Questionable Comics is a series where Dan Hill surveys professionals from every corner of the comics industry about their methods and experience. First this week is Jennie Wood, an acclaimed novelist and comics creator whose work has been recognized by the New York Times, Boston Globe, the Advocate and more.
What current projects are you working on?
The main thing right now is wrapping up the Flutter graphic novel series. I’m writing the third and final Flutter volume of that series that we’ll publish with 215 Ink. We’re doing a Kickstarter for that right now and one of the rewards is the entire series in one book. Details can be found here.
I’m also working on two new comic projects. One is called Alternica and the artist I’m working with on that is Abraham Evensen Tena. Alternica is about a girl who has been raised as a boy in the totalitarian New South so that he can travel back in time, overthrow the new government, and set all women free. The title of the series was inspired by a Veruca Salt song.
Use one word to describe how you work.
Scrappy.
What’s your workspace like?
I have a home office with a desk that faces bay windows on the second floor of my home. Sometimes the blinds are open, sometimes not, depending on my mood. My desk has a picture of my girlfriend and a metal sculpture of R2D2. There’s a coffee mug that features Josh and Donna from The West Wing. And- just so I don’t take things too seriously- there’s a Taylor Swift 2016 calendar nearby on the wall. My girlfriend gave it to me as a joke. Here we are almost to October and it still makes me laugh and smile.
What do you listen to when you work?
I don’t listen to anything when I’m doing revisions or final edits. I think it’s because I’m a musician so listening to music can be distracting. I’ll find myself thinking about the chord progressions or musical arrangements, stuff like that. However, with first drafts and early drafts I do use music to keep me company and fuel the emotion. For Flutter, I usually listen to Florence + the Machine, which is packed with emotion. Occasionally, I’ll have a football game or tennis match on in the background to keep me company during early drafts if I’m home alone. I don’t find that distracting at all. It’s white noise, like writing in public, in a coffeeshop except I control the noise levels, etc.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Gail Hochman, a literary agent, said during a talk I attended that “an agent won’t change your life, YOU will change your life.” And I always remember that when dealing with agents, publishers, anyone outside of myself. We can get mad that an agent or publisher or collaborator isn’t doing enough for us or a project, or we can just take matters in our own hands and promote our work, become a better writer, etc. It’s just a way to keep the power and control over your own career and not get stuck playing the waiting game, waiting on someone else to make or break you. I think it’s easy to fall into the trap of “if I could just find an agent” or “if only my publisher would do more.” Yes, that might be true, but you can also always do more, too.
How do you get into writing mode?
I typically workout before a writing session. That gets all the juices flowing and the ideas popping in my head before I sit down to write. Then when I sit down I’m ready to go. Working out also means I won’t get antsy a couple hours later because I’ve had that physical activity already.
Full script or Marvel Method?
Full script because I feel more in control of the story that way. Although once I turn that script over to the artist, I am very open to any revisions or any way that makes the story better, any changes or edits that elevates the story.
What’s the one thing you wish you could improve about your work?
I grew up seeing the world through a male lens. I was raised by men- my father, uncles, older male cousins. In addition, all the movies and tv shows I watched were directed and written by men, told from the point of view of a leading man. Most of the books I read were written by men, told from the point of view of a male character. So I saw the world through those eyes.
I think I’ve used the male lens well, used it responsibly- exploring it with the girl shapeshifting into a boy in Flutter and the teenage transgender boy in A Boy Like Me. But I want to get beyond it in my life and in my writing and that’s the biggest thing I’m working on now as a person and as a writer.
When’s the best time to work?
Early in the morning or late at night tends to work best for me because there are less distractions around, but I’m not someone who has to write at the same time every day.
Who do you consider to be inspirational creators in your field (classic and modern)?
In comics, Brian K. Vaughan is my biggest inspiration. I began working on Flutter after reading his Y: The Last Man series. In fact, it was Y: The Last Man that inspired me to do Flutter as a comic / graphic novel series. I think he writes women very well. And I love the epic scope of his work, yet all of his characters are so grounded. I always come back to his work for inspiration.
Tyler James is the co-creator and publisher of ComixTribe, where has co-created a number of series including Red Ten, Epic, and Tears of the Dragon.
What current projects are you working on?
How long you got? : )
I’m currently finishing writing (at long last) The Red Ten, a superhero murder mystery, co-created with artist Cesar Feliciano, and scripting CounterTERROR, a new paranormal political thriller, co-created with artist Joe Mulvey.
I’m also getting ready for Oxymoron: The Loveliest Nightmare to go to trade, and based on the strong critical and sales reaction, plotting the next couple of mini-series for that character, as well as gearing up for the second Oxymoron Anthology.
On the publishing side, we’ve been releasing Chum, a new miniseries from Ryan K Lindsday and Sami Kivela.
And we’ve got a new ComixTribe one-shot initiative we’re trying to pull together.
Oh, and I just launched CisforCthulhu.com, because our horror themed children’s book brand has really taken off.
Use one word to describe how you work.
Relentlessly.
What’s your workspace like?
Messy… Keyboard and Desktop PC. Large planner always laid open on the desk. Legal pads full of plots and sketches and layouts and scribbles. And many, many project folders nearby.
When I get around to actually doing some art, I have a drawing table ready for me…
We do a fair amount of shipping from the house, so there’s usually shipping materials kicking around the home office as well.
What do you listen to when you work?
If I’m scripting, either nothing or instrumental movie soundtracks in the genre of the book I’m writing.
If it’s art or non-creative stuff I’m working on, usually a comics or business-related podcast.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Get up at least an hour in the morning before you have any responsibilities and spend the first 30-60 working on becoming the kind of person you need to be to accomplish what you want to accomplish in life. Then tackle the most important thing you need get done each day before most people even get out of bed.
How do you get into writing mode?
I don’t sit in front of a computer until I have a story broken, in rough outline form, with sketches, beats, doodles, etc. Then I throw on some genre related background music, and just start to get those keys moving. It’s important to block out enough time so that I can fight through the initial inertia of going from non-writing to writing mode, and get into the flow of things.
Full script or Marvel Method?
I’ve experimented with both, but would rather work full-script.
The problem, I’ve found, with Marvel Method, is that when I get pages back requiring dialog, they’re usually awesome, and suddenly I’m under pressure to not ruin them with crappy script…
I’d much rather hammer out my drafts before the artist sees them, and feel confident the script works as written. I always ended up doing another editing pass after art comes in regardless, but I prefer having something I can live with already written.
What’s the one thing you wish you could improve about your work?
I wish I could devote more time to improving my craft as a writer.
My personal creative growth took a back seat in 2015. I realized that the quality of books coming out under the ComixTribe banner were exceeding my ability as a publisher to get them sold and into as many reader’s hands as possible.
So 2015 was all about becoming a better publisher, a better salesman, a better marketer, a better copywriter… necessarily something had to take a backseat. For me, this year, that was my growth as a writer/creator.
However, careers have seasons, and I will be due for a season of creative growth eventually.
When’s the best time to work?
While the rest of the world is asleep.
Who do you consider to be inspirational creators in your field (classic and modern)?
Robert Kirkman is pretty darn inspirational, when you consider what he’s accomplished in so little relatively little time.
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