It's been pretty busy recently, so I've decided to give myself the weekend off. I've been in the middle of a whirlwind of activity since BICS, so I'm taking a couple of days to kick back and reflect on what's been going on. I think I need to - my head has been spinning with so many different things I think I've been getting dizzy.
The scripts I've been working on the last couple of days have been for Mark Millar's Clint magazine - as you'll probably be aware if you've been paying attention, there's a fairly major talent search going on, so I thought I'd stick my oar in and try to do something for them to look at. The scripts are finished, and I think they're pretty good, and now I'm going through perhaps the most laborious and stressful time for a writer - trying to find a couple of artists for them before the submission window closes.
I have no idea IF the submission window is closing any time soon, but I'm desperately scouring the internet for talented artists like there's no tomorrow just in case. It's doubly difficult to find them when there's no money involved, unless, of course, the scripts get bought. But potential money isn't quite the same as actual cash, as far as a carrot on a stick goes.
I've got a few more scripts to write next week, too, which I'm not quite so concerned about finding artists for. One of them may have an artist lined up already, and the other may (I'm hoping) take care of itself if it's successful.
Elsewhere, I've splashed out on my tickets for Thought Bubble in Leeds in November, so I'll definitely be attending. I'm hoping to continue there my run of uplifting chats and opportunities for progress that kicked off at BICS.
It's all go at the moment. Except this weekend, of course. This weekend is for DVDs and Chinese food.
Darren Ellis writes, except when he doesn't.
When he doesn't he's more than likely doing something sedentary and fun, like playing video games or reading a book. Or procrastinating over what he's supposed to be writing.
Oh yes. He does that last one quite a bit.
Saturday 23 October 2010
Thursday 21 October 2010
So It Begins...
The new initiative to get my foot in the door in as many places as possible, that is.
I spent most of yesterday fleshing out some ideas from various things, and today has marked the beginning of the scriptwriting process, and I've begun advertising for artists to collaborate with on these projects. Time will tell if any of them get anywhere.
The brainstorming itself was a complete nightmare. I had to take to sitting in front of TV Tropes and watching movies, hoping that something planted a seed in my head that I could grow. It got so frustrating at one point I just sat at my desk, pounding the sides of my head trying to make the ideas come out.
That didn't work, either.
Eventually, after a lot of hard work and false starts, I got some decent ideas down. Some are old ideas I've retooled to fit these submissions, some are new. At least one of them is completely mental, but I'm keeping quiet about the details until I know something is happening with them.
I've got another holiday tomorrow, and I'm hoping to have at least another two short story scripts finished by the weekend. I'm setting myself some tight deadlines, but I have no idea if there's a time limit on some of these submissions. I figure it's best to act quickly. Every target that I set myself and meet means I'm slightly better at working to an end date, so when the time comes for me to work to genuine deadlines, I'll be well accustomed to it.
They're only a couple of pages long each. I figure if I can get another one done this evening, I can spend all day tomorrow on the last, and give them another pass to add some polish at the weekend.
I spent most of yesterday fleshing out some ideas from various things, and today has marked the beginning of the scriptwriting process, and I've begun advertising for artists to collaborate with on these projects. Time will tell if any of them get anywhere.
The brainstorming itself was a complete nightmare. I had to take to sitting in front of TV Tropes and watching movies, hoping that something planted a seed in my head that I could grow. It got so frustrating at one point I just sat at my desk, pounding the sides of my head trying to make the ideas come out.
That didn't work, either.
Eventually, after a lot of hard work and false starts, I got some decent ideas down. Some are old ideas I've retooled to fit these submissions, some are new. At least one of them is completely mental, but I'm keeping quiet about the details until I know something is happening with them.
I've got another holiday tomorrow, and I'm hoping to have at least another two short story scripts finished by the weekend. I'm setting myself some tight deadlines, but I have no idea if there's a time limit on some of these submissions. I figure it's best to act quickly. Every target that I set myself and meet means I'm slightly better at working to an end date, so when the time comes for me to work to genuine deadlines, I'll be well accustomed to it.
