Musings of a Hopeful Author

 I think I might have talked about this before, but even if I did, it's totally worth mentioning again. I think chapter titles are a ton of fun to come up with and can be fun/helpful for readers. They give you a bit of a teaser of what is to come, and a lot of times can be a play on words that might have the reader expecting something different form what the chapter is actually about, which can be nice as the writer. You don't want your readers to think your work is too predictable and sort of subtly setting them up to expect one thing and then hitting them with something else (that also makes sense when you think about the heading again in the new context), it can be a nice little gotcha moment.  I think it's also helpful to have chapter titles to help readers more easily navigate a book if they have moments they want to go back and revisit based on future chapter revelations. Numbers just aren't that helpful in that regard. I know I don't pay attention to them or ...

Have you ever been camping? Like in a tent in the woods with nothing around you but nature? Have you done the slightly upgraded version where there's a campground communal bathhouse you can access when you're a bit tired of nature and want some of the niceties from home like running water and working plumbing? Well, I have done the second, but we were so far from the bathhouse it felt more like the first. And let me tell you, I was not the biggest fan of flat out roughing it. I like nature, but I don't love bugs or feeling dirty. And I certainly don't like going to the bathroom in the woods. Just not my thing.  That said, I also am not one who would want to drive or pay for one of those giant RVs that come with all the amenities. I like how fancy and nice they can be and appreciate having everything you need with you, but I would be stressed beyond belief to drive one of those things across country be it in traffic on a highway or down some small back road. Stressful!  ...

 So, in an effort to storyboard my ideas for the comic I'm working on, I thought it would be a good idea to not only write the story but break it out into cells and actually see what it would look like as a comic as I go. Best to start as you mean to continue, right? (so I mostly got the quote right... see below for the actual quote.) With that in mind, I started to think about how to approach this comic and was brutally honest with myself about some things that I might not want to admit to myself on a regular basis. I am not likely to draw this comic twice, so when I put pen to paper (be it real paper or digital paper), it needs to be the version I plan to keep. I am not likely to finish the comic if I write the storyline while also drawing it at the same time. I know I'll get frustrated with my drawing skills and knowing the story isn't done, will likely just give up on the whole endeavor.  I like drawing, but hate drawing people and am not good at quick drawings or sketc...

 It's a ongoing joke with several friends that I think in terms of powerpoint when we're talking about visuals, in excel when we're making lists or need to track things in some way, and in word when trying to compose something so I'll have proper spelling, grammar, and formatting. And it's true, I use each of those tools more often than I'd like to admit, but they really are great tools to have! Right now, for instance, I am using powerpoint to storyboard the comic idea I mentioned in a previous post. I'm using clipart to capture a general feel for what I want in each of the panels so far. Once I get the basic ideas down, then I can go back later and draw my own versions of things, but with a good reference point to get me started. I had thought about drawing rough sketches on some paper but then I'd have to do the whole thing over when I got ready to do the real thing, and I don't know that I'd do it all over again. I'm not great at redundan...