Different Setups for Stories

So, as a writer of many disciplines I often do quite a bit of research on many subjects. I find it quite necessary to know the many ways to concoct a story structure depending on which type of story you are working with. Whether it be, sequential art stories, prose, verse, screenplays, or stage plays. So here is a look at the different setups for stories in sequential art:

DIFFERENT SETUPS FOR STORIES

MINISERIES- A story or comic with a predetermined number of issues. Has two specific rules to adhere to.
                1. Have enough story for the allotted amount of pages allowed each issue. Have time for rewriting.
               2. Must be a change, development, or reverse in every issue until a climax is reached, then dénouement. Keep the story moving!

GRAPHIC NOVEL- A story in which many things happen, and many characters exist. Must keep moving up and up constantly. The reader must be constantly fed new information to help further understand the world in which the graphic novel lives.

MAXISERIES- Should have a unifying theme and continuity of plot. Must reach a conclusion that answers all plot and character questions, ties all elements together despite diversity. Doesn't have to be tightly plotted as a novel, stories can be diverse and unconnected but must tie in at conclusion. Usually twelve issues long.

ONGOING STORIES- The sort of traditional tips of comics. Deal with problems of continuity and continued stories. Three ways to write continuous stories in an ongoing title.
               1. Story Arcs- The twin of miniseries so to speak. Arc is a part of continuum though. Must have enough plot for allotted number of pages. Reintroduce characters and locales. Have fully outlined plots.
               2. The Levitz Paradigm- A grid like format that helps track main plots and sub plots in a single ongoing title or many titles. See p.101 of The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics by Dennis O'Neil.
              3. Chart Form- A form in which many titles with the same character involved; helps track the plots and sub plots dealt with in each separate title to tie in with the one main plot.

MEGASERIES- A long continuity which stars a single set of characters and appears in several titles. Falls back on the old three-act-structure. Outline for story should be at least twelve pages long. In addition to the main plot there are usually a dozen other subplots. Should have narrative explaining the story in each issue. Every scene should point to a climax and no page wasted. Story must justify the space allotted to it.

Doctor Who

The Doctor is in! 'Doctor Who' season 8 has been brought to us in all its glory to the streaming world! Whether you have Netflix or some other form of streaming goodness its there and oh baby is it going to keep us busy! The wife and I love DW so much and we always spend quality time with my aunt and uncle and little cousins watching the new ones and the old ones when off season at their home. It is a blast, so that is going to keep us busy for quite a bit! Hoping to marathon this coming Saturday with all of it!
You want to talk writing and great acting, I mean, there is so much to learn from this show. Also just about basic humanity and life in general. Steven Moffat is an amazing showrunner and there is a lot to learn from him as well. I've read interviews and seen YouTube videos on him as well talking the craft of writing. Such an amazing man, also Neil Garman who I spoke of in yesterday's blog post has written episodes for the great series and is a huge mega nerd for it, just like myself and my wife and all the amazing fans in the fandom, so you know its good! If you've never checked it out before, I implore you to do so. It's all on Netflix. Get on it.
Season 9 of 'Doctor Who' premiers on BBC America on September 19th (on my birthday of all days!).

Reading and Writing

Recently I finished all of the books I own to read and I am trying not to buy anymore right now because we might be moving to another apartment soon. So in the spirit of being prepared ahead of time I am trying to condense the things I have so that I don't have too much to move when the time comes. I'll tell you now, I've moved at least five times now and it is always my books and DVDs that weigh us down the most when trying to transition.
For a long while now I have been on a Neil Garman kick, I almost own all of his books now and I want to get the others so bad and it is so hard to resist! I'm like the only nice seagull at the beach trying to leave the nice beach-goers alone and in peace but here and there really glancing hard at that potato salad. Neil Garman is by far my most favorite fantasy writer of all time because of the way he crafts his stories and characters so believably. I feel honestly like he is the most original writer out there sometimes, just the worlds he creates for his stories. Indeed in his novels his characters visit such amazing places and run into the most amazing people. I love the fact that he always starts off his novel with an everyman character which is not always the case with his short stories. What is fascinating as well to me as a writer and avid reader is that his main characters aren't always the same race either, I mean they are always for the most part (except for a few short stories) male but not always the same race as he is. As a writer myself I am always a little afraid to write a main character that is not the same race and sex as I am, I mean I'm not afraid to write side characters that aren't the same gender and race as I am but I don't know, there is something about doing the main protagonist that makes me feel weird. Although in one short story I did, entitled, 'Christmas Ghouls', I write with a female protagonist. So I guess I'm dipping my toes in the water a little bit here and there. Neil Garman teaches me so much though about writing and being a writer, he's the only writer I've watched like lectures on YouTube and read his blog religiously I have to say. My all time favorite comedy writer for novels of all time is Christopher Moore and I love him but there is something to me that seems that he as a person is a little inaccessible. I don't know. I love his books and his craft is astounding, but he doesn't have like that something that Neil Garman has. Still, both great authors and great books.
What it is I am talking about here is that just from reading and really paying attention to all the things that your favorite authors have to teach you is a great way to learn the craft of writing. That along with writing, every single, damn day. One word after another after another after another until you've actually finished something. This is the most important thing. Finishing something. Keep at it!