They're only a couple of pages long each. I figure if I can get another one done this evening, I can spend all day tomorrow on the last, and give them another pass to add some polish at the weekend.
Sunday 17 October 2010
I'll give you love you can't ignore
And on my writeup continues, as do the Gina G quotes.
Roland was there at the show, and of course we spent quite a while talking about our various plans. It was nice to see the old boy again - since last year's show, it's been email contact all the way, which is great, but sometimes in order to properly talk about stuff you need to be in the same room. I now feel much better about the projects we're working on together. Nothing additional was planned, but that's for the best - He has to work for a living and I wouldn't presume to make any further demands on his time without a guaranteed payday.
What I need, clearly, are a couple more artists in my pool of collaborators that are as talented and reliable who I can go to with projects when Roland is too busy. And I think I made a couple of tentative steps towards that, but it's too early to say anything for certain. Maybe being online will provide some assistance to that as well.
Yesterday had me kind of sorry I quit smoking a couple of years ago. Most of the good work I did took place while standing out in the biting cold while Roland puffed away on a cigarette. It was during one of these occasional breaks from the sweaty hall that I met Jimmy Pearson, a fellow writer who I exchanged portfolios with. He's another guy trying to go places, who was really helpful. A few of the avenues of inquiry he recommended could prove to be quite fruitful.
There were a few other goings on, but nothing I've followed up on yet, so I don't know if anything will come of them. A few possibilities for future short stories, and a good few emails I have to send to assorted people, most of whom will still be at the show today, so there's no rush.
All in all, I think I really needed to be at BICS. Being around other creative bods has reinvigorated me to some extent. Lots to do in the coming weeks. I shall have to make another of my spreadsheets so I can better handle my workload.
Roland was there at the show, and of course we spent quite a while talking about our various plans. It was nice to see the old boy again - since last year's show, it's been email contact all the way, which is great, but sometimes in order to properly talk about stuff you need to be in the same room. I now feel much better about the projects we're working on together. Nothing additional was planned, but that's for the best - He has to work for a living and I wouldn't presume to make any further demands on his time without a guaranteed payday.
What I need, clearly, are a couple more artists in my pool of collaborators that are as talented and reliable who I can go to with projects when Roland is too busy. And I think I made a couple of tentative steps towards that, but it's too early to say anything for certain. Maybe being online will provide some assistance to that as well.
Yesterday had me kind of sorry I quit smoking a couple of years ago. Most of the good work I did took place while standing out in the biting cold while Roland puffed away on a cigarette. It was during one of these occasional breaks from the sweaty hall that I met Jimmy Pearson, a fellow writer who I exchanged portfolios with. He's another guy trying to go places, who was really helpful. A few of the avenues of inquiry he recommended could prove to be quite fruitful.
There were a few other goings on, but nothing I've followed up on yet, so I don't know if anything will come of them. A few possibilities for future short stories, and a good few emails I have to send to assorted people, most of whom will still be at the show today, so there's no rush.
All in all, I think I really needed to be at BICS. Being around other creative bods has reinvigorated me to some extent. Lots to do in the coming weeks. I shall have to make another of my spreadsheets so I can better handle my workload.
A little bit more...
Yesterday didn't start well, I have to admit. While waiting for my train in the morning, I was stood on the platform minding my own business when a pigeon shat on my arm.
"Oh," I thought. "It's going to be one of those days, isn't it?"
It didn't get much better when I got to the show. As I was doing my usual silent circuit of the show before talking to or buying anything, someone shouted for my attention. It turned out to be a pretty girl sat behind a desk with an open portfolio on top, who wanted to complement me on my brilliant Legend of Zelda T-shirt. As well she might - it is a fine T-shirt, but so surprised was I by this peculiar event I turned into a giggling ninny incapable of speech and immediately turned away to leave, tripping over my own feet in the process.
I am graceful.
I went back later. She was away having lunch. Her portfolio was full of Legend of Zelda fanart.
Feeling like a bit of a pillock after that, I decided I simply wasn't ready to be meeting new people and ran away for a pick-me-up at the cafe, and after that, things got better and I made less of a fool of myself.
