Tag: comics

Return of the Lost Blogger

If I were to wait a few more months, I could cap my absence to one complete year since my last update. Incidentally, the subject of that last post also sets the stage for discussion on the progress I’ve made thus far. I left describing the steep learning curve that accompanied my aspirations to become a writer/comic book artist. A year down the road, those same aspirations are now ambitions that I’ve decided to fully commit towards.

Setting aside the myriad happy developments in my personal life, I struggled to consistently keep up with my writing and my art-work. While this was initially frustrating, it turned out to be a gift in disguise. My lack of consistency was largely due to the hectic schedule of my doctoral studies. Rather than spreading myself thin, I decided to focus on my immediate concerns while taking it easy on myself (which being as stubborn and obsessed as I can be about my goals, it took some time getting used to).

Those immediate concerns culminated, just a few weeks ago, in a closed-room event involving a three hour session of what was my PhD candidacy exam. I’m glad to say that I was able to pass what was ultimately a challenging but wonderful learning experience. Having completed what is often perceived as the greatest obstacle in doctoral studies (aside from the final defense itself), I can now look towards a clear-cut, and focused journey in scientific research over the few years before the final defense.

But, this journey is not all about science. While I was busy preparing for the candidacy exam, I took every opportunity available to build on my thoughts and set the foundations for my art and writing aspirations. Funnily enough, stepping away from my writing and art work helped me discover what I was missing and the skills I required moving forward.

That being said, I have continued to slowly develop the script for my graphic novel. Although the story is fully developed in my mind, a few more months may be required before I complete the first draft of the script. In what will ultimately be a long-term project, I intend to transform the script into art and a full-fledged graphic novel. These efforts will also accompany the development of a new writing project involving a story of the political genre that has been in the workings for more than a year.

Much of this is just the beginning of what will be the first step towards my determined pursuit of a career in writing, and possibly one day, in animation. Having found a common love in writing stories and communicating scientific knowledge, I’ve decided that the Pensive Reverie will remain an outlet where I can share my daily adventures in the artistic landscape. Additionally, I will be starting a new blog that will be more focused towards discussing topics rooted in science and research in an effort to support what may become my future day job as a science writer (at least until I’m able to establish a foothold on my artistic aspirations).

This is all I have for today, but I will return very soon with a new post!

Writing Comics and All That Comes With It…

Comics have always been a part of my life. Rolling back the years to my childhood at my hometown in Madurai, India, I can distinctly remember the excitement I felt every weekend awaiting the delivery of the weekly comics magazines that accompanied the local newspaper.

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Siruvarmalar and Thangamalar, the literal translation beings “Kids’ Flower” and “Golden Flower,” provided a mashup of a children’s activity book mixed in with folktales, fables, and short stories presented in the format of a comic book.

           

(Left) Sample cover of a Siruvarmalar  issue, and (Right) a sample comic strip from within detailing a mythological tale of the Hindu God Shiva. The characters observed are of my native language, Tamil.  

I would spend hours on end pouring over the enormous collection of said magazines that my grandfather stored away in his closet, and that would be a weekend well-spent.

My family’s departure from India to Egypt would result in a break of sorts from comics and my full-fledged introduction to their animated counterparts in cartoons and anime. A few more years down the road, and following the commencement of my post-secondary studies at university, I would rekindle my love for comics in Japanese manga, and other Western staples including DC, Marvel, and an assortment of graphical novels.

As an avid comic-book fan and as an aspiring writer, the goal of kick-starting my own comic-book had always been on my mind. Now, two weeks into writing the script for what I hope will be my first graphical novel, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the diverse challenges that seem to crop up on every front as I try to bring my story together. A large part of these challenges originate from my unfamiliarity in tackling not only a new genre of writing but also a new medium.

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It’s a steep learning curve, but one worth embarking on. 

So, what have I learned so far:

1. Writing a comic is not exactly the same as writing a novel. They say a picture is a thousand words. That has become the driving motto of my work thus far, being that I spend a lot of my time imagining the outline of my story before settling down on the script. It is like constructing a silent motion film in my mind.

2. Attention to detail is important, but so is also being concise with what you want to convey to your readers. In writing the script, I found my greatest challenge in getting used to the fact that my dialogues would remain in a world separate from the art work that will serve to provide the emotions to my story. Thus, I had to keep my dialogues effective, concise, and kind of resonate with the emotions I wished to convey in the scene.

3. Writing a script may seem relatively easy ONLY at the start. This was somewhat of a lesson in humility. I began with lofty expectations, assuming that I would be able to complete the script to my comic over the period of a weekend. Boy, was I wrong! Let’s give it at the least till the end of summer, or maybe the end of the year.

4. Don’t overthink. Every writer has a quirk that makes them unique. Overthinking may be a popular category for many writers, and I can certainly be counted in that special group. It’s difficult but sometimes the best way to go about writing a script, not to mention a story in general, is to not overthink to the point where you hinder your own writing.

5. Temper your expectations. This is more of a personal challenge, in that I’ve always been the greatest critic of my own works to the point that my expectations get heavier and heavier. In writing my script, on several occasions, I had to step back and tell myself to relax and not place lofty expectations on myself, especially when it was my first outing in a new medium. Most importantly, I’ve learned my lesson in patience and perseverance. 

What I’ve said thus far may make it seem that resultant process of writing my novel script has turned me into

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The reality is quite different. As frustrating as the process can be, I’m relishing in the challenge, and it has only motivated me towards my goals. In 2 weeks, I have written 2 chapters, and that’s great while trying on one hand to balance my PhD studies. I hope to keep up the pace, maybe even go a little faster, and keep the ball rolling. Once the script is done, my efforts will be fully directed toward the necessary art work, but that’s a story for another day!

So What’s Next?

In my latest post, I discussed what exactly makes my imagination click.I thought it would be most appropriate to now carry forward the discussion to where my imagination takes me next, at least in the current scheme of things.

Ever since I started my PhD back in September 2017, my focus has largely been towards completing my course requirements for my degree. This has taken a predominant amount of my time, barring me from any measure of progress in my personal writing goals. Now, with the academic year having come to an end, I look forward to a summer extravaganza of writing and a revival of my previously planned projects.

The prior summer I had published my second work in A Little Bit Of Everything, a spiritual successor to my first work, Our Last Summer.

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Both books shared a similar origin in that the foundation of their plots were largely based on my life experiences. Having written the two books, I felt a great measure of happiness in coming to terms with various significant events that had occurred in my life over the span of the last few years.

Closing the page on my personal experiences, I wished to set the stage for my next writing challenge in a series of projects I had envisioned covering the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and politics etc. Intermixed with my new passion to write comics, I’ve spent the last year gradually aggregating ideas on the plots for two different books I intend to write over the course of this summer, and possibly well into next year.

One of these books will be a comic while the other will be a novel, with both being relatively unfamiliar grounds to tread upon. Having taken an extensive course in figure anatomy, I have only just begun my journey in becoming an artist. It is a difficult path, most recognizable in the horrible doodles I have had to endure with far whenever I put my pencil to paper. On a similar note, I have never written a novel, and in the case of the one that I have in store, my goal is to get it published at a traditional publishing house unlike my self-publishing efforts so far.

As I have done earlier, I hope to share my progress on this new journey, amidst my other weekly posts,with everyone on this blog. Tomorrow will be Day 1, and hopefully in a year from now, I will be close to, if not, accomplished my goals with regards to these two books. Let’s see what the year brings!

With that being said, I look forward to entertaining everyone the following weekend with a new post. Until then, toodles!

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