Back at ya with more lazy Q&A blogging action.

LM: whats an average writing work week like for you?

I've recently come to the conclusion that this is as close as I'm ever going to come to being grown up. I have an amazing wife a regal beast, a full-time day job and a mortgage payment. Before any comics are written, I have to make sure all of these other parts of my life are taken care of. I don't get to skip work to write. I don't get to starve the dog to write. I don't get to hide out in my office on Sundays (the only day Jess and I both have off) writing when I should be hanging out with my family.

[I should mention here that Jessie is ridiculously supportive and makes my life easy by taking on WAY more than her share of our adult responsibilities. Without her I'd be half as productive and otherwise completely lost.]

What DO I give up in order to write comics? My free time, my personal time and most of my hobbies.

I don't watch football or hockey any more. I rarely go to the movies. I watch TV MAYBE a couple hours a week and only after I've gotten the day's writing done. And if you see me drinking more than one beer in a sitting, I'm probably either on vacation or at a con. I like beer and movies and sports. I do. But I like comics more and I like writing a lot more.

So, getting back to the actual question...

I write at least 2 hours every weekday between 6:00PM (when I get home) and 10:00PM (when Jess gets home). If possible I'll get another hour or so in after midnight while Jessie does her tattoo prep work.

I do a lot of my brainstorming and story breaking on Saturdays because I have the house to myself and a solid 8-10 hours of work time.

I always read a 22 page comic before working on a script because it reminds me how relatively short these things are and how quickly the reader moves from page to page.

I always take a 1-2 hour 'creative nap' before plotting or breaking an issue because it helps stir the ideas around in my head and makes thematic and character connections my conscious brain would stupidly miss.

Most importantly, I write a little bit every day. If life gets in the way and my schedule gets blown (which happens with disturbing regularity), I deal with it and do what I can with the time I have. I'll work plot problems out in the dentist waiting room. I'll do an outline on the airplane. I'll go over bits of dialogue driving in rush hour or visualize action beats staring at the ceiling in a dark motel room. Writing is a lot more than just typing and you can do a lot of it almost anywhere.

Every day is the key. A little bit every day turns into a whole lot more than you'd think.

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Jesus, how long winded was that?!

Cool off with some more Top Secret test art: