{"id":1503,"date":"2014-10-21T09:06:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-21T16:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/?p=1503"},"modified":"2023-12-19T09:07:51","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T17:07:51","slug":"devourer-of-words-021-choosing-whats-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/devourer-of-words-021-choosing-whats-next\/","title":{"rendered":"Devourer of Words 021: Choosing What\u2019s Next"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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MARC BERNARDIN’S DEVOURER OF WORDS<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Devourer of Words 021: Choosing What\u2019s Next<\/h1>\n\n\n
Marc Bernardin<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Toucan<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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There comes a time for every writer when she or he is done with whatever it is they\u2019re writing. When you\u2019ve tweaked your last sentence, when you\u2019ve addressed your last note, when it\u2019s off to your editor and out of your hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve had your celebratory scotch and $50 steak\u2014how you celebrate victory over the blank page is up to you; me, I want booze and meat\u2014now it\u2019s time to decide what\u2019s next. If you\u2019re a writer on a monthly book (or five) then you do the next issue. Simple enough. Keep the tracks in front of the train and keep the schedule working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But let\u2019s pretend that you\u2019re in the position where nothing needs<\/em> writing, where no one expects something of you by the end of the week to keep your creative partners working. What should you write when you can write anything?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re at all like me, you\u2019ve got a folder somewhere on your hard drive for loose ideas. Fragments, snatches, the barest wisps of stories. (Mine is named \u201cIdeawerks.\u201d It was the \u201890s, when Spielberg, Katzenberg and Geffen started a studio and I had a Volkswagen and misplaced Es were cool.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything goes in there, everything. There are things as robust as full treatments, just waiting for the time to execute, and ideas that are barely sentence fragments\u2014\u201cOthello but with jazz\u201d is one that will probably stay put for a while. Some things are just not good\u2014not every idea is a winner and a few should probably stay in the folder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they are all necessary. They are ideas you needed to have and get out of the way to make room for the next good one. Or they are ideas that alone are useless, but can be the connective tissue two other ideas needed to make the Three Amigos<\/em> of ideas. And I think we can all agree that the Three Amigos<\/em> of ideas would be the best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, the next thing I write is the thing I can\u2019t stop thinking about. If there\u2019s an idea that won\u2019t leave me alone\u2014in the shower, during the commute, cooking dinner, playing with my kids, sharpening my knives\u2014then it moves to the top of the pile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The thing that is begging to be written is the thing that will yield the most juice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But be warned: Trend-chasing is futile. Don\u2019t write a thing because something else similar is a hit. Even though comics has a remarkably short incubation period (compared to other media), odds are any trend that\u2019s popping today will wane by the time you bring your story to the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep filling that folder. Write what speaks to you. Write what\u2019s insistent. Write what you can never let go of. The next big project I\u2019m working on was an idea I first had in 1997. Nothing ever dies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

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

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