Summer Garden

Summer gardening fun at my parents house! Got lots of good plants to eat and flowers to love! My wife and I love the freshness of them!

 

 

New Project: Psycho Cat

I am starting a new children's book project entitled, 'Psycho-Cat'. It is the story of a brave little toy-pinscher named, Tony who saves his unsuspecting parents (his owners) from a psychotic cat who they unknowingly bring into their home.
The story is sort of inspired by real life. In our first apartment, in the first year we were living together on our own a couple of months after we got our baby puppy boy, Tony we were out for a walk in the village of New Hartford one summer afternoon. They were having some sort of a pet expo for the Humane Society at the New Hartford Park and had all sort of pets for adoption. Now at the time we were still getting use to having one new member of our family and I was hesitant to get anymore yet. However we fell in love with a kitten at the show. I tried to resist getting the little guy but my wife, who at the time was my fiancé, fell in love with it fast and so we decided to try it for a while. We got all the right stuff for it and everything and brought it home. It was a very cute cat and we liked it a lot, however our little guy Tony did not care for it. We played with it and fed it and tried to train it a little, as much as you can in one night and then we all went to sleep. Well, so, my wife and I and our dog all sleep in the bed together so we had our new kitten sleep in our living room and closed our door. Somehow that night the cat had slipped itself underneath the door and curled up to my head. Tony was in the sheets but then he sensed this and started barking and trying to get out of the sheets (which was hilarious) to get at the cat. So then I got the kitten and put him back in the living room, however Tony would not go back to sleep. The next day we talked long and hard about it and decided that the kitten wasn't for us, so we returned it to the shelter. I chalk this experience up to the fact that we were still new at being on our own and we still were learning to take care of our little puppy, and we just got scared I think. Luckily though I heard that our little kitten got adopted the next day and is very happy.
So I had been mulling over a short humorous story for a landscape style children's book for a while now. Then one day I was staring at my dog and thinking how cat like he is, yet how much he despises those felines and that sparked the recollection of that night and thus I began writing. The story will be narrated by Tony from his perspective, so as to bring it down to an accessible level for kids to get into but also cross that line so that YA and adults will like it too hopefully. Pictured above are just some sketches I've done so far. More to come.

No More F?!

It's amazing the amount of films that Marvel has made within so many years and with so many different production companies as well. Some owned by Fox, others by Sony and some true Marvel Entertainment franchises. It is astounding how well they've done over the years as well, I mean not to me, since I've been buying the comics since I was 14, which isn't that long admittedly. However these are some of the biggest movies being made now and all with A-list actors and directors as well. A few years back Sylvester Stallone made a huge deal saying how these comic book movies are killing the old action hero movies (Rocky, Terminator, Demolition Man, Rambo) and in a sense killing off the need for the old school muscled-up actors. It hasn't really, it's just made them either adapt or taken actors who were relatively known mostly for comedy (Chris Evans, Paul Rudd, Chris Pratt) or drama (Robert Downey Jr. (although, special note: RDJ can do anything), Chris Hemsworth, Tom Huddleston, Jeremy Renner, Scarlet Johansson, the lists go on) and made them transform themselves into such powerful action stars. Yet of course since they started out doing these said things, they can return to them anytime they want and still perform their craft at their pique and they bring this level of talent and introspection to these roles of comic book heroes making these unbelievable stories all the more believable. Also bringing these actors more opportunities for roles they might never have gotten if it wasn't for these superhero films bringing them such popularity. It all started in 2008. I mean sure, Marvel collaborated and made films of their characters before that, but before the brilliance that was the first Iron Man, connecting it all for the first time, we wouldn't have the world we live in right now. So, it's amazing.
With the new FF movie coming out, rebooting the franchise, it got me thinking about all of this. Then of course there is my absolute favorite character of all getting his own movie, Deadpool!! I mean, man. I am stoked. This brings to mind the fact that I heard a rumor that within the comic book universe of Marvel that there won't be a series for Fantastic Four anymore, but that the characters will instead appear randomly in other characters books. So it makes me wonder about the MCU, which of course isn't the same as the MCBU, and also about the rumors of production company cooperation too. It's all great news and it's all good fun! I am so excited for these upcoming months and years.
Let's not forget about DC as well, however they are not quite on the MCU level yet, let's just wait till there movies start hitting hard. I am looking forward to Suicide Squad and a little weary of the whole Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice movie, the whole Ben Affleck thing bugs me. I mean the trailer looks good, but I mean The Green Lantern preview looked good, so we'll see. Well, these are my thoughts. More illustration and comics from me and writing news coming soon. With pictures and everything!

