Ask Devin Grayson

[Renae De Liz]

This is a thread dedicated to asking questions or advice from the amazing writer Devin Grayson (DC; Nightwing amongst many other titles). She has graciously agreed to come here and help answer questions for aspiring writers and creators. And just because it's called a "Womanthology" forums doesn't mean men can't joing the fun! Ask away, and thank you Devin!

[CHWolf]

If Maxwell House is good 'til the last drop, what's wrong with the last drop?

[Renae De Liz]

Haha, no Wolfy, real questions about comics writing (or writing in general) not questions that will ultimately destroy us if we think about them too hard!

[paul brian deberry]

Log lines. I was wondering if you could offer some insight on how to best approach them.

[Devin Grayson]

Originally Posted by CHWolf

If Maxwell House is good 'til the last drop, what's wrong with the last drop?

CHWolf, one word: backwash.

[Devin Grayson]

Originally Posted by paul brian deberry

Log lines. I was wondering if you could offer some insight on how to best approach them.

Hi, Paul!

Summarizing anything is difficult...summarizing something you've created and obsessed over every detail of is super-difficult. No one has ever asked me for a log line as such in the comics industry, but its verbal cousin--the elevator pitch (i.e., the fifteen second description of and case for your story)--comes up almost weekly.

The basic rules of log lines are as follows:

• they should never be more than two sentences (and one is better)
• they should intrigue but never overwhelm
• they must present who the story is about, what that character's goal is and what is blocking the character from achieving that goal
• log lines do not include details (i.e., no names) but may include a carefully selected adjective or two
• log lines describe the action--aka through line/spine/primary motivation--of a story rather than the ending
• log lines may include a brief setup in cases where a lack of one would lead to confusion

There are great examples of all of the above, as well as a super-smart summary of log line writing and a fantastic library of log lines available here:

http://www.twoadverbs.com/logline.pdf

I'll add one more piece of advice that I didn't see mentioned in the piece linked above. Try out your log line and/or elevator pitch out loud. In addition to letting you hear right away if certain words are inaccurate or clumsy, hearing a brief summary read aloud gives you a very good sense of whether or not it is, indeed, brief. Then try it out on someone who doesn't know your story, and ask them to tell you honestly if you hooked them. Last but not least, ask someone else to read and summarize your work--you might be surprised by what they consider to be the central conflict at the heart of your story. (And P.S., they're probably right).

Good luck!

[Renae De Liz]

I have one! I've been trying to get into writing.

What are some of the worst mistakes newcomer comics writers make?

[Magnus]

Devin, do you approach/see a comic script as a mere blueprint for an artist, or as a story told to its reader? Or do you attempt a balance between the two (descriptional/emotional)?


:M:
www.magnus-aspli.com

[MoonSpider]

What advice would you give to a young writer looking for a publisher? (And by that, I mean having someone pay the writer for their books, not the other way around to get them out there.)

[Devin Grayson]

Originally Posted by Renae De Liz

I have one! I've been trying to get into writing.

What are some of the worst mistakes newcomer comics writers make?

Hi, Renae!

Great question!

As usual, my answer will focus on mainstream superhero comics, because that's where I have the most experience. Most of the pitfalls will translate to similar sins in the indie scene, but some of them are specific to my background.

I've broken my answer down into three categories, because starting a comic writing career isn't just about the writing; there are also submission and networking pitfalls to avoid! Of course, the *best* collection of helpful tips for the industry can be found in Womanthology, but here are some things to watch out for while we wait:

