First Full Pages

I've been creating this graphic novel on Microsoft Publisher. Each phrase from Ecclesiastes is printed in the word balloon of the first of six panels on an 8.5" x 11" (landscape) page. My plan from the beginning was to clip and paste two landscape pages on top of each other in the Paint program. Having just reached page number 250 I thought I'd combine two landscape pages for the very first time.

Disclaimer: the faces are provisional, the word balloons need a new font (Comic Sans is over used) in all caps (as seems to be the industry standard) and they lack the tail thingy that lets readers know who is speaking. The coloring is haphazard, the pagination is convoluted (250 Publisher landscape pages = 125 Paint pages; not sure how to number them yet). My point in this exercise is to check the readability of the word balloons and to see if the background color makes them more legible. The text is in its second draft so further editing is in store.

Background. There are four characters in this thought unit, Mr Q (speaking the words of Ecclesiastes), the evangelical Christian girl who is sweet on the militaristic vet, both of whom are chided by the feminist with big hair.

Here are the results.

Addendum: Now that I see what a completed page looks like on screen I see I've got much more work to do to make it legible. I'd planned on posting the finished pages on this blog but I think I'll need my own domain name. That means more expense but after all the work I'm putting into this thing (30-40 hours a week) I want to show case the work in a quality way. Setting up web sites is relatively easy these days but I'm not yet ready to launch something new.

"The Story Dictates the Cast," so says...

crime mystery writer, Janet Evanovich.

I agree. I cooked up a story and am creating characters to act in and carry forward that story.

However, in my case, pre-written dialogue dictates the story. I am not starting with a blank page but 400 or so pages each of which begins with another's quote. It's not the easiest way to create a novel, especially when those opening quotes are obtuse, contradictory, and mostly depressing.

What I am adding--humor, cartoons, philosophical and theological reflections--will hopefully make Ecclesiastes accessible to modern readers. I say "accessible," and not "understood." I'm not sure I understand it. I hope to empathize with and validate readers who puzzle over this strange book. Or who puzzle over the meaning of life. Or who are depressed or suffering or experiencing existential angst. I want to give persons of faith permission to raise questions of justice, science, meaning, sin, wisdom, death, suffering, and food.

I'm worried that I'm 100% irrelevant to my intended audience, university students. My dialog is loaded with boomer friendly illustrations so I'll lose 90% of twenty-somethings. Of the 10% that remain, I lose 7% for being too theological and 2% for being too philosophical. Of the remaining 1% .5% don't read, .4% gave up comic books at age 12, and the remaining .1% look like fans at a Bassnectar concert.

Fans of Bassnectar; not one graphic novel in the mix

So why do I keep going? Ecclesiastes U is therapy for sadness. I didn't expect to end up visiting my wife in a nursing home at our young age, struggling to understand her words, or watching the glimmer in her eyes fade away.

In fiction story dictates cast; in real life stories crash upon, squish like a bug, and rattle the cast to their bones. This cast member, anyway. There's high probability that, once finished, this massive project will languish on a digital shelf, a fitting end to illustrating an absurd book inspired by an absurd disease informing an absurd life.

Checklist for Editing

While listening to Janet Evanovich's book, How To Write I came across this very challenging checklist for editing.

1. Did you read your manuscript as though reading it for the very first time?
2. Does your story grab the reader's interest right away?
3. Is it clear what the main characters want and what motivates them?
4. Is it clear that someone or some thing doesn't want your characters to reach their goal?
5. Will the readers be able to identify with and care about the characters and what happens to them?
6. Is the villain strong enough to give your characters a true challenge?
7. Did you edit out all the parts of the novel that bog the story down and are unnecessary, especially in the middle?
8. Do you need to add a scene in order to keep the stakes high and the momentum rolling, especially in the middle?
9. Does the dialog sound realistic?
10. Does the rhythm of the dialog suit the character?
11. Is the ending satisfying to your reader?
12. Have you edited out words that serve no function? Don't use 20 words when 5 will do.
13. Does every discussion or scene move the plot forward?
14. Does every sentence move the discussion or scene forward?
15. Is every action in keeping with the characters' nature and personality?
16. Are all of your loose ends tied up by the end of the novel?
17. Is it clear that the reader knows who is speaking?