The Game of Kings

Chess or Chaturanga as it was originally called, literally meaning Four Divisions is a game as old as civilized society invented somewhere between c. 280-1000 into the modern era. Many histories and treatises have been written about it for ages. It is indeed a powerful game and is of course known to be a favorite of strategists and intellectuals. The great thinker Benjamin Franklin had this to say of the game:

"The Game of Chess is not merely an idle amusement; several very valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to be acquired and strengthened by it, so as to become habits ready on all occasions; for life is a kind of Chess, in which we have often points to gain, and competitors or adversaries to contend with, and in which there is a vast variety of good and ill events, that are, in some degree, the effect of prudence, or the want of it. By playing at Chess then, we may learn:
I. Foresight, which looks a little into futurity, and considers the consequences that may attend an action.
II. Circumspection, which surveys the whole Chess-board, or scene of action: – the relation of the several Pieces, and their situations.
III. Caution, not to make our moves too hastily."

Thusly I've begun to play a chess game with myself each day/week to strengthen my mind and open up more doors of creativity. As a writer I am hoping this practice will increase my ability to think for multiple characters at once and to have strategy in defining a plot that is both satisfying and entertaining. As an actor, the same principles apply, by having to play two sides at once and with multiple pieces to move I am hoping this will help with defining character wants and needs or motivation for movement. Now, as an artist, I don't see much practical use into the strategy portion of the game as art is meant to feed on chaos, not order, but I do however see the beauty of the juxtaposition of the pieces as well as the layout of the board, they are all indeed aesthetically pleasing, so I think in some way unbeknownst to me this will help. Well, we'll see.
On the news of the project front, I finished scene one of act two of my play last night and I hope to write most of scene two of act two tonight possibly. The best thing about this play is that I have it all played out for myself in my mind so the effort of it is to just get it written so then I can read and rewrite as needed and then share my creation with those whose opinion I respect.
Also, tonight the wife and I got some great vegetables from my parents. A blog on that will be coming up.

Movement

Staying ever active as always. I am currently in the midst of writing a new stage play. A comedy entitled FIRST DATE about a date that just goes horribly wrong. I am so looking forward to this being completed. I am trying my hardest to complete this play as soon as possible. Not that I am rushing the process, no not at all, I've taken plenty of weeks to make notes and mull over plot and scenes and character development and what not before I even started writing. The best thing is once the writing begins its so much easier to just sit back and let things happen by themselves. It's amazingly good fun. I can't wait.
I'm really trying to make sure I finish things. I have not forgotten about my other projects either (my novel, my comic, my short stories) and I have worked on them as well. Making notes and what not, prepping myself for the actual writing to begin. However I decided that since this play is so short that it should take me less time to complete this first and thus give me that good feeling in my brain of completion and endorphins will run wild and make a me a happy boy! So I am going to finish this thing hopefully by the end of this weekend (08/02/15) and make with the happy. I am very pumped and motivated.
Recently I read all of the Neil Garman books I have bought and have an incredible void to fill in my mind since I have not a book to read at this point. However of course books wild come. Until then though I am going to keep busy with everything. Oh, also a new commercial I am in is out! Check it out below!