COMMON SCRIPT WRITING MISTAKES

• Too many panels per page: Anyone moving into writing from a background in art, like you, probably won't make this mistake, but it's a common one on newbie scripts. The less panels per page, the more room the artists has to really show their stuff...as a general guideline, try to keep pages to five panels or less. Way less if you're going to make mistake number two...
• ...Too much copy per panel: Scripting a comic is a strange job in that a lot of what you do will end up translated by and credited to the artist. Though I always work in full script and know that I have charted the story, the only part of what I've done that most people recognize is the dialog (or, as my dad likes to say, "the lettering in the balloon things," forcing me to admit that I'm not even the letterer...). It becomes very tempting then, especially if you come from a literary background, to get really verbose; lots of insightful dialog and captions, flowery prose, big words...the "hey, look how smart I am!" stuff. I am absolutely guilty of this in my earlier work. Despite having the great fortune to work with some astonishingly talented artists from the get-go, I spent most of my energy scripting copy. One day Denny O'Neil pulled me aside and said, "you know that people have to read the art, too, right?" He was pointing to a page I'd done in Batman: Gotham Knights that had visual storytelling, a lot of dialog, and also first-person captions. I saw for the first time that I was, in addition to risking covering up my artist's beautiful work with huge captions and words balloons, asking my readers to read three different stories in every single panel: the story the art was telling, the story the dialog was telling, and the story the captions were telling. That kind of smart is...kinda dumb. At its best it is not utilizing the medium to its fullest potential, and at its worst it's just flat out annoying. Later that year I got the chance to work with Brian Stelfreeze on a ten-page story that we decided should have no dialog at all. That story, "Desire," won a Thompson Award. From that point on, I pulled way way back on my copy and have never regretted it for a second.
• Too many actions per panel: Again, I have seen this mistake in tons of amateur scripts, but rarely from people with art backgrounds. Most of us learn the greater part of our visual vocabulary from television shows, movies, and YouTube videos. (Mainstream Superhero) comic books can showcase the same kind of action sequences, but there's a huge difference; the action in a comic panel is static. That means that, although the overall effect of a great action sequence can have just as much dramatic impact (sometimes even more; can you say "unlimited special effects budget?"), the action in each panel is a snapshot of action, a moment frozen in time. So although: "Batman pulls out his Batarang and throws it at the mook, knocking the gun out of his hand," works great for a movie script, in a comic script you have to pick the exact action you want to emphasize. Is Batman pulling out the Batarang? Throwing it? Is it hitting the mook's hand? These actions have to happen one at a time. THE most common mistake in a beginner's script is imprecise assignment of action per panel.
• Short Cut Villains/ Kryptonite Fists: The other most common mistake in beginner scripts is to take the character that you invent--probably the baddie if you're working with a licensed superhero--and give him too much power too quickly. Now, it's absolutely true that a hero is only as good as his villains, and I'm not saying that your super villain shouldn't be lovingly crafted and mind-bogglingly awesome...I'm saying that he or she should complement and challenge the hero, not obliterate them. What I'm really talking about are the lazy short cuts, like making a new Batman baddie and immediately having him know Batman's secret identity. Sometimes it feels like there are only three people in Gotham who don't, but making someone dangerous by arbitrarily handing them to key to your hero's fall is a) not the least bit original and b) very sluggish story-telling.
• Bad or Absent Character Intros/ AKA "Fan Girl Syndrome": Sometimes in our rush to communicate how much we love and know about an established character and her history, we forget the most important reader of all: the one entering the world of comics for the first time. Truthfully, pros make this mistake as much as beginners, but there's an easy fix. Introduce everybody! When you've finished a script, go back and read it over pretending that you have no idea who the people in it are or what they do (or better yet, give it to a friend for whom this is literally true). Is everything clearly explained? Have the key powers of your heroine been delineated? If someone who's never read the series before gets to that awesome splash page reveal of your baddie on the last page will they have any idea what they're seeing? The balance between writing for people who know every detail about a character and people who may be meeting that same character for the first time is a tricky one, but learning to doing it well is essential.

