A Newb on Writing Comics...

I've jumped feet first into figuring out how to write comics. As a person who has loved comics her entire life, this has always been a dream. I always knew it was a tough thing to do, but has that swayed me? Not at all. The past week I've really been actively researching and exploring the world of comics publishing and writing. It's amazing what one can learn in just a week.

I always knew it was a tough field to break into, but I never realized it was *this* hard. Most publishers don't just want your script, they want to see drawn pages, which means hiring an artist. Or that's what it means for me since I couldn't draw if my life depended on it. From what I can tell, a lot of agents are the same way. I could be wrong about that one, though. Still looking into agents who rep graphic novel and comics writers. There aren't as many as you'd think. And if you want to write for one of the Big 2 (DC and Marvel), GOOD FREAKING LUCK! I'm personally not interested really in writing established books so the fact that DC and Marvel are off the table doesn't bug me too much. What does bug me is how closed they seem to be to new ideas and new talent. But, whatever.

And then, there's the actual writing of the thing! Go google "comic book script examples". Go on, I'll wait. (I would have just shown you some here, but I'm paranoid about copyright infringement...)

*waits*

Do you see what I mean? Do you see how intricate that stuff is? Similar to a screenplay and yet different. Instead of shots, you have panels. There are tons of terms to learn, too. And if this book is a series, where do you end the first book? Is it like chapters in a novel or not? I mean, maybe... I guess. Wait, no, not really, but sometimes... *sigh* There's so much, it all just makes my brain hurt. But in a good way, if that's possible.

If you came here looking for advice on how to write comics, I'm sorry, but I'm in the same boat you are. I do, however, have some links and recommendations that I've found extremely useful:

Gail Simone wrote this: A Real Tip Just From Nowhere

Neil Gaiman's FAQ page has some advice and some reading recommendations.

One of the books Gaiman recommends is Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud and, guys, GO FREAKING READ THAT RIGHT NOW! I don't care if you've never had any interest in comics ever! Seriously interesting stuff and so well done. I mean, a comic *about* comics? Genius!

Another rec from Gaiman is Will Eisner's Comics and Sequential Art which I will begin reading in the next couple of days as soon as I get over the book hangover I got from Understanding Comics.

The forums at Digitalwebbing.com look to be informative. I just joined and will be perusing them. I know forums were very important in my journey to becoming a published YA author. I'm a fan of forums.

I'll continue to update this post with more links and things as I find them.

Despite my bitching, I'm really excited about this. I'm a learner, I love to learn, so this endeavor is right up my alley. I'll keep you posted, ya know, if you're interested.

Do you have any recs for me? Have you attempted comics writing? Post in the comments!

OMG! Look at the PRETTY! and a GIVEAWAY!

Notice anything different?? Huh? *waggles eyebrows* That's right, I now have an official website! It was done by the awesome Rachel Silberman. Please, check her out! She did an amazing job!

Now in honor of my shiny, new site I'm giving away ANOTHER Wonder Woman t-shirt AND a promise of an eARC of THE SUMMER I BECAME A NERD! As soon as eARCs are ready, the winner will get it in their inbox :)

So, clicky-clicky around on my new site, use the contact form to send me a message, look at the cute animation on the home page, and don't forget to enter to win!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Once again, this is for US only. I know a few who won't be happy about this, but you guys' turn is coming! 

Wonder Woman T-Shirt Giveaway!

GIVEAWAY TIME!

THE SUMMER I BECAME A NERD will be releasing on May 7, 2013, which is only *counts fingers* 80 days away!!! So I figured it's time to start doing some awesome giveaways because I'm so freaking excited and I like you guys and I like these shirts and yeah... 

Isn't it pretty?! *pets pretty shirt*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Contest ends Friday, February 22!!! Enter Away!

P.S. This is a US only giveaway :( Sorry everyone else, but fear not, this is the first of many giveaways to come!

 

Fangirl Friday: A Quickie

Okay, the kids are off to the grandparents' today so I have to make this quick because the grandparents will be here soon and there are dirty dishes and I hate it when that happens... So, here we go!

A new Marvel Girl comic in which her origin story is told??? Whaaaaa?!?!?!