Firstly I was accosted by the incredibly enthusiastic Tom McNally, who effectively pressganged me into buying his comics through sheer force of personality. If you want a wonderful example of comic show salesmanship, head over to the Little Old Man Comics table at any of these events. They are quite, quite mad, and their comics are funny. Mental, but funny. Check them out at www.littleoldman.com.
Next, I meandered around a bit and found the Accent UK table for a nice, productive chat with Colin and Dave. I also picked up copies of their books 'Whatever Happened to the World's Fastest Man?' and 'The Man of Glass', both of which are excellent and come wholeheartedly recommended.
After further wanderings, I found Jenika Ioffreda's table for a chat and to pick up #5 of Vampire Free Style and a cute little badge. I was looking forward to reading it when I got home, but unfortunately couldn't. Idiot Me had completely forgotten that I haven't bought or read #4 yet, so I'm hoping Jenika has a table at Leeds next month so I can complete the collection, or I'm stuck without my dose of VFS until next year.
So the day started to improve. I'll tell you all about that later today in a following post.
"Oh," I thought. "It's going to be one of those days, isn't it?"
It didn't get much better when I got to the show. As I was doing my usual silent circuit of the show before talking to or buying anything, someone shouted for my attention. It turned out to be a pretty girl sat behind a desk with an open portfolio on top, who wanted to complement me on my brilliant Legend of Zelda T-shirt. As well she might - it is a fine T-shirt, but so surprised was I by this peculiar event I turned into a giggling ninny incapable of speech and immediately turned away to leave, tripping over my own feet in the process.
I am graceful.
I went back later. She was away having lunch. Her portfolio was full of Legend of Zelda fanart.
Feeling like a bit of a pillock after that, I decided I simply wasn't ready to be meeting new people and ran away for a pick-me-up at the cafe, and after that, things got better and I made less of a fool of myself.
Firstly I was accosted by the incredibly enthusiastic Tom McNally, who effectively pressganged me into buying his comics through sheer force of personality. If you want a wonderful example of comic show salesmanship, head over to the Little Old Man Comics table at any of these events. They are quite, quite mad, and their comics are funny. Mental, but funny. Check them out at www.littleoldman.com.
Next, I meandered around a bit and found the Accent UK table for a nice, productive chat with Colin and Dave. I also picked up copies of their books 'Whatever Happened to the World's Fastest Man?' and 'The Man of Glass', both of which are excellent and come wholeheartedly recommended.
After further wanderings, I found Jenika Ioffreda's table for a chat and to pick up #5 of Vampire Free Style and a cute little badge. I was looking forward to reading it when I got home, but unfortunately couldn't. Idiot Me had completely forgotten that I haven't bought or read #4 yet, so I'm hoping Jenika has a table at Leeds next month so I can complete the collection, or I'm stuck without my dose of VFS until next year.
So the day started to improve. I'll tell you all about that later today in a following post.
Saturday 16 October 2010
Ooh, ahh, just a little BICS
Just got back from my Saturday jaunt over to BICS.
It was jolly productive. Lots of possibilities and things.
I'll give it a proper write up tomorrow, but for now, I really need beer.
It was jolly productive. Lots of possibilities and things.
I'll give it a proper write up tomorrow, but for now, I really need beer.
Friday 15 October 2010
Musing on past projects
I've been doing a bit of homework recently, in preparation for BICS this weekend. As Christian has been playing about with the website quite a bit this week (more on that in a later post), I've been keeping busy by reading through some of my old work from a way back, and it's become apparent to me that my script for "Come & See" could use a bit of lick and spit.
"Come & See" is one of the ongoing projects of Roland's and mine whose page isn't quite ready for the website, but you'll see some stuff about it soon. It's a big project that Roland and I have had on the back burner for a while, and frustratingly it's one of those things where other things have just kind of queued up in front of it and pushed it away. A guilty part of me thinks I might have been ignoring it because I knew it needed work.