COMMON SUBMISSION MISTAKES

• The know-it-all: You won't believe this one happens, but I've personally read over twenty submissions that started this way and heard tell of hundreds more. Sometimes it's right there in the first paragraph of the submission itself, and sometimes it's in a cover email: "This story is intended to correct a major continuity error..." Please laugh. Please don't make me explain that the editors and publishers don't consider anything they've put in print to be an error. Please understand that your job with licensed characters is to tell the story that the editors/publisher/etc. want you to tell, and not to "fix" their wrong-headed blunders. Do they make wrong-headed blunders? Sure. Just like we all love the music we listened to in high school, we all love the version of the superhero we first met. That's fine. Stand by your version of the stories. Love what you love, fiercely and apologetically. Just don't try to make a career out of assuming that other people agree.
• Too much backstory: Conversely, when you're pitching a character/world/story completely of your own invention, it's important to figure out what information is relevant to the pitch (see the section on log lines, above!). I was once handed a 2,030 page manuscript by a fan that started with something like "Beta-Jax 5 is the fourteenth planet from the second sun of the Cranlag Galaxy." What does that tell me about the story-teller? That she has a very vivid imagination and has put a lot of detail into her creation. What does that tell me about the story? NOTHING, except maybe that I've got a LOT of reading to go before I have any idea what's happening. "In an alien galaxy..." would have more than sufficed. If the names of your characters or places are the coolest thing about your story...keep working.
• Why a comic?: Something else to keep in mind both when creating and pitching a comic book story is why your story should be a comic in the first place. Would it make more sense as a novel, or a screenplay? Is there something about it that the comic medium could really bring out? This question can (and will) be applied to almost anything you pitch; if you're asking for a special using a character from a series, why can't your story be told in the series? Why is it a stand-alone issue and/or mini-series? Or why a graphic novel instead of a twenty-page one shot? Showing that you're thinking about the medium itself is a great way to demonstrate that you know your stuff.
• One Great Idea: If you have one great story in you, that's awesome; don't let anyone keep you from telling it. But if you want to be a writer as a career choice, in the comics world or in any corner of the publishing industry, you have to be versatile and flexible. It's great to have a goal, and even a specialty--getting known for being the go-to person for a certain character, skill, mood or subject-matter is a fantastic way to get recognized--but to make a living and work with editorial teams and artists and publishers, you're going to have to be willing to kill a lot of your darlings. I am not great at thinking about story problems on me feet in public...I do better when I have time to retreat to a quiet corner and think. But I haven't always had that luxury, and I've learned to share ideas and brainstorm...even when I'm not 100% confident in my ideas. Sometimes I accidentally hit on a perfect solution, or sometimes I just throw out an awkward lump of clay that a colleague or co-worker then carves into something brilliant, but I'm liked by most editors in the industry because I've proven that I'm willing to collaborate and be flexible. Sometimes you'll be asked to change something that you feel strongly should remain as is, and sometimes you'll need to fight for your vision. But most of the time, especially at the proposal stage, flexibility is the way to go.
• Not Proof-Reading: I can't emphasize this enough, and you can't proof-read too much.

NETWORKING MISTAKES

• Taking a pro for granted: Keep in mind that, especially in mainstream comics, there are only so many writing jobs to go around. So when a professional goes out of her way to help you, she's essentially giving you a chance to take a job away from her. Most of us are more than happy to offer guidance and support and want to see new writers succeed, but it doesn't feel nice when someone is presumptuous. This can take several different forms. Not proof-reading the email you send to a pro, not being familiar with the work she does and the scope of her influence and not being respectful of her time all communicate a disingenuous interest in what somebody else can do for you. Know who you're reaching out to and understand what help they may be able offer and what they may be risking to offer it. It is always okay to ask, but never okay to take someone for granted.
• Not researching who's who: Don't give your Vertigo pitch to an X-Men editor, and don't ask the editor of Spiderman how you can get a gig writing Batman. Although it's true that most editors and professionals know one another and work at both the major companies at some point in their career, you need to know who's involved with the projects you care about.
• Not presenting clear goals: "I want to work in comics," may cut it at a cocktail party, but it doesn't give industry professionals a lot to go on when you're approaching them for help. What kind of work do you want to do, and what kind of stories are you attracted to? What are your strengths as a creator and what kind of books do you want to make? Are their certain people you'd really love to work with, or certain characters you feel close to? You have to know what you want before anyone can help you get it.
• Bad-mouthing others: I don't love everything that everyone in the industry does, and those closest to me probably know a few of the names on my sh*t list. But no one has ever made a creative career out of putting down someone else's work. The comics industry is smaller than you probably think, and that pro you're bashing on the Marvel Forum may just be sitting next to the editor you sent a pitch in to the day your proposal crosses her desk. In which case, guess what? That pro you hate urges the editor to throw your pitch into the circular file and then they go out to lunch together and never give you a second thought.
• Not being prepared to sell yourself/ your strengths: This one can be hard, but part of being a professional freelancer is representing yourself and your ideas to the people who can hire you. As I writer, I am a hardcore introvert used to spending most of my days alone in front of a computer...but it's up to me to get pitches in, follow-up with editors, manage my social media presence, represent myself at conventions and speak to my strengths as a creator when asked to. It's a huge part of what you'll end up doing as a professional freelancer, and not a part that comes naturally to many of us. So develop it just as you'd develop any other skill. Like invoicing and quarterly taxes, it's part of the job.

