The Scariest Part Of Making A Graphic Novel (Part 1)
The Scariest Part Of Making A Graphic Novel
(Part 1)
I think the scariest part of making a graphic novel is actually STARTING. A lot of times when I am trying to accomplish a goal in life, I can be paralyzed by so much fear that I never actually begin. There are a lot of fears that can stop someone from starting on their project. Some of the most common are fears of failure, (What if it’s no good?) and fears of rejection, (What if no one likes it?)
For me, the two biggest fears getting in the way of actually starting The Forgotten, were:
1)My writing ability not being good enough.
2)My coloring ability not being good enough.
MY WRITING ABILITY
(A scary prospect indeed.)
I’ve never thought of myself as a writer. I’ve always enjoyed writing, but I’ve never considered it a particular “strength,” of mine, so to speak. I’ve always been the “artist.” I have thought that making comics, (whether it was a gag-a-day comic like Garfield or Calvin and Hobbes, or whether it was a longer strip like Tintin or Bone,) would be fun, but I’ve never had the confidence to finish anything I’ve started.
I HAVE always loved telling stories, though. Whether it was making up stories around the dinner table growing up, or whether it was making up stories on the fly with my siblings – I have enjoyed the process. When I first realized that I’ve always been a “storyteller” at heart, was when I decided to go ahead and make a graphic novel. I originally didn’t plan to show it to anyone. My plan was to just make it, print one copy, put it on my shelf and call it “done.”
And that is still the goal. If I only print one copy of The Forgotten, that is enough for me. I just want to have a completed, physical book on my shelf that I can point to and say, “I finished that.”
Along the way, I’ve been trying to learn more about writing and get better, though. There are a lot of great tools online that can help you get better at writing, but no matter how much you know, it’s always a scary prospect to stare at a blank page and try and create something. So, I guess what I’m getting at is that I STILL am afraid my writing ability is not that great. I’m STILL afraid it’s not “good enough.”
But I started.
And that’s the important thing.
I’ll talk about my 2nd biggest fear in my next blog post.
Do you have a fear that is keeping you from starting your project?
Yes! I am by no means a writer either. I had this idea for a time travel book. Started writing it, went back over what I had, and realized my writing ability I
S bad. But the Jeff Davenport book, “I am a Seed”, talks about a similar problem he has with creating screen plays. Similar to what you are saying. Someday, I want to get back to it.
It’s hard, isn’t it?!? I try to treat the “first pa ss” through my stories as just a way of getting the idea down. For me, over-coming the initial blank page is the hardest thing, then when I actually have something down on paper I can work and re-work it until I end up with something I’m more satisfied with.
I’m STILL re-writing parts of The Forgotten.
I hope you DO get back to the time-travel idea! I would definitely be interested in checking it out!!!