My Writing Process Blog Tour

Here's a little something different!  I usually reserve the updates on this blog for news and announcements, but Eleanor Davis tagged me in this fun thing that's going around where you answer a few questions about your writing process!  Here is her entry.

1.  What am I working on?

I am currently finishing up Mermin Book 3: Deep Dive, the third volume of my graphic novel series from Oni Press.  My wife, Michele, and I are working on coloring the book right now.  After that's complete I will take some time to write some new stories for SpongeBob Comics, do some freelance work, and then it's time to write Mermin 4!

2.  How does my work differ from others in the genre?

I think each author brings a unique mix of influences and life experiences to their work.  I don't like to think too hard about my work in comparison to others, and hope that it comes out more naturally and subconsciously.  I suppose one thing that might set my work apart is that the humor I write comes from a history of American comic strips, while the action and pacing (of Mermin especially) stems more from my love for Japanese comics.

3.  Why do I write what I do?

I just write what I think is fun and interesting, and hope others feel the same.  Again, I try not to analyze it too much, and rely on the subconscious to do its thing.  However, I want my work to be sincere, and make others happy.

4.  How does your writing process work?

Usually, I write a lot of outlines, which develop from spotty lists to pretty detailed descriptions of scenes.  And then when I have a pretty tight idea of how everything works I move to sketchy "thumbnail" versions of the comic pages, where I let scenes play out as they will and develop the dialogue.  I find this allows for my characters to "act" out parts more than when I try to write in a movie script style, like I know some other cartoonists prefer.

For a more detailed look at how I work, from outline to finished page, check out this blog post from when I was working on Cavemen in Space.  This is from 2009, but it's more-or-less how I still work to this day!

Next up, I tag Chris Schweizer to continue the chain!

Chris Schweizer was born in 1980, grew up in Louisiana and Kentucky, and went to college at Murray State University.  He majored in art, then theater, then history, then English, then ended up back with art, earning a BFA in graphic design.  
The first book in the Crogan Adventures series, Crogan’s Vengeance, came out in 2008.  Chris made the book while he was in graduate school, studying Sequential Art (that’s the academic name for comics) at SCAD-Atlanta, the metropolitan branch of the Savannah College of Art and Design.  It was nominated for an Eisner award.  He received another Eisner nomination a few years later for Crogan's Loyalty.  He divides his time between the Crogan Adventures and the Creeps, a middle-reader horror/mystery series coming from Abrams Amulet in fall of 2015.

Chris and I have been collaborating on something, and he's been great to work with!  I look forward to seeing what he has to say about his process next week!