It's not the first time I've taken a second look at it, either. I rewrote the first part of it about 18 months ago, back before I got to work on the big script I've mentioned before. That rewrite was from a script that I wrote several years earlier. It's feels like it, too. It reads like a script by the me of 2001, that the 2008 me knocked into shape in a slightly lazy way.
I like to think that I've come along as a writer a fair bit since then, and as it's a project that's quite dear to me I'm going to stall the kids book until after Christmas and spend the next couple of months working on this one. It will definitely benefit from a little love and care, and who knows, a proper Version 2 of the script might get a bit more attention than it did the first time round the block.
I'll be on a comic-writing high for at least a couple of weeks after BICS this weekend, so I may as well harness that positivity and put it to good use.
"Come & See" is one of the ongoing projects of Roland's and mine whose page isn't quite ready for the website, but you'll see some stuff about it soon. It's a big project that Roland and I have had on the back burner for a while, and frustratingly it's one of those things where other things have just kind of queued up in front of it and pushed it away. A guilty part of me thinks I might have been ignoring it because I knew it needed work.
It's not the first time I've taken a second look at it, either. I rewrote the first part of it about 18 months ago, back before I got to work on the big script I've mentioned before. That rewrite was from a script that I wrote several years earlier. It's feels like it, too. It reads like a script by the me of 2001, that the 2008 me knocked into shape in a slightly lazy way.
I like to think that I've come along as a writer a fair bit since then, and as it's a project that's quite dear to me I'm going to stall the kids book until after Christmas and spend the next couple of months working on this one. It will definitely benefit from a little love and care, and who knows, a proper Version 2 of the script might get a bit more attention than it did the first time round the block.
I'll be on a comic-writing high for at least a couple of weeks after BICS this weekend, so I may as well harness that positivity and put it to good use.
Sunday 10 October 2010
A quick lick of polish
The website saw some improvements today, thanks to Christian. There's still some ways to go, but I figure it'll soon be ready for me to start telling people about it. Pretty good timing for next weekend and BICS.
I've been doing a spot of maintenance on the blog today as well. Just a little bit of reorganising, and looking into the various features, etc. I added a little 'About Me' section, a links section and that sort of thing. As time goes on, it'll probably change more and more to bring it a bit more in line with the website from a design point of view.
But for the time being I'm trying to make it as functional as possible. It's all very educational. I'm learning a lot.
I've been doing a spot of maintenance on the blog today as well. Just a little bit of reorganising, and looking into the various features, etc. I added a little 'About Me' section, a links section and that sort of thing. As time goes on, it'll probably change more and more to bring it a bit more in line with the website from a design point of view.
But for the time being I'm trying to make it as functional as possible. It's all very educational. I'm learning a lot.
Saturday 2 October 2010
In hands more professional than mine
I've just sent the last few files' worth of text over to Christian Jones, my web designer and graphic artist chum. Officially, my text-based contribution to version 1 of the website is now handed in, being marked by teacher, and I sit expectantly biting my nails, hoping I've got at least a B+.
There's not a great deal of it, truth be told. Just a few paragraphs on existing projects and another couple about myself. Of course, it'll grow as time goes on, but for now, my work (at least on the website) is done. I'll soon be back to working on the projects themselves. Maybe after another week or so of video games, that is.
It's over to Christian now to make my aimless ramblings look a bit sexy and interesting. What he's going to do with it all is a genuine mystery. Apart from a few vague nudges, I've kept my nose out of it. He's good at what he does, so he'll certainly work the magic he has honed during his time in advertising and do something that looks a bit swish.
Looking forward to seeing it.
There's not a great deal of it, truth be told. Just a few paragraphs on existing projects and another couple about myself. Of course, it'll grow as time goes on, but for now, my work (at least on the website) is done. I'll soon be back to working on the projects themselves. Maybe after another week or so of video games, that is.
It's over to Christian now to make my aimless ramblings look a bit sexy and interesting. What he's going to do with it all is a genuine mystery. Apart from a few vague nudges, I've kept my nose out of it. He's good at what he does, so he'll certainly work the magic he has honed during his time in advertising and do something that looks a bit swish.
Looking forward to seeing it.
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