Qs 3 and 4 grabbed me the most. There are many differences between crime fiction and a graphic novel locked into the text from Ecclesiastes, but I aspire to include characters with goals and obstacles. BIG CHALLENGE! But that's the fun of this project. 

First Stab at Color

First stab at color, page 207, Eccl. 6:12, draft 2 (or 3...I've lost track)

New Age of Internet Openness

Part of me cringes when I post all my ideas on this blog. I'm still old enough to worry about plagiarism, copyright violations, and people stealing my ideas.

But in this new age of internet openness I'm joining the rest of humanity and posting all my ideas in hopes that I'll eventually generate interest among those curious about one guy's creative process. And I'm trusting no one will steal these ideas.

By the way, here's where my earlier manuscripts are stored for safe keeping.

Meet The Cast

This is the cast I combine and juxtapose to create a compelling narrative as students react/respond to Mr. Q's lectures. They are stand-ins, reading lines for whoever will play the future character. There is some jockeying and competition between these candidates; they each want the job. Staring in this graphic novel will be a great boon to their careers and fame. Final casting is still way off but I am impressed with the acting skills of these script readers.

MAIN CHARACTERS (non of which have proper names yet; they're identified by predominant trait)

ENTHUSIAST This student loves Mr. Q regardless of how obtuse or self contradictory the lectures are. He's a loyal Golden Retriever type, fawning to a fault.

ANXIETY DRIVEN. This poor soul is whipped back and forth by Mr. Q's doom and gloom. I'm not sure of her back story (yet?) but she's hyper sensitive to threats, risk, and danger. She lives in perpetual fear, hyper vigilant to all worst case scenarios, which is all of them.

JOKER. Every sit com needs a wise cracking quipster. He's only in the class for a grade; his highest value is being liked as class clown.

PRE-LAW. This fine actress engages Mr. Q in a protracted discussion about estate planning. She got so fed up with his lack of cooperation that she leaves in exasperation.

 DOOFUS. Joker tells jokes. Doofus is outrageous in his silliness. He's a champion of lost causes, ignorant of his own ignorance, and zealous to absurd proportions.

SENSUALIST. He loves sex, pleasure, wine and cigars and vacations. He's not above snorting a snoot full when the opportunity arises, which isn't often enough in his mind.

VEGAN PSYCH MAJOR. I know I'm not supposed to have favorites, but this lover of co-ops, organic foods, social justice, and psychology with feather ear rings and facial piercings fascinates me. She's too prickly for any romantic interests but I love this woman's opinions...which she shares effortlessly.

SCIENTIFIC MATERIALIST. This guy has zero tolerance for superstition, faith, or god talk. He's irritated by religion and the many unverified claims Mr. Q makes. This guy is a skeptic, atheist, logical positivist, and brilliant. A necessary and important player in any philosophical discussion.

HIP HOP ARTIST. Don't think only bling or gold teeth define this guy. He's brilliant, pissed, creative, intolerant of any bullshit, and a welcome addition to discussions of social justice, economics, and racism. Keeping a lid on his potty mouth is my biggest challenge with this guy.

 EPICUREAN. Any mention of food in this class (of which there are many) and Mr. Epicurean is there. He loves Mr. Q's frequent carpe deum statements, "Eat, drink, and be merry."

FOIL. Somebody's got to move the plot along without a joke, wise crack, or philosophical profundity. That's this guy's job. I also think he's going to play a significant role in the future somehow. Of all the characters he's the most reposed. By contrast the others appear reactionary, frantic, and on speed.

FEMINIST. Another one of my favorites. Like the Scientific Materialist this character has little patience with fanatics. She's also the watch dog for patriarchy, sexism, and gender inequality. When we get to later chapters she's going to justifiably flip out. Stay tuned.

MILITARIST. In college on the GI Bill, this guy loves guns, force, and military might. So far he's only played a minor role but in upcoming chapters he'll go bonkers with many of Mr. Q's dovish comments.

