Over the weekend, I completed a 14-frame short visual story and started working on a new graphic novella. The 14-frame short story wasn’t supposed to be 14 frames. When I set out to make the final drawings it was only supposed to be 3 frames – a beginning, middle, and end. It was my attempt at taking my own advice by starting small.
But, as I drew those 3-frames, new ideas came to mind. As I drew the character and saw (rather than just thought about) how she reacted to the scenario I had put her in, the scenario on the page felt lifeless and incomplete. So, I added another 2 frames. And then another 2 frames.
At 7 frames, I thought, “OK, that’s neat, I think we’re done.” But as she bounded off, stage left, blindly following her curiosity, I noticed that she left her lunch box behind. What to do with that? My protagonist was not a litterer, she simply made a mistake, as we all often do, when we’re excited by something.
And so, the story demanded to continue. Another 7 frames later and I had arrived a logical-enough ending (plus it was the end of the day and I was tired). So I stopped. But now, 2 days later, I keep thinking about the bench. What happens next? Where else could this go?
Responding to the starting
I’d been thinking about those 3 frames for a long time but, like with almost anything that seems like a good idea at the time, actually beginning – trying to get what’s in my head onto the page – is the difficult bit and so I procrastinate. I imagine how good it would be if I did it, and that’s almost enough to not do it.
But, I know now that when I start putting those first few marks on the page, I’m no longer in the driver’s seat. Instead, I’m being driven by what appears on the page – the characters and the setting.
Maybe all I need to do is insert the key and turn. Once the engine is humming, the characters and setting do the driving.
This feeling, of being driven rather than needing to drive, is enough motivation to pick another idea up off the pile and go again. So, the following day, that’s what I did. And now, having drawn 12 pages of Act 1 of a new graphic novella, I can’t stop thinking about it. I’ll knock off work tonight and keep drawing – not because I want to finish it, but because I want to see where this story will take me.
The Bench
