 Wizard has graciously asked me for a few suggestions I might make to new writers looking to break into mainstream comics. As this is one of the most frequent requests I get at conventions and message boards, and because I'm terribly lazy and this is easier than repeating the same tips for the rest of eternity: I'm IN, baby!
Mind you, these are not going to make a writer of you. The only thing that makes a writer is writing. Writing all the time. Writing when you're having oatmeal. Writing when you're watching television. And yes, writing while you're asleep. No one becomes a great artist without practice, but many aspiring writers believe that the only thing between them and universal acclaim is "that one shot."
Most of the big guns in comics writing made that one shot for themselves, by doing the equivalent of indentured servitude in some comics-related field. Matt Fraction and I had columns for years that were a great deal of work and paid little, if anything. Brian Bendis did newspaper strips and great indie comics. I don't know if it's true, but I heard Ed Brubaker was a figure model for Mary Worth and Bloom County. Mark Waid sold bootleg Garfield collections at strip joints and to this day, he still pays for meals with crumpled singles foraged from his underwear.
Consider these as just a few crass suggestions for your writerly toolbox. And don't accept monetary tips from Mark Waid without some hand sanitizer involved.
1) FIND YOUR VOICE
Can't stress it enough. There's ALREADY a Brian Bendis and a Garth Ennis. If you don't bring something new to the table, why should readers or publishers be excited about your work? What is it that YOU, you in particular, are bringing to comics, and these characters, that only you can bring?
If you can't answer that, you might want to go back to the drawing board, find your passion, and start again.
2) PEOPLE ARE NOT PROPS
A mistake I see in many first works (and veteran works—we've all made this mistake) is the use of "stock" characters in clichéd roles. The sex-bomb moll, the lunkheaded muscle, the ineffective security guard, the trigger-happy cop, on and on, and unfortunately, on.
We don't need to see what these bit-players had for breakfast, but please, please give some thought to what kind of people these characters are. They're not foliage—they're important enough to be in your story. They serve a function. But it's YOUR job to give them life, no matter how brief their appearance. If your people aren't believable, if they have no sense of humanity, then whatever effect they have on plot and protagonist is untethered and muted and unreal. Give the lunkhead a pet ferret. Give the cop a speech defect. Mainly, make these people more that the bare minimum creations needed to get by.
3) EVERY JOB IS IMPORTANT
I often hear writers dismiss their current project as "paying the rent" or "paying their dues," while only becoming genuinely excited or animated about some future project that they actually care about. I believe this is one of the major differences between an artist and a craftsman. If your name goes in the credits, and you did less than your best work, who is to blame for that? And what does that say to the reader who picked up this work in good faith? Can you honestly say to them, "hey, don't worry, the next one will be really good?"
If you look at the top guys in the industry, writers and artists both, it doesn't matter if they're writing a Top Ten Company Crossover or a back-up story in a poor-selling z-list title—they always bring their best game. Not everything will succeed critically, but you know if Geoff Johns or Kurt Busiek or Dan Slott writes a book, it doesn't matter if the character is d-list. The work is always A-list.
4) DIG A LITTLE DEEPER
Let's face it, every Batman story has been told, right? Is there really anything left to say about Spider-man?
That's the common thinking, and the excuse for a lot of lackluster stories, until some writer comes along and decides there's ore left in those mines, if they're willing to do the work and take the risk. I felt every Green Lantern story had been told, until Geoff revitalized the franchise and now it feels like GL's best stories are yet to come. Who would have thought that JSA would be one of the best books on the stands? Who thought Captain America could set the sales charts on fire in this day and age?
These characters that we love, many of them were created before we were born, and hundreds of talented people had their way with them before we even got a first date. Find a new way to express what's wonderful about the characters, or find something new no one's yet revealed about them. Be true to their history, but take advantage of every opportunity to surprise the reader when they thought they already knew all there was to know.
5) TAKE CHANCES
Good stories depend on surprise, which can be hard to achieve when the readers know at least as much about the characters and comics history as you do. But it is absolutely essential if you want to do compelling work. No comic has really captured the readers' imagination without a good dollop of "hey, what the HELL?" from the readers.
A lot of well-intentioned people will advise you, with nothing but good will, to take the safest routes in your stories, to have the characters behave in the narrowest definition of their past histories, to avoid doing the things that upset the critics and message boarders. You should poison these people or suffocate them in their sleep, maybe take the opportunity to get the boot in when they're not looking. Because outrage fades, and good stories last.
Which is more important, in the long run?
6) CREATE, DON'T JUST RE-CREATE
It's possible to make a very comfortable and successful living in comics as a writer without actually creating anything. If you choose, you can use characters someone else has created, put them in a situation that springs from some beloved story from two decades ago, cash your check and go fishing.
But is that really what attracted you to comics in the first place? More importantly, is that really what you wanted to become a writer for?
Isn't it more fun, more engaging and more SATISFYING to try to people your stories with new villains and new heroes, and crazy new supporting characters that came from your own fevered brainpan? Yes, you could write a story about a guy who happened to be on the bridge when Gwen Stacy died... but why not try to write your own bit of comics history, as well? Forget twenty years ago—try to make the readers cry with something they HAVEN'T seen before, something you created, something you conceived, molded, and perfected. The DC and Marvel Universes are amazing, so why not add to them with your own recipes, rather than just heating up the leftovers? To continue to mangle this metaphor, do you want something fresh and just-off-the-grill, or do you want the crusty old Hot Pocket that may have been in the freezer too long?
We can't all be Stan Lee.
But with a little resolve and a lot of hard work, we can be proud of the books that have our names in the credits.
Good luck!
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