AGED HIPPIE. How can we discuss death-saturated Ecclesiastes without a fan of the Grateful Dead? The 60s glory days are behind him but he's not deterred. He's still fighting the Man, the plastic people, and the rising cost of dope.

TEACHER ASSISTANT. While not identified as such yet--I'm only to chapter 5:10 in rough draft 2 and this character's true identity has not yet become public among the students; they think he's just a brown noser--this character is necessary to clarify some of Mr. Q's more obtuse statements. He'll give the wrap-up lecture (Eccl. 12). I use him sparingly but he comes in very handy when I need to make sure readers understand (though not necessarily agree with) what Mr. Q is saying.

MATERIALIST. This marketing and business major loves money. Discussions of social justice, existentialism, and death are irrelevant to him since his highest ambition is becoming a multimillionaire before he's 30.

FUNDAMENTALIST. Ah yes, how can we forget this key player? Her enthusiasm for absolute Truth works against her because Mr. Q is a moving target. She glibly writes off any philosophy that contradicts the Bible, which is often in this class. Her emotional fervency and closed mindedness do not earn her a lot of friends in this class. She's okay with that, however, as she wears her persecution complex on her sleeve. I'm trying my hardest not to create a straw man with this character.....

ACTRESS. This is the first (of many) students to drop the class. Her passion is happiness and the tenor of this class is so morose she bailed in the first week. She switched majors and chose a new career guaranteed to bring endless bliss, acting.

PARTY GIRL. Tanning, Cancun, drama, and her dad's largess keep this gal going. "This class sucks but I need the credits," she whines. But like all these characters we don't know what she'll be thinking by the end of this class. I can't wait to see what happens.

Fleshing Out Characters

I've never played a role playing game although I once had an 11 year old boy client teach me how to play the card game Magic (or was it Pokemon? I forget). A conflict mediator and weak pacifist like me found the "No negotiations; I will crush you because I'm bigger, stronger, and more powerful than you" premise of the game a bit unnerving. I suppose my favorite game chess is no different; it too involves strategy, pieces with different powers, and the same object: conquer your opponent. But what sticks with me is the memory of how this kid was entranced with combining players with different skills and weapons in order to beat his opponent, wimpy me.

I had the same taste of excitement of role playing this morning. It's Saturday and after a full weak of conflict resolution I got up at 4:45 AM eager to tackle EU10 (Ecclesiastes 5:8-9). It's only 2 verses and the subject matter does not easily lend itself to harmless joshing and witty banter. It's about oppression of the poor, government corruption, and Mr. Q's callousness to it all.

But after honing the dialog (for the 2nd or 3rd time? I forget) I finally got to attach characters to each word balloon. I have a file called CLIP PAGES wherein are stored sheets of faces I've drawn; multiple images of the same face on each page. As I ponder each word balloon I peruse this cast of characters then clip and tape the face in the appropriate panel. Part of me winces; it just doesn't seem right for a grown man to find so much pleasure at cutting and taping pieces of paper. But another part of me soars like that 11 year old kid plotting to conquer the universe by combining characters' strengths.

Even though the faces I've drawn are not the final faces I'll use for each character I must admit: they are growing on me. In my next post I'll unveil for the very first time some of the regulars with a short description.

Words, Pictures, Talent, and Creating People

Since beginning this graphic novel last December I continue to puzzle over several questions: am I creating a book with pictures or adding pictures to words? Do I have the time (not to mention talent) to pull this off? How does one create cartoon characters with subtlety, complexity, and depth?

Here are my musings about these questions so far (in order).

Scott McCloud and Wil Eisner have probably described the significance of words influencing drawings, drawings influencing words, and the interplay between them. Rather than read other's opinions on this subject, however, I'm learning by doing. Currently my words are only slightly influenced by my sketchy thumbnails, doodles, and drawings. Someday soon I hope my finished words will be improved as I add pictures.

Jodi Bergsma said in my last post (and I misquote), "I'm too busy writing to read books about writing." If I were 20 I'd make the time. But I'm in a race against the clock and am relying on 60 years of reading and drawing to carry the day. I read recently, "A picture is worth a thousand words, but try saying that in a picture."

