#4 graphic novel-in-progress: Flying Out the Window
I continue to work on my graphic novel, "Forget Sorrow: A China Elegy," to be published by WW Norton and Company. I got tired of the talking heads in this section, so I threw the scene of the last panel outdoors with kids playing ball. In this panel, I directed the dialog bubble to the man in the window, one of my great uncles, in conversation with my grandfather on how to make peace with the patriarch of the House of Yang, my great grandfather.
I continued with the outdoor scene on the next page, because it felt right, and there was more action than merely having three people sitting cross-legged in a room. A graphic novel/comic book is very much like staging a play or shooting a film, except it's just me, my paper and the tools of my trade. I'll show you the tools in another post.
And I chose to create the second panel scene as a view from a rooftop--what a cat might see.
It just occurred to me how very dead these people in my drawings are. Long dead. I get that sour twinge in my eyes and my nose tickles from ready tears. I am the great granddaughter, granddaughter, grand niece who is bringinng them back to life.
A good day of work at the drawing table.
Click here to go to #3 post on the making of a graphic novel
Click here to see my Youtube video on the picture book, "Always Come Home to Me."
Click here to see my Washington Post comic strip.
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William Poy Lee says:
Belatedly, I wanted to say
Belatedly, I wanted to say how much i enjoyed your reunion article. Your reflections never cease to amaze me. I was a straight A kid, and wisely declined Yale Law School, etc. to stay close to home by attending UC Hastings College of Law in SF. I nearly went to UCSC but chose Berkeley because of my activism and our generations need that we had to save our country from an insane war and American-style apartheid.
Yes, stick to your vision and change agents and publishers if you need to. That you did encourages me because my next book, as you know, is a bit different than the standard form.
I'll be skipping my HS Reunion this Fall because I'm not that curious about how everyone turned out. I became an outspoken activist leader in my last year, and my classmates -- the last of the old school "get-along" ABCs, shunned me, With many, we had been together since kindergarten. Now the classes that followed , they got what I was saying, and so I would attend their reunions as a guest because we were united in spirit if not by graduation year. I'd rather be in Shanghai this Fall, and actually, that's where I'll be.
Be well, dear one -- William Poy Lee ("Gege")
Belle Yang says:
Brother William
I was just thinking of you. "Tele-pathetic"--a little girl used to say. It occurred to me you were headed for Harbin Spring, which I'd never heard of, and I haven't heard from you in a post or email for a long time.
I wrote a valedictory speech in which I wanted to chew out a lot of people, including some lame teachers and admim, but I chickened out and instead spoke about the Dao De Jing--LOL. I needed a lot of the Dao in my next twelve years. My friend, a year behind me, did make the speech when he spoke before his graduating class, lambasting everyone.
I'm not sure if my class will get to have one if the checks are coming in at the rate they are today.
I bet you were a rabble rouser in the good sense of the word! And you made my life better, someone who followed 10 years behind.
Thank you for the compliment. It means a lot since I felt like an idiot after posting it.
Jessica Barksdale Inclan says:
Love the action scenes!
Again, so useful for me to see this, to know what it is like to write such a work--to create it.
Thank you for sharing so generously.
J
Jessica Barksdale Inclan www.jessicabarksdaleinclan.com
Belle Yang says:
Love being with you
on vacation with a cold, teaching an online course and dippinng feet in the Atlantic. You are teaching the same online summer course as Ex-boyfriend, the one I wanted to run over with my pop's Buick muscle car.
Greg Roensch says:
I Can't Wait ...
I can't wait for the day "Forget Sorrow" goes on sale because I'm going to buy it the instant it is released. Thanks for another preview.
Belle Yang says:
Hey, Greg
your words are great encouragement! Thanks, friend.
sonshi (not verified) says:
I'm with Greg
I second Greg's motion!
Ericka Lutz says:
Showing us this in progress
Showing us this in progress is a great gift -- and it makes me feel somehow invested in/ connected to/ proud of the final product. Isn't that odd how that works. I, too, can't wait until it's out.
Belle Yang says:
Thanks, Ericka
Words coming from you means a lot, because you only bother to say what you truly feel :)
Thomas Dotson says:
These are wonderful.
It is always nice to see how you use Red Room as a way of sharing your process as you work. It's very archival, and a nice behind-the-scences look of an artist at work. I also like how you always make good use of informative HTML links in your blog posts!
Thomas Dotson, redroom.com.
Belle Yang says:
Thomas
It took me a while to figure out the links, especially at the beginning, because my Safari wouldn't let me see the drop down menus.
I hope your graphic novel is progressing nicely, too.
Darlene Arden says:
Your Creativity....
...is a never-ending source of delight. Thank you so much for sharing your work in progress. I can't wait for the book to be released!