My first ever Q&A blog. OMG!

My friend Loren Meyer asked me a few process questions yesterday and since I tend toward laziness whenever possible, I'll spend the next few posts answering him and save myself coming up with blog content.

Here goes:

Loren: How the hell are you able to write so much stuff at the same time?

The short answer:

I write every day and do one thing at a time.

The other answer:

I'm relatively new to comics so I really can't afford to turn down work. When an artist I respect expresses interest in working with me, I pounce. At last count, I'm in some stage of active development on 10 different books. I did that to myself and I'm in the process of learning how manage it.

So far, the trick seems to be working in chunks. My life is easier if I keep my head in one world at a time. But with so many books, I can't take 6 months to write each series from start to finish. I have to break it up. I have to prioritize the work based on the needs of my collaborators and then work to logical stopping points.

This week I'm doing a plot outline for Top Secret. Last week I wrote the first chapter of Steakburg. The week before that I broke the scenes for Cupid chapter 5 and started a new pitch. Before that I revised the Murder City pitch. And so on.

It took a bit to streamline the best way to break things up, but this is my current process. Each number represents one uninterrupted chunk of writing. The chunks take anywhere from 1 to 4 work sessions (with the day job, I only get 2-3 hours a day to write) to complete.

1: Concept rough (what's it about?)

2: Plot Outline (what happens and how does it end?)

3: Pitch One-Sheet etc. (what does the publisher/editor need to see to want the book?)

4: Pitch Rework (if necessary) and Issue Breakdowns

5: Breaking an issue (what happens when, in what order and how many pages per scene?)

6: Writing an issue (THE FUN PART)

I stay on each project for however long it takes to finish a step then move to the next most-pressing thing.

There are, of course, times when this brilliant system of mine breaks down. Sometimes I have to take a day off in the middle of something to letter a book or do trade design or prepare for a con.

I also have Storm Damage which runs on Phil's schedule. Hester functions as both co-writer and story editor on the book. I send him drafts 2 scenes at a time and wait for his revisions to move on. Sometimes I go several weeks not touching it and then need to stop whatever else I might be doing to write the next 12 pages. It doesn't fit neatly into my system but it works well enough and it allows me to work with one of my heroes.

So, yeah... That's how I do it.

Speaking of Storm Damage...

NEW PATRIC ART:

Comments

[grantbond]

hey, dennis. i didn't know you had a site. it looks great. i am glad you are my friend. *kittens purring*

[Loren Meyer]

Thanks Dennis!
I love reading process stuff and this was great. It still doesn't explain your mutant ability to mentally switch gears so quickly but this was great nonetheless.

I'm definitely going to steal a lot from your process as it makes alot more sense then mine (make picture add words).

Follow up questions:

When did you get bitten by the radio-active writing bug, was it an "ah ha" moment, a comic book, or movie, or have you always just felt the need to create?

How do I become a "ladies man" and what is the best exercise for wash-board abs?