Oh, and the absolute number one worst mistake any hopeful writer can make is not writing. You have to write bad stuff to get to the good stuff, and you have to write something to get to something great.

[Renae De Liz]

Devin, you're absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for that in depth information I truly appreciate it!

[RonaldMontgomery]

I struggle with tweaking dialogue and captions at the lettering stage. Part of me feels like, okay, the artist brings new things to the table, he/she's a better visual storyteller, and I should adapt.
Another part of me feels like a total amateur. I read pro scripts and they're very close to the finished pages.
Am I doing something wrong? What can I do better?!
Thanks!

[Devin Grayson]

Originally Posted by Magnus

Devin, do you approach/see a comic script as a mere blueprint for an artist, or as a story told to its reader? Or do you attempt a balance between the two (descriptional/emotional)?


:M:
www.magnus-aspli.com

Hi, Magnus!

I write very detailed scripts, and I do tend to think of them as stories that I'm telling my artists and editors. I completely understand and respect the fact that the artist is the visual expert, and I expect and look forward to their input and ideas, but how can I expect them to contribute meaningfully if I'm not completely clear about what I'm imagining and the story I'm trying to tell?

I learned early on that any omission on my part--even failing to mention the racial makeup of the people in the background--can have unexpected and sometimes disappointing repercussions. As a fiction writer, one is responsible for the creation (and/or maintenance) of an entire world; if the writer doesn't mention something--people of color, for example, or weather or trees--they don't exist in that particular fictional world. In comics, most good artists will create realistic backgrounds without too much input, but the more information (and visual references) I give them, the more they have to work from.

I also spend a lot of time describing what my characters are thinking and feeling and hoping to accomplish. All you'll see in the finished comic is an expression on someone's face in a panel or a shift in a character's posture--details which will always (rightfully) be attributed to the skill of the artist. Many details--like the small gestures people make when they're lying or trying to get out of a conversation--won't even be consciously noticed by most readers. But for those that do, it's an exciting extra element of story-telling. I consider it my responsibility to give the artist all of that information; if I don't, I'm not carrying my weight as a collaborator. And in my mind, at least, if I don't turn in a complete, detailed script, I'm not pulling my weight as a contract worker for my editors and publisher, either.

[Devin Grayson]

Originally Posted by MoonSpider

What advice would you give to a young writer looking for a publisher? (And by that, I mean having someone pay the writer for their books, not the other way around to get them out there.)

Hi, MoonSpider!

"Breaking in,"--the term used to delineate the difference between living for writing and writing for a living--has never been easy, and it's even harder now than it was when I was first attempting to get (paid and) published in the early-nineties. Today's economic climate and the current speed at which we engage in technological advancement has created a very real identity crisis for the publishing industry. Although I believe that this opens the flood gate for a creative revolution (via self-publishing, for example, and new formats for media synthesis), it also creates risk-aversive decision-making in those that pay creative people money to entertain other people; why risk funding a new-comer when you can get a known entity writing for you, for example? Or why risk trying out a new idea when you know you can get people to put out money for an old one?

To some extent or another, though, the challenge of funding one's work has always existed for creative freelancers, and in that sense, the fundamentals don't change. Networking, presenting one's self professionally in every single exchange, honing one's craft and finding one's voice and unique perspective are still the building blocks for a successful career.

You can read my how-not-to on Networking and presenting one's self professionally in previous posts, and I've also already discussed how important it is to learn everything you can about the industry you're hoping to work in and the skill sets needed to survive and thrive there. So let me talk for a minute about the more elusive task of creating your niche.