In How We Decide author Jonah Leher made an interesting observation. The chess computer that beat Gary Kasporov was a terrible back gammon player, and the computer that beat the world's leading back gammon player would lose at chess. Leher's point? Unlike computers that can do one thing very well, the human brain can do lots and lots of things reasonably well. I take comfort in this. I can't write, cast, act, direct, design, philosophize, do theology or psychology, draw, or tell jokes like pros, but I can do each of those things somewhat. The combination of these tasks is what'll make this graphic novel unique.

Finally, isn't "complex cartoon characters" an oxymoron? As I create the actors in this fictional drama I must choose how many layers of personality to give each one. Currently I've divided the cast into many, many uni-(not di- or tri-) mensional characters. One character loves money, one loves jokes, one loves sex, and one loves Jesus. One loves social justice and one loves scientific materialism. One is a feminist and one is a gun toting vet. One is an aging hippy enthralled with conspiracies and drugs; another is pre-law. On and on the list goes. I'm showing no restraint in creating characters. It's actually quite easy. God used dust, I use ink.

My problem from a literary point of view: how many characters is too many? This is a graphic, not Russian, novel. I want readers to care about a few likable characters rather than feeling overwhelmed by dozens of them. The cast of FRIENDS had six main characters with dozens of secondaries. Can I do the same? As is, I've got hundreds of secondary but no main characters. Combining several disparate traits into one person adds complexity and realism; we've all got sub-personalities. But can those characters come to life with all their multiplicity, layers and conflicting desires in a comic book?

We'll just have to wait and see. The process is sheer bliss.

Art World Interlude

With the recent death of Christian and wildly popular painter Thomas Kinkade I pause to do a random mind dump on the world of art that hangs on walls.

Every summer from 1999 to 2001 I taught a week long cartooning class for kids at Western Washington University. I took the class to meet a real artist, Jodi Bergsma. She was not only a fabulous painter but accommodating to the kids. I asked her if she ever read “how to paint” books and she laughed saying, “I’m too busy painting.”

The next year I invited another local professional artist to class, Lanny Little. He, too, was a smash hit. Not only was he generous with answering kids’ questions, but his tromp l’oil paintings were breath taking.

When I was a youth pastor in the 70s the pastor chided me for hanging this Tooker print on my wall. “It’s surreal!” he complained. Duh.  But he being the boss, I in dutiful and deferring fashion, I took it down.

When I was a pastor of a Lutheran church Vicki and I loved this Renoir painting which hung in our living room. A guest (cold matter physicist working on his PhD) chided me for hanging “A picture of drunk people on your wall!” Duh. Again, in deference to his opinion I sold that print in a garage sale.

A collection of essays by a New York art critic was so informative that I sent the guy a 60 page hard copy, desk top published collection of my grief processing, artistic musings, DIGGING DOWN, DRAWING OUT. Since I quoted him so often in the text I thought he’d get a kick out of it. I’ll never know; he never answered back.

Vicki and I took a cruise to Alaska on our 25^th wedding anniversary. During the on board art auction the combination of romantic love with too much Champaign resulted in the purchase of several art pieces by Alexander Chen and Anatole Krasnyasnski which I still love.

 I never bought a Thomas Kinkade.  

Progress Update and Boomer Reflections

After a difficult week slogging through EU5 (Eccl. 3:1-15), I finished touching up the gen-y-affirming script, carefully positioned and outlined each word balloon, and attached appropriate characters to all the word balloons. 

Sample page from EU5 (page 74)

Then this weekend I finished EU6 (Eccl. 3:16-22) with script and characters. I'm happy with the results, confident that another edit or two will make a good script even better. 

Sample page from EU6 (page 96)

I've printed EU 7 (Eccl. 4:1-12) and EU 8 (Eccl. 4:13-16) with placed and outlined word balloons awaiting dialog editing and assigning speakers to each word balloon (my delightful project this week). 


What slowed me down last week was the realization that the dialog I'd created was straight from my boomer brain and too antiquated for my intended audience (20 somethings). Thankfully, I've got a character (working name: Aging Hippie) who will be my voice concerning all things 60s related. 


