're a high concept writer, that's especially key. Scientific news. And historical events. Historical figures and situations.

My film, Bad Habits, was based off of real interaction between an 18-year-old and his social worker, as heard on NPR during my commute.

My sci-fi script, The Maitland Exhibit, was based off a discussion with friends (back in 1999) about what would happen if the record industry DID crumble because of Napster.

My comics script Vostok is based on a real lake in Antarctica. That springboard was...OK, if it's a one-way trip, who the hell would go there?

So, that's what I'd say. Study action, visual storytelling and dialogue from film. Study comics-specific storytelling (panel structure, etc.) from really good comics. Study narrative and prose from novels. And then go find stories from the real world.

Dude, The Maitland Exhibit sounds like an awesome idea. How did that go? You may want to think about PT if the script goes nowhere.


I was trying to think of more specific things then a general overview but your reasons work too.

[davidaccampo]

nolan said:

Dude, The Maitland Exhibit sounds like an awesome idea. How did that go? You may want to think about PT if the script goes nowhere.


I was trying to think of more specific things then a general overview but your reasons work too.

It really would make a good comic. I'll talk to Jeremy and we'll consider submitting it. I think you'd probably dig it.

I'll have to pitch you the full concept, but the whole script (copyrighted, naturally) is actually on our site (www.laughingmadscribes.com/maitlandexhibit.htm), but it's basically about a city-corporation where all art is corporate owned and the only real artists left are the guerilla-style taggers who can't NOT create art. Our main character is an art detective, hired to find hot new underground artists and commission them or arrest them...but there's a deeper twist, and our detective isn't what he seems to be...

...

And yeah, I figured you meant something more specific, but I started thinking, and there was nothing specific that came to mind. What I mean is, it doesn't matter if you study David Mamet and Chuck Palahniuk or Flannery O'Connor and Charlie Kaufman. You just need to find the stuff that inspires you and dig into them.

That said, while I'm not a huge McKee fan, I think Robert McKee's STORY is worth reading and digesting. I personally wouldn't recommend a slavish devotion, but it's kinda like grammar -- learn all the rules and then choose where to break them. McKee does offer quite a bit in the way of formula, and a lot of editors/publishers look at fiction in a similar manner, so it's definitely worthwhile to understand it.