Wade in the Water

Not all steps in a creative journey are ones that aren't gonna have you splat ass-first trying to charge out of the gate. Some steps have to be done carefully, preferably while scooting your feet along the bottom of the kiddie pool. Bonus points for that foot of water acting as a safety net. Dress accordingly.  You don't wear your prom dress to this party. You wear your pajamas.

It made a lot more sense in my head and mostly because I do my best writing in bed.

Regardless, there's always a thought train to push these posts and today's is this: I started to do an outline for my web-comic (WebToon) idea. I'm not sure if I hashed it out in previous posts so if not, here is a quick synopsis. I'm planning a sci-fi romantic comedy involving a child psychologist named Kyra Blake and her run-in with a stranded alien (Zeron) when he shows up on Halloween. Naturally, lost-in-translation hilarity ensues. Working title is Rock My World.

In any case, I spend a couple hours of the morning, writing out the first comic in word form (using a format very similar to my old roots at radio play style writing). Thinking about it was making it seem unattainable so I needed to do something tangible that will stare at me from a little file on the desktop screen of my MacBook Pro (ahhhh yeeeaaah, name-dropping the tech, son!).

So now you know the path of the topic. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Synopses are rarely ever going to offer some jaw-dropping revelation you've never seen before. I wasn't trying to be impressive there, but the point is, I've gone a step further.  Only a teensy bit.  What's two hours to a creator? If I'm working fast I can lay out a color base in that little chunk of time annnnnd, that's about it. Wanna know what a color base is?  This:

It's the blobby color blocks I put behind the line work that I eventually lay texture over. Okay, two hours might be optimistic. Some color bases are far more paint-by-number little chunks of horror.

In any case, not all steps are impressive.  Some are painful or even boring. An artist wants to tell you that the journey is always the important part, but sometimes I do have to tell myself that even though this part sucks, it is going to be SO awesome.

I think many people freeze up because they start obsessing on details like the time it will take or how much beginnings suck. Sometimes I know it is quicker to dive in, but I'm just not motivated or confident enough to trust it. When that happens, I go for the baby steps. A lot of writers will send themselves goofy one word emails to capture those errant thoughts for inspiration later. I work from home so obviously I just grab a notebook or pop open the laptop. Nevertheless I had a couple thoughts warring for later use.

Planter- lost

Pigment on earth - albinoism

Those won't mean anything to you, but because they come with a whole scene attached in my mind, I chuckle like an idiot. Pat myself on the back a little.  Good job, Krista, you self-amused crackpot.

And really when you look at those odd clusters of words, your big ideas seem a little bit smaller. Those two idea clusters there are a couple of comic shorts all on their own. You don't have to bust out a masterpiece, just lay some groundwork and build around it.  How do I create the conditions required for these scenes? Well, who needs to be there? Who doesn't really need to be there but might be there anyway? Where are they? What 'props' need to exist to make it work?

While each kind of writing-- screenplay, comic, novel, poem, etc.-- is refined differently, each one needs to set the stage. If you ever played with a dollhouse, you've done this hands-on. Another good example is a war table where pieces representing troops and weapons are placed to plan out an attack. You aren't just playing with the characters, you are also manipulating the world around them, whether it be fictional or one based in reality.

Whoa, whoa, whoa... I'm going big again. The point is you're not just throwing the furniture into the dollhouse living room and plunging into the chaos. You're setting the lamp in the corner by the stairs because it's the easiest place for anyone coming in the room to turn it on. The couch is going against the wall because it's too big to go anywhere else. The coffee table goes in front of the couch, but it's not exactly the best place because the long-legged dad will almost always bump his leg on it when he's going into the kitchen. 

You don't have to think that far ahead to make it work.  Sometimes you just start with an aesthetic. The chair goes there because it's pretty in the sunlight next to the window. You can apply that logic to a character. You probably want to feature them because you are drawn to the idea of them. Eventually you might get a new piece of furniture (character) that would work better there.  What makes writing so captivating is possibility.  Don't overwhelm yourself with possibilities.  Start with those budding ideas of impulse, then work out some of the kinks as you go. 

I like to encourage all people to write and am ambitious enough to want to reach all people, from those who have only thought about it to those who are experienced but always on a never-ending quest for new perspectives.

There's no right way to do this, but think about what approach might be blocking you.  Sometimes you need to dive, sometimes you have to get those toes in one at a time. The more I test different mediums the more I find what works best and, hey, some things that might work best I can be bad at so it becomes something I need to work on.

Try not to think much of your skill level. If you want to make a career of it, then yes, eventually you do need to refine your process more. However, if you're writing for fun, then reach for what makes you enjoy it most. No matter if it's work or play, always be prepared to adjust your thinking. In order to give your ideas the justice they deserve, you have to get into the pool somehow.

Keep those things in mind and keep writing!