#1 graphic novel-in-progress: Notes from Alane Salierno Mason
I was like a kid looking forward to Christmas presents as I waited for my editor, Alane Salierno Mason,* at W W Norton & Company to send me notes on my graphic novel, "Forget Sorrow: A China Elegy." When the notes did come, I was ready to do somersaults. Then the fear set in and I circled her notes as a lion tamer would a feral beast, wondering from what angle to approah is safest. The jaws or grab it by s twitchy tail. I circled for two whole days with whip in hand.
Last night, I realized her notes were spot on, entirely reasonable and helpful thoughts from a gifted mind. I slept the sleep of fulfillment.
I've drawn/painted roughly a quarter of the graphic novel. Now I need to transform the rest of the prose manuscript, chapter by chapter into script, keeping in mind the panel organization, flow, and the overall page design, the balance of black and white. Once the individual chapters are rewritten in this format, I begin the drawing process which is sheer fun. It is the prize.
Forget Sorrow: A China Elegy (click here for images from this graphic novel-in-progress)
I rarely follow the script to a T. The changes mostly involves the condensing of sentences and ideas, very much a process akin to writing poetry. A graphic novel is sequential poetry.
(Belle Self-Portrait with Cat 1995)
I am excited and, at the same time, peaceful. I have a year and a-half's worth of good, beefy work--lots of problem solving in my sleep. Nothing scarier than not having solid work where I fritter away my time on slight, ephemeral nothings.
I've waited years for this moment.
Go to #2 post on the graphic novel process
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Ericka Lutz says:
Hoorah!
Here's to the work ahead, Belle. I, too, LOVE knowing what needs to be done. How very, very exciting!
Jessica Barksdale Inclan says:
For me, the note time is the
For me, the note time is the scariest time, and I applaud your great energy and whip!
I would love to hear more abouthow you put together a graphic novel. I tried (badly) to work with one today with my students, and they wanted to know about layout and such, and it's just not something I know. What comes first, words or pictures? I had no clue, but we stumbled together.
Thank you for sharing this part of your process--so interesting!
Best,
J
Jessica Barksdale Inclan www.jessicabarksdaleinclan.com
Belle Yang says:
Words First, Pictures Later
If you would like to know more about the process, get a copy of Will Eisner's, "Storytelling and the Visual Narrative." It's just enough for the students of graphic novels to know.
For more details, you could ask your students to check out, Scott McCloud's "Making Comics" or "Understanding Comics." For your teaching purposes, I think Will Eisner's is tops!
The layout of the actual pages with panels is a fluid process--provided I have the script typed out. Once I start drawing with a brush or pen, the images I create influence the script and I have to have words and images "talk" to one another, a constant conversation. I change the script as I draw and vice versa.
And a comic book creator is not illustrating the words. Words and images come together so that 2 plus 2 equals far more than 4.
Alison Bechdel, the comic book author you are studying, has written "Fun Home." It is so cool and stranger than fiction. I need to get a copy of the short piece you are teaching. Is it in an anthology?
I bet the students are having fun with this material.
I'd be happy to answer any question that may come up.
P.S.--I think most comic book writers start with the script (captions, dialogues, etc, just like a screen play or stage play. I started this book twelve years ago as a prose creative nonfiction book.)
I started figuring out how to turn the prose into a comic book soley through reading and asking questions online.
Jessica Barksdale Inclan says:
thank you! I will actually
thank you! I will actually print this out and read it to them on thursday. I really had no clue about what goes into the craft, and it's the first piece I've tried to teach. We talked a great deal about narrative and the imagination. I really appreciate all of this.
:)
J
Jessica Barksdale Inclan www.jessicabarksdaleinclan.com
Belle Yang says:
Jessica,
I just figured out the piece you are reading in class is an excerpt from "Fun Home." Eesh, you are going to print out the above ?! Lots of misspellings and my edit button is missing.
Graphic novel . . . think film. Script, then the filming. Editing a graphic novel is akin to editing film. Snipping here and there. Reattaching.
Many artists color with Photoshop so that only the sketches are REAL. The colors are applied using computer.
I prefer to have tangible works of art at the end of the day, so I do all art work by hand. At the very end, I will correct mistakes in spelling after scanning the original and working with Photoshop.
Too much info.
PS--I highly recommend David B.'s "Epileptic." It's a French graphic novel translated into English.
John Daniel Orr says:
Wonderful and wonderful
I say!