I love making graphic novels. It’s nice to be able to bring longer stories to life. Hope you have fun working on yours. Can't wait to see it when it comes out.
Thank you! It's due basically yesterday, so this will be a *thing* but I'm hiring an inker and colorist -- my first experience with this -- and I'm glad to have the help and love working as a team.
What great advice! I finished two graphic novels (unpublished) and decided that the five-year slog to see one published is too much. Congratulations on your successes. I’m adapting one of my GN’s into a Chapter Book. Still writing and drawing but much less! I love your style and appreciate the glimpses into your process.
Congrats on finishing two. That's still a big accomplishment. One day maybe ill get brave enough to try my hand at writing a book that doesn't have mostly pictures. Good luck with the chapter book.
This is great advice, for graphic novel artists and writers to any kind of writer. I love the one about not doing plots that are too complicated. Even in some famous, successful graphic novels and some regular novels, I enjoyed the story, but the plot was pretty tough to figure out. You want a punch at certain times in the story and if it's too hard to follow, the punches will be lost. I find that simple plots and complex characters work much better but always at least, start, simple. Get us into it from the beginning. Simple works. Complicated confuses. Awesome post, James.
All great recommendations. I've also reframed my thinking on the length. I love a 200-300 page graphic novel as much as the next person, but 50-100 pagers are my new jam moving forward.
I like to make the books as long as the story requires. 128 page books I find are a good middle ground. But shorter is nice too although I’ve yet to do any shorter than 128 pages.
Really great post James, thank you. Super helpful re the story complexity. I’m in the process of revision so I’ll keep all this in mind for sure. Thanks again!
Having a book go out on sub is so nerve wracking. The waiting. Constantly checking email. Then receiving rejections while hoping for one editor to love it. It’s definitely not fun. But sometimes it's all about timing and finding the right editor. Persistence is key.
And all the questions that pop into my head (self doubt!) during the waiting time. But once the passes come, I am grateful for the useful feedback to consider as I polish the story even more. And writing more stories to give things time to breathe. I definitely will keep persisting! And learning! Thanks James!
I'm embarking on my first longer GN in a couple of weeks (under contract and written) and this was great new advice and great reminders, too.
I love making graphic novels. It’s nice to be able to bring longer stories to life. Hope you have fun working on yours. Can't wait to see it when it comes out.
Thank you! It's due basically yesterday, so this will be a *thing* but I'm hiring an inker and colorist -- my first experience with this -- and I'm glad to have the help and love working as a team.
What great advice! I finished two graphic novels (unpublished) and decided that the five-year slog to see one published is too much. Congratulations on your successes. I’m adapting one of my GN’s into a Chapter Book. Still writing and drawing but much less! I love your style and appreciate the glimpses into your process.
Congrats on finishing two. That's still a big accomplishment. One day maybe ill get brave enough to try my hand at writing a book that doesn't have mostly pictures. Good luck with the chapter book.
This is great advice, for graphic novel artists and writers to any kind of writer. I love the one about not doing plots that are too complicated. Even in some famous, successful graphic novels and some regular novels, I enjoyed the story, but the plot was pretty tough to figure out. You want a punch at certain times in the story and if it's too hard to follow, the punches will be lost. I find that simple plots and complex characters work much better but always at least, start, simple. Get us into it from the beginning. Simple works. Complicated confuses. Awesome post, James.
Thank you for sharing. I agree, good stories don't have to be overly complex. For me it’s always about character.
Geez, I’ve gotta print this out in a large, bold font and tape it to my studio wall.
This is great advice! I'm doing picture books for now, but would love to create my GN one day!
That was actually really insightful, I'm learning about what goes into making graphic novels and this was helpful!
Im working on an illustrated lower middle grade project so this advice is so timely and helpful!
Thanks!
All great recommendations. I've also reframed my thinking on the length. I love a 200-300 page graphic novel as much as the next person, but 50-100 pagers are my new jam moving forward.
I like to make the books as long as the story requires. 128 page books I find are a good middle ground. But shorter is nice too although I’ve yet to do any shorter than 128 pages.
Really great post James, thank you. Super helpful re the story complexity. I’m in the process of revision so I’ll keep all this in mind for sure. Thanks again!
Good luck. Can't wait to see it one day when its finished.
You’re so kind. I’m hoping I can revive it to sub-ready again! It’s gone out and sigh..but I will persist! 😊 thanks James!
Having a book go out on sub is so nerve wracking. The waiting. Constantly checking email. Then receiving rejections while hoping for one editor to love it. It’s definitely not fun. But sometimes it's all about timing and finding the right editor. Persistence is key.
And all the questions that pop into my head (self doubt!) during the waiting time. But once the passes come, I am grateful for the useful feedback to consider as I polish the story even more. And writing more stories to give things time to breathe. I definitely will keep persisting! And learning! Thanks James!
I'm right there with ya on the self doubt. It never goes away.
This is great advice! I’ve only done picture book but I hope to do a gn one day. Thanks for the post!
You're welcome. The nice thing about graphic novels is you get to tell longer stories. The downside, it’s more work but I think it’s worth it.
Thanks for sharing your experience! As a newb, I appreciate the great advice.
You're very welcome. Happy to share what I've learned along the way.