Writer Wrong

So... the barrier I had placed before myself has been broken through. I long anticipated being able to draw the actual pages of this novel, but I do not think I fully conceived of the massive scope of this project. I have stated many times that I am not a writer, per se. So how is it that I believed I could write this story? Drawing a series of pictures in sequence is easy enough if you already know the exact sequence that they should fall. In order for that to happen, I must create that sequence myself. In essence, I must write the story completely just as I would a standard written novel. Then I must draw every sentence/paragraph/page/chapter ect.

I imagine that this would be easier if I was a writer who had a knack for drawing, not vice versa. I thought that having a general idea of the story would allow for all the images to just fall into place. But, it will not be as easy as drawing a bunch of pictures and then arranging them like some newspaper editor. If you are a writer, imagine that after writing a section of your story, the only edits that you can make are only spelling. Imagine writing a single page at a time and printing it to never be able to reorganise or add/delete whole sections.

To put it into a greater perspective, one paragraph of story is one panel in a comic book. One page (give or take) is one full page in a comic and one chapter is a whole issue. If you are an avid reader, imagine this when you read. Imagine how it would be laid out and possibly how it would look. Admittedly this is fairly easy after the complete story is presented before you. So then, it appears I have to do the same with this story.

You may have noticed that I have the overall story completely thought out. I have the major plot points outlined and I have all the characters generalised beyond the main character. I had these details outlined on page with considerations for pacing and storytelling. I even had the first issue plotted and ready for it to be drawn. But, once rendered, it will be difficult and nearly impossible to make edits to later.

So now there is going to be a period of a strict writing regiment with very little being drawn. This is unacceptable for me. I should have taken time while I was rehashing Venge's outfit to write in detail on this story. Some of which I was able to accomplish on this blog. But, at the time, I thought I had the story figured out and it would just flow onto the pages. Now I'm not sure if I want to write it with that standard comic book layout of 24 +/- pages an issue or if I want to write it like a true graphic novel composing of continuous pages with breaks only where the story allows for (i.e. chapters). I am leaning more towards the second. Then, after I get this thing published and see some returns, I can then just work on secondary characters/stories in a continuing series format.

The solution: Divide my time up between drawing and writing. I will spend some time drawing secondary characters and detailing there look while I write the first page. Then I will spend my time drawing the newly written page while writing the next.

We'll see how it goes. And if my last solution is any indication, it won't go as planned =]