Finding your voice as a writer is a deeply personal process that may take years, potentially even consuming the better part of one's career or life. Finding one's niche, on the other hand, is a clever little self-marketing ploy that even the youngest, greenest writer can start, um, well...fabricating. The goal is to single out an aspect of your writing--be it a theme, style, subject matter, background or perspective--that sets you apart from everyone else, and become known for it. This is kind of a grand, literary version of "fake it 'til you make it."

Step one is to be very clear about what kind of writing you want to do. This directly contradicts my usual advice--i.e., writers should be prepared to write anything and not constrict themselves to a single medium--but passion and focus outweigh versatility when you're starting out and trying to make a name for yourself. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that you tell me you want to write comics. I'll tell you that that's not specific enough. Are you interested in mainstream superhero comics? Manga? Auteur indie? Once you narrow that down, you still have more work to do. Which publisher is creating the kind of projects you want to be involved in? Which editors are in charge of the titles you want to write? It's actually okay (and even a good hedge) to pursue more than one of these avenues at once, but you must be thoroughly knowledgeable about and committed to each of them. When you're working on getting paid to write mainstream superhero comics, that's all you're working on. You can work on getting your YA Sci-Fi novel published tomorrow. These pursuits, at least initially, have to be distinct. You cannot call up a publisher or literary agent and say, "I have a wide range of interests," and/or "I'll write anything, just, for the love of god, get someone to pay me!" Though both statements are probably true, neither are helpful when you're initially trying to get help getting your work seen.

Step two is to identify what it is that you--and only you--bring to the table, even if you're mostly making it up. The goal here is to become the go-to person for a specific kind of story or writing. Some people can leverage a different aspect of their career--Greg Rucka, for example, broke into comics partially on the strength of his identity as a successful Crime Novelist...Kevin Smith will tell you that he made movies to help him get a job writing comics. Some people become known for a style; if you want a very literary comic story, for example, you would probably approach Neil Gaiman first. If you want something super high-concept and cerebral, you would probably think of Grant Morrison. If you want a lot of swearing, you go to Garth Ennis.

I have tried to position myself as an expert on psychological drama, particularly as it pertains to familial relations, which I've always thought I had a reasonable claim to considering that it's a) the kind of material I naturally gravitate toward, b) I minored in Sociology in college, and c) I learned all the lingo along with my ABC's from my Psychologist mother and Sociologist father. Having a college degree also set me apart from many of my peers. I may have done myself a disservice, though, by fighting so hard against the expertise that the industry and in particular the industry press assumed I had; as far as they were concerned, I was unique because I was female. I fought this tooth and nail for an entire decade. If I'd relaxed into it, I might have added some longevity to my career.

In any case, it may be that you're athletic, or obsessed with jewelery heists. Maybe you were in the military, or love to create stories with strong female protagonists. Maybe no one knows more about horses than you do, or you've written a series of op-ed pieces on Somalia. Pick an obsession, any obsession, and create an identity around it.

Step three, then, is to become acknowledged for this interest, talent or expertise. The simplest way to do this is to make sure that all of your submissions showcase this aspect of your creative identity. These days, you can also take advantage of social media...use a tool like Klout to track your "influence" on your subject of choice. Post, blog and post links about it. No one should even think about commissioning a story involving underwater basket weaving without consulting you.

Please keep in mind, though, that the tactic I've described here is to help you get published. It will not necessarily help you become a better writer, and it's not a substitute for reaching out to people in the industry who are actually in the position to hire you or help you find work. It's true that it takes a lot of persistence and that it matters who you know...but it's also true that you decide who you meet and befriend. In other words, don't wait for opportunities, produce them. And don't wait for the world to offer you a writing assignment. This is actually as true in the corporate world as it is in the creative world...if the job you want doesn't exist, create it.

I wish you the best of luck!

[Joamette Gil]

Thank you for taking the time to answer questions for us, Devin. When I write stories, I often start out with a basic vision of the world and characters that I then flesh out. Afterward, I determine how I want the story to begin and how it should end based on the message/theme I'm trying to get across. My biggest struggle is always deciding what happens in the middle. I tend to get stuck on the seemingly infinite courses of events that could conceivably lead to my ending. The answer ultimately just "comes to me," but I don't want to rely on visits from the muses. I was wondering if you had any advice/tips on developing the nitty-gritty details of a plot and making the task a little less daunting.