Interestingly, I watched The Way this weekend. The main character, Martin Sheen, is a man in his 60s who traveled to Spain and he met a woman in her 20s (?) who was angry and said to Sheen,

"Hey Boomer! You know, as in Baby Boomer? You have all of the signs of that desperate generation taking its last breath trying to screw the rest of us over one last time. The only thing missing from you, Boomer, is one of those stupid looking pony tails and collection of James Taylor songs on your ipod."

He said, "I love James Taylor, and I don't have an ipod."

I was somewhat taken aback by this jab. Either I'm naive, or blessed with friendly acquaintances in their 20s. I'm not used to being the butt of another's animosity. With no recollection of any attempt on my part to screw anyone over I feel I've been unjustly criticized. (Maybe I'm being too sensitive; after all, she didn't say it to me).


On my next edit I plan on expunging all gen-y, off-putting comments from my ancient brain. To replace them perfectly I'd need to interview current university students but do not plan on doing so. This project is growing in size and I'm going to sacrifice perfect dialog in favor of completion. A graphic novel with less than perfect dialog is better than no graphic novel at all. 


First draft: 68 or 69 large pages with hand written dialog.
Second draft: Publisher pages with six panels and typed dialog.
Third draft: Publisher pages with polished dialog and Scotch taped characters (EU6 brought me to page 97).

Creativity and Writer's Block

I've pressed through the wall of impenetrability. Having expunged from my first draft of Ecclesiastes 3 all boomer-isms, I was left with nothing but blank space. My efforts this week have been focused on filling that blank space with images twenty-somethings could relate to. I have no clue if I'm close but I feel good knowing I've come up with new 28 ideas.

Artist Jasper Johns nailed it. This to me is the essence of creativity--editing, rough drafts, mutations, and the elimination of vestigial words/images. Keep adding something often enough and soon you've got something.

Without boring readers by listing all my aborted attempts at gen-y-ifying Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, I can say this:

I've chosen to lighten the mood and not post images of Hiroshima (a time to make war), MLK assassination (a time to kill), hoarding (a time to keep), or wacky faith healers (a time to heal). Even though such images would have proven good fodder for student reactions, those images are heavy handed. Mr. Q is obtuse enough without my all to obvious renderings. I'll let his lectures carry the somber tone; he doesn't need my help.

This decision of course makes hash out of 3:14, "God does all these things so that we may fear him."  Mr. Q's point in this poem about time is, "providence is loaded with example after example of oddments, conundra, and counter examples of eudaemonism." Mr. Q is whining (justifiably) about the problem of evil. My artistic sense tells me to restrain myself, go light, and save my ire at evil until later; we've still got nine more chapters of morbidity to deal with.

In addition, drawing images inspired by 2012 pop culture will unfortunately mean in three years or less my book will fall out of favor. The shelf life of humor is notoriously short, increasingly so in our day of data smog.

Yet, it still feels right to me to lighten the tone in this iconic poem with humorous images that reflect 28 experiences in the life of a university student ("a time to weep" getting a tattoo or piercing, "a time to tear" holes in the knees of one's jeans, "a time to hate" boomers like me asking gen-y folk to fix my computer, and 25 more).

If anyone is keeping track, it took four pages of mind dump to come up with 28 new thumbnail images. The toughest verbs to gen-y-ify were, "a time to plant, heal, tear down, gather stones, and give up searching." At this stage I'm leaving behind this time poem confident I'll get another chance to edit it again after letting these ideas marinate for several months as I work on the rest of the text.

Doing something to something and then doing it again until you've got something unleashes dopamine in the pleasure centers of my brain which is incredibly fun!

Ecclesiastes 3, Again

I woke up with a bolt of insight on why my efforts to illustrate Ecclesiastes 3 wasn't working: the images are too boomer-ish.

My intended audience--university undergrads in 2012--hold boomers in high disdain. My rough drafts just ooze "old man." Do university students today have any recollection of Pete Seeger's Turn, Turn, Turn? Do they have any affinity with aging hippies, the Rolling Stones, WW2 photos, or Emmett Kelly (ancient even by my standards)? Bottom line: millennials and gen-y folk do not think I am groovy.