I really want to see Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter this weekend.

The Beautiful Creatures movie wrapped shooting here recently, so that's freaking awesome!

So... yeah, that's it. Quick and lame. What are you excited about?

Fangirl Friday!

Happy birthday to Zach Braff (a.k.a JD on Scrubs, a.k.a. Stefanie's alter-ego), Paul Rudd, and John Ratzenberger!

So, lots of news on the superhero movies front.

The Captain America sequel will be released on April 4, 2014! YAY and BOO! I have to wait two freaking years to see more of this:

The X-Men: First Class sequel will start shooting in January which means we'll have to wait even longer for more McAvoy and Fassbender. It's kinda easier for me to deal with this since I'm loving the X-Men titles from Marvel. AND I'm only up to 2010 in those. I was on a comic binge the other day and realized I was missing a couple of issues because the next one in line was this:

*RECORD SCRATCH!* Right! To put it simply, I was astonished (nudge, nudge, get it?!).

Anyway, that's enough of that. Let's continue with what I started last week. Today, I'm discussing:

The Best Time-Suck: TV 101, Part 1

Fangirl Friday!

Happy Birthday to Robbie Coltrane, Warren Beatty, and John Astin!!!

So, I'm still coming down from the awesomeness of The Hunger Games. Despite the fact that I had to sit in the third row, all the way to the right, and in front of two chatterboxes (at least the girl was asking her guy questions about the story which led me to believe he had read the book), I still loved the movie! I only have two small criticisms, but they're not really worth mentioning.

I'd like to try something a little different today. I usually talk about up and coming fangirl events like new movies or books, but today I'd like to talk about some things that I feel every nerdgirl should know about. I wouldn't judge you if you didn't know about these things, of course. This article, On the Fake Geek Girl, from The Mary Sue got me to thinking about how wrong it is to look down on someone who calls themselves a geek, but doesn't seem to know the things they should. Geekdom is an all inclusive club! Anyone can join!

So, let's start with:

The Classics: Movies 101

Fangirl Friday!

Happy Birthday to Daniel Craig, Jon Bon Jovi, and Dr. Seuss!

New Avengers Trailer!!!!

OMGOMGOMGOMG!!! Soooo BADASS! Am I right? I know. I'm right.

I started watching Downton Abbey this week. And yes, all the hype is correct. It's awesome!

Fangirl Friday!

I know, Fangirl Friday seems to be the only posts I'm doing lately, but things have been busy in Leahland. I promise to work up some other stuff soon :)

Happy Birthday to Elizabeth Banks, Robert Wagner, and Emma Roberts!

New The Avengers stuff!!! ....homina, homina, homina....

"I have an army." "We have a Hulk." *fangirl squealllll*

Speaking of comics, for the longest time I've kind of been avoiding reading the new Astonishing X-Men due to the absence of Jean Grey (my FAVORITE comic character), but I finally gave in when my brother insisted I catch up. And, you guys... WOW! As much as I hate to admit it because of the whole Jean Grey issue, it is awesome! I highly recommend it even if you've never been into comics. I mean, just look:

Fangirl Friday!

YAY! Haven't done one of these in a while. So let's do this thing!

Happy Birthday to Rainn Wilson, Lorenzo Lamas, and George Burns!

The Avengers - May 2012!

Can't wait for this! Now when are we going to get a Justice League movie?

The Hunger Games, obviously.

Day 75: Fangirl Friday

I was sitting here staring at the blank post thingy, trying to think of something writerly to post about. Though I'm sure there are a ton of things I could post about, I can't think of a darn thing. So, I'm just going to do something different.

It is Mardi Gras weekend down here on the bayou (I don't really live on a bayou but I have been to many). So, LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULER! (hands out Mardi Gras beads. Seriously, take them. I have like 3 Wal-Mart bags full from previous years! Please take them!)

My brother is going and more power to him. I've never been to NOLA for Mardi Gras and I never intend to. It scares me...

To celebrate this four day weekend I'm going to indulge my inner Fangirl. Here are all the things I'm excited about that will be happening soon:

*Expect lots of fangirly screams and SPOILERS