thedeadairchannel004
I've been thinking about longer form story structures recently. The nature of the current comics market leans towards the miniseries, so that's primarily what I've written over the last few years. Four-to-six issues and done, then on to the next thing. The amount of story you can fit into that structure (if you care about pacing, which you should) is generally about the length of a novella rather than a novel. Every story is different, but if you go into one of these stories with a relatively firm idea of what the whole thing looks like, there's a good chance it won't deviate very much at all from the outline you started with; both the Destro and Doctor Who minis I've written this year have stayed pretty much exactly as planned.
I'm now getting the opportunity to work on longer projects, which are a different kettle of fish.
I wrote 24 issues of Lucifer over two years, starting in 2018. Which was definitely a crash course in that sort of storytelling. I struck out with a general direction and the shape of the thing evolved and revealed itself organically. Even when you're the one behind the curtain, looking at all the tent poles and gaffer tape that are holding the thing together, it can feel like a form of witchcraft.
There are two ways of writing. Generally we refer to 'plotters' and 'pantsers.' Plotters organize everything up front, with structured outlines and firm tentpoles to be reached along the way. Act structures and dialectic storytelling. Pantsers go the other way; trusting the process, putting one foot in front of the other from start to finish. Flying by the seat of said pants. Almost all writers do a bit of both, to varying degrees.
The more stories I've told, the more I've become the former. Finding the beauty in the craft, unfurling a plan with nuances along the way. But longform, serialized comic writing definitely necessitates a bit of both. Trying to hold 12 or 20 issues worth of story in one's head feels like a folly, and somewhat limiting. The longer a story runs, the more opportunities it has for pivot points. For latent ideas to bubble to the surface and let themselves be known and explored.
There's also the element of setting things in stone. In many artistic mediums, a creator can come up with a brilliant idea towards the end of the story, then go back and seed that into chapter one so it looks like it was there all along. With monthly comics, no such luck. That issue is out. It's on the shelf. Sorry. So instead you're always building off the foundations of what you've already done. It's intrinsically improvisational.
A book I enjoyed: Reacher Said Nothing by Andy Martin, a Cambridge professor who sat with Lee Child from the beginning to the end of his writing a Jack Reacher novel, studying his process. For the most part, those books move like clockwork. Seamless and clean in their structure. There's a reason 100 million of the things have been sold. Hence why Martin is stunned that Child is absolutely, almost religiously, a pantser rather than a plotter. He sits down- maybe with a title, maybe not- and no idea what story he's about to write. He writes a first word, then a second word that makes sense after the first, and keeps going until he gets to the end of the book. It takes him about 90 days, if I remember that correctly, and he only writes a single draft.
No outlines, no nothin'. But I don't think that means shooting from the hip. I suspect Child essentially has the writing equivalent of perfect pitch. Stories are structure, and structure means rhythm and melody. The volume has to be turned up and down, cadence sped and slowed in the right way, in the right place. If you've seen and read enough stories and paid attention, these instincts can seep into your subconscious, and you might understand story on a fundamental, primitive level.
If you want to write stories, odds are you don't have perfect pitch. But that's OK. Most of your favourite artists don't either. It takes more effort to pick out a tune and perfect it, but that's what almost all of us are doing. Pay attention to the nuances, but trust your gut when all else fails. If something feels like a bum note, it probably is.
Destro issue 4 is out in comic stores tomorrow. Series artist Andrei Bressan is back for our penultimate chapter. This is where we drop a lot of the reveals and solve a lot of the mysteries that people have been wondering about since issue 1. Destro also gets to go to a party, which is nice for him; he's been shot, stabbed, betrayed and blown up over the last few issues, so it's good to let him blow off a little steam, and probably no-one will get exploded at all maybe.
Enjoyed this episode of Vox's Unexplainable podcast about dark oxygen- the discovery that oxygen is being produced at the bottom of the ocean without sunlight. The theory is that polymetallic nodules on the ocean floor create enough electricity to allow electrolysis to happen, potentially in far greater quantities than scientists believed possible. The episode touches on how this might redefine much of what we thought about the origins of life on Earth, reinforcing how little we know about the world around us- which I guess one can take as either awe-inspiring or terrifying.
I mean they do also touch on how this opens up whole new ways we could potentially end up destroying ourselves and the planet, which OH GOOD we needed some more of those.
Thanks to everyone who hopped on my Nightwing AMA last Thursday. I tried to stick around and answer as many questions as possible, but do feel a little guilty as to how many I had to leave by the end. I'll try and do another AMA, probably around the release of issue 1 near the end of October. If you weren't about for it and are interested, you can check out the conversation here: https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/comments/1ff7ya9/im_comics_writer_dan_watters_in_advance_of_my/
Also perhaps worth mentioning here: I have a CGC signing arranged for NYCC, so if graded comics are your thing, you can submit books between now and October 4th here:
https://www.cgccomics.com/news/article/13246/Dan-Watters-CGC-Signing/
This letter has run long, I have a script due, some rather lengthy reading to do for a new project that's beginning this month, and a pitch I really want to write if I can carve out the time. And I need to do fucking laundry. Till next week, have a good un.
This has been thedeadairchannel. A broadcast from the desk of Dan Watters. Please do subscribe.