My creativity is pressed to the max. How do I get into the heads of early 20-somethings?

And if I could, do I want to lock this graphic novel into their 2012 time and space?

Look at these photos from the latest issue of Newsweek. Which of these tribes is my audience? And how do I translate my vision of Mr. Q's vision in their language?

I've been assuming university students today are like I was 35 years ago...interested in philosophy, the Big Questions, existentialism, and melancholia.

I'm having a creative crisis right now....so here's the plan: I'm going to carry this chart around and fill it in with ideas that I hope will be more relevant to my intended audience.

One final question: is my writer's block due to the complex nature of my immediate task (imaging Eccl. 3 for a tribe different than my own)? OR, am I just brain weary, uninspired, and experiencing synaptic fatigue? I'm keeping this blog in order to grapple with such questions.

Turn, Turn, Turn

I'm having problems with Chapter 3, "A time to be born, a time to die" (and 13 other couplets).  I've been wrestling with this text for three days and am frustrated. No matter which way I plan to illustrate it, it just doesn't feel right.

1.  Does the passage commend determinism ("there is a time determined for every event"), or prudence ("some times are better than others to engage in activities "). Based on 3:11 and 14, I opt for the former. I don't believe in determinism, but I believe that is the point of this long poem.

2.  If Mr. Q is describing an immutable providence behind birth and death and 26 other verbs, do I draw them schmaltzy and cute? Or raw like the rest of the book? Prudence tells me to draw baby bassinets and laughing children and peace signs and fighter jets. But then it won't fit with the tenor of the rest of the book.

3.  But if I draw baby Osama Bin Laden in a bassinet, planting of opium fields, and feeding Christians to the lions, I'm being true to Mr. Q's penchant for obscurity, absurdity, and depression. But then it won't fit with the tenor of pop culture and love of warm fuzzies.

The reason I'm choking is because I'm thinking too hard. Mr. Q's string of mostly benign actions could mean, "Here are some random things over which we have no control," but how do I draw those actions?

I'd love to use this photo as reference for a cartoony version of, "A time to embrace."

And then I'd like draw that nurse slapping the Navy man to illustrate, "A time to refrain from embracing."

But that "joke" is out of sync with the book of Ecclesiastes...as are the following.

"A time to cast away stones."

"A time to gather stones together."

"A time to plant" (which my aging hippy character would love):

"A time to uproot." (my aging hippy character will weep tears of sorrow).

"A time to mourn."

"A time to laugh."

Non of these images work for me. This is such a pivotal passage I gotta draw it right. One false move and I doom my graphic novel to kitsch-ville. If I nail it I could turn those 24 drawings into a poster.

How do I get unstuck? I just don't know.

End of Week Update

I'm up to page 66 in rough draft #2 (encompassing Ecclesiastes 1:1-2:26). I've sharpened the text, identified who the main characters are, and decided who belongs to which word balloon. Untangling the myriad of loose themes is highly pleasurable. I work on this project before breakfast, in my office before clients show up, and after visiting Vicki. When I get home I print Publisher pages, edit the dialog again (it's amazing how weak the first draft is), cut and tape images as I create characters from those strung together word balloons.

One of the more tedious tasks is using my mouse to put thin line word balloons around the dialog boxes. Six per page, 66 pages = 396 word balloons so far. I shudder to think how many more there will be.

This graphic novel will NOT be 64 pages long like Tin Tin my inspiration. I guesstimate Ecclesiastes U will be 450 pages...way too unwieldy for one volume. So I'll have to publish it in sections. We'll see.

One of my daughters told me about STEAMPUNK yesterday.

How can I get this character into my comic?

The Characters Are Taking Shape

The last few days have been a blast creativity-wise.

The first draft of Ecclesiastes U contains many, many pages of word balloons each of which are filled with dialog. While writing that dialog I had no clue who the speakers were. I wrote without specific characters in mind. It was a stream of consciousness process. I’d read a phrase from Ecclesiastes in Mