{"id":1829,"date":"2016-10-18T13:41:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-18T20:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/?p=1829"},"modified":"2023-12-20T13:43:21","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T21:43:21","slug":"devourer-of-words-041-winter-is-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/devourer-of-words-041-winter-is-here\/","title":{"rendered":"Devourer of Words 041: Winter is Here"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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MARC BERNARDIN’S DEVOURER OF WORDS<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Devourer of Words 041: Winter is Here<\/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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\"Marc<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

October brings many things\u2014a crispness in the air, longer days, pumpkin spice in every friggin\u2019 thing\u2014but with it also comes the traditional end of convention season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure, if you hunt around for a con you can find one or two\u2014especially overseas\u2014but for stateside comickers, the days of packing up banners and boxes, of practicing your pitches in front of mirrors, are over for the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean that a writer\u2019s work is done. You will have three, very important tasks to complete before convention season comes out of hibernation next spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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TASK ONE: Get Out There and Live<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

As much as you\u2019d like to think that now is the time to lick your wounds or celebrate your triumphs, that\u2019s not the case. Now, in fact, is the time to go into the world and do things. Writers are experience combustion engines. As much as we output story for a living, the fuel for those stories are first person adventures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go someplace you\u2019ve never been, see something you\u2019ve never seen, reconnect with friends you\u2019ve been shirking because you\u2019ve been too busy, meet someone who hasn\u2019t already heard all your anecdotes. Love someone. Hate someone. Eat too much. Drink just enough. Take a class. Ditch a class. Drive till the wheels fall off. Pull the kids out of school and take them on a rollercoaster\u2014unless you\u2019re like me, and loathe rollercoasters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever it is, do it. It will make your writing better. It will dislodge things that have been idle for too long. The only way out is through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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TASK TWO: Write<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Now that you\u2019re loaded with new experience, it\u2019s time to put it to good use. If you landed work during the past convention season, you\u2019re gonna have to be doing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you\u2019re going to be on the hunt for new employment next convention season, you have to come correct and come with the new. Those pitches that opened doors (or didn\u2019t) the last go-round are now \u201cburned.\u201d They won\u2019t work a second time\u2014and everyone has likely already seen them\u2014so you need new ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s more, if those pitches impressed an editor, they\u2019ll want to know that you\u2019ve got more tricks up your sleeve, so this is how you put them there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do some \u201cblue sky\u201d thinking\u2014chase notions down narrative cul de sacs; shake them out, see if there\u2019s anything you can use. If so, great. If not, now you know, and on to the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let your brain become enraptured with a new idea and then another and another. This is when you want bold strokes. Worry about whether you can sell those strokes later\u2014the best thing you can do for your mind is let it run wild. You\u2019ll have plenty of time to rein it in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(And, before you raise your hand: no, those old pitches aren\u2019t actually dead. You will use pieces of them, I\u2019m sure, to patch holes in other ideas. And when editorial turnover hits the publishers, as it always does, those ideas will be viable again. Writers have to be able to use every part of the buffalo.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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TASK THREE: Say Thank You<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Literally, write thank you messages to all those people you pestered during the course of the season, whether that pestering yielded work or not. You know why? Because almost no one else does it. And anything that helps you stand out works in your favor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, your mother would like it that you have manners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Marc Bernadin\u2019s Devourer of Words appears the third Tuesday of every 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