{"id":1165,"date":"2013-04-16T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-16T19:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/?p=1165"},"modified":"2023-12-18T16:13:53","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T00:13:53","slug":"devourer-of-words-004-the-collaborationist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/devourer-of-words-004-the-collaborationist\/","title":{"rendered":"Devourer of Words 004: The Collaborationist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n
\n

HOW WRITERS BECOME COLLABORATORS!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Devourer of Words 004: The Collaborationist<\/h1>\n\n\n
Marc Bernardin<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Toucan<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\"Marc<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, let\u2019s pretend you\u2019ve landed that first gig.\u00a0You hewed to the advice of the last column<\/a>\u2014pitching at a convention\u2014and convinced a publisher to be the midwife for your sequential genius. Now you have to work with other people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comics are, like most forms of entertainment, a collaborative medium. So unless you\u2019re the rare one-stop shop\u2014writer\/artist\/colorist\/letterer\u2014you will need to learn how to play well with others to get the best finished product. And everyone will want something different from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Editor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The editor will be the first and last person you speak to on any given issue of your comic. He or she might have even been the person to give you the green light in the first place. The tenor of your relationship will be based on two things: (1) whether the book is creator-owned or work-for-hire, and (2) the first phone conversation you have after the book is green-lit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re working on a creator-owned book, you have a decent amount of control. Not that you\u2019re the last word\u2014always remember that someone is paying for this, and he who mans the money spigot has the power. But it is your idea. You can pick up your toys and go home if you come across something you don\u2019t like. It\u2019s a big bomb to drop, but it\u2019s in your arsenal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re working on a work-for-hire book\u2014and you\u2019re not already a Top Ten writer\u2014you are disposable. Not that they\u2019ll want to fire you\u2014the path of least resistance is usually the path that a busy editor will follow\u2014but if you\u2019re not actively bringing a paying audience to the table, the publisher has no vested interest in keeping you around. So make that first phone call a good one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That initial call\u2014and I say call, because it\u2019s entirely possible, if not likely, that you won\u2019t be within driving distance of your editor\u2014is like a first date. You make the small talk, you dance around the serious issues, but you generally get a sense of each other\u2019s intentions. Most important, do you both want to make the same comic book? If you do, then great. If not, then you need to figure out a way to compromise that\u2019ll make everyone happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the process goes on, you\u2019ll pitch that editor characters you want to introduce, longer arcs and shorter beats, themes you want to hit, and places you want to go. In a perfect world, you\u2019ll get a great editor to work with. They\u2019re a little hard to find these days, but they still exist. A great editor is someone who will work with you to make your story better. A great editor is not a writer. Or, at least, he or she shouldn\u2019t want to be the writer of your story. The editor simply wants to get the best out of you and your work. Any notes he or she gives will be to that end and you should take them in that light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your editor is not of that stripe, all I can say is do your best to get along. Don\u2019t be contentious, if you can avoid it. Be on your best behavior. If it gets so bad\u2014if the person asks you to do things you\u2019re uncomfortable with\u2014you can always walk away, either taking your toys with you or leaving theirs behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But never raise your voice. Never email in anger. Conduct yourself like an officer: with respect and honor. If you don\u2019t, it will bite you in the ass later on. You\u2019ve been on Twitter. You know what I\u2019m talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Artist<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re planning on being a professional comics writer for a living, you\u2019re generally a pretty fast writer. You ought to be able to knock out a 22-page script in about 10 days. The best can do it in a week. Your average artist, though, can\u2019t work nearly that fast. So keep that in mind when talking to your artist. Artists are, fingers to paper, working longer than you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you know who your artist will be before you start writing, ask the person what he or she likes to draw\u2014and doesn\u2019t like to draw. (Hopefully, the artist will have been chosen because of an affinity for\/skill with the book\u2019s subject matter. It\u2019s never a good sign if the bloke drawing your dinosaur book hates drawing T-rexes.) Talk to the artist about the book, where it\u2019s going, and see what he or she thinks. Make this person a part of the conversation. If he or she has good ideas, use them. No one likes to be railroaded. The more the artist feels ownership of the material\u2014the more his or her concerns are being addressed and voice is being heard\u2014the harder the person will work on delivering the awesome. And that\u2019s not just kindness, that\u2019s good business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you don\u2019t know who your artist will be, just be mindful of the things that are a bear for anyone to draw. Vast cityscapes. Crowds of millions. Anything Geof Darrow-esque (unless you get Geof Darrow). Yes, there will be times you need to evoke a teeming space port or an army of goblins on the march, but don\u2019t be stupid about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Colorist<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll never speak to the colorist. Ever. Unless it\u2019s a creator-owned book and you\u2019re acting as your own editor and assembling the team. But if you do find yourself talking to your colorist, don\u2019t presume to tell him or her what colors you want. Indicate what mood you\u2019re looking for, what emotion you\u2019re trying to convey. Let the person do the rest. Because colorists are wizards and you don\u2019t understand their magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Letterer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You probably won\u2019t speak to the letterer either. The editor usually gives the letterer the final script and collates all the changes, from you and everyone else. A word of advice: Don\u2019t rewrite the entire issue after seeing the first lettering pass. Yes, things will change once you see the art and the letters together. Captions or dialogue can suddenly be redundant. Information you were hoping would come from the art might not. Everyone\u2019s prepared for this. But don\u2019t take this opportunity to deliver another draft of the script. The letterer often doesn\u2019t get a lot of time to do his or her work. A couple of days before press, maybe. The very last thing someone wants to do is pull an all-nighter redoing all of the balloon placements because you had a whole mess of ideas. Your editor won\u2019t appreciate it, either. But, you might get your first email from the letterer. And it won\u2019t be a pleasant one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Marc Bernardin\u2019s Devourer of Words appears the third Tuesday of every month on <\/em>Toucan!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Written by<\/p>\n\n\n

Marc Bernardin<\/div>\n\n\n

Published<\/p>\n\n\n