If I look over my left shoulder while sitting at my desk in the office, there are six longboxes of comic books and a small comic box to my immediate left.
This doesn’t include all the graphic novels and collections.
This also doesn’t include some of the comic books and collections on a shelf in the bedroom.
* * *
I met my wife (an artist) in 1992, when I was working for a small independent comic book company.
When we put our collections together, there wasn’t a lot of overlap. Most of the DC comics came from me (with the exception of my wife’s love of Batman), and most of the Marvel comics came from her (with the exception of my Daredevil love). We both read a lot of independent comics, but had different tastes.
We stopped buying comic books years ago (money and space became an issue).
But we loved and still love comics.
* * *
The first thing I ever wrote with the intent of publication was a comic book script for an anthology.
I was told I had 12 pages.
Each page was comprised of 1-8 panels.
It was a total change from short stories, where I could work on a story until it was done, regardless of space.
With comics, I was restricted to a set number of pages.
* * *
When I stopped writing comic books and moved on to screenplays, there was still restriction.
Granted, after writing 1, 6, 12, 22, 24, and 32 page stories with comic books, having 120 pages felt like room to fill, but I found that even with larger, full stories (not a periodical), I still had to consider my page count.
* * *
When I started writing newspaper travel articles and magazine articles, I was told I had 500, 1,000, and 1,500 words to share my information.
* * *
For some people, being restricted to a word, panel, or page count might seem annoying, but I always found the restrictions fun.
Being told I only had so much space to do my thing made me a better writer. When you’re given a length that isn’t flexible, you end up finding what matters most in a story, whether it’s fiction or non-fiction.
Even more, you find out where your writing flies apart when you only have so much space.
I can get heavy with dialog in my writing — I learned that when writing comic books, a medium where dialog is king.
* * *
Q: How can you really annoy a comic book artist?
A: Cram every panel in a comic book with heavy dialog that will cover up their hard work!
Comic books forced me to tell a story succinctly, while considering others affected in the collaboration.
Comic books, screenplays, and articles taught me how to focus on what matters most, and then get a little self indulgent if there’s any room left.
* * *
One of my recent favorite writers is the only person I’ve seen on Twitter getting incredibly short fiction right: @veryshortstory.
In 140 words or less, he does more than many writers do with 140,000 words.
* * *
If you’re looking for a good writing challenge, limit yourself.
Think of something you want to write and give your best guess what your normal word or page count would be.
Cut it in half.
Cut that half in half.
If you’re not in the mood to create something new for a challenge, take something you’ve already written and cut its page or word count in half. That 2,500-word short story you love so much? Tell the same story in 1,250 words.
By restricting the room to tell a big story, you have no choice but finding what matters most in that story.
Do that enough, and you will always have a strong line running through everything you write to build upon.
Chris,
Thanks for the heads-up on @veryshortstory. I feel I should reciprocate. Check out the Drabblecast at:
http://web.mac.com/normsherman/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html
In the words of its creator, Norm Sherman, the Drabblecast is a weekly flash fiction podcast of strange stories by strange authors for strange listeners, such as yourself. It is a top-notch podcast both in production quality, and entertainment value. It is HIGHLY recommended.
In the vast majority of episodes Norm features a “Drabble”, his parlance for an EXACTLY 100 word story. He also features a weekly “Twabble” , or 100 character story (excluding spaces and title). You can catch just the twabble by following @TheDrabblecast on twitter.
I think your readers may enjoy the challenge of putting your advice to use by trying their hand at a Drabble or Twabble. And if they get hooked on the Drabblecast, they might enjoy participating in one of the annual writing contests that it sponsors. My favorite is the Nigerian Spam Scam Email contest.
Trust me, Norm and his editorial staff are our kind of people. Anyone who pays someone $100 for the best Nigerian Spam Scam Email is alright with me.
Yes, Drabblecast is cool. I need to actually subscribe to the podcast, instead of just checking it out here and there.
The Nigerian Spam Scam E-mail contest is classic, and the Lovecraftian spoof of the Great Pumpkin was very well done!
While my writing preference is long fiction, I love writing short stories more than anything. And I love that there’s a resurgence in short stories brought about by the Internet.
Before podcasting and other means of reaching an audience were popular, most short fiction was read by other writers. (I’m talking about the times between when short stories actually paid and the Internet–the time in the late 80s and early 90s when most short fiction was published in literary journals and read by other writers.)
Now, people like you who have a lot going are back to reading and listening to stories. I carry books and stories around with my on my iPhone. I listen to podcasts. If the next job I get ends up with me having to commute again, I know I’ll listen to audiobooks.
While reading may be down depending on who you talk to, people are consuming stories differently.
I think what you’ve said in the past is right, that as we’ve become a busier society, if writers can figure out ways to connect with an audience and offer their work in different formats, there’s room for writers to be read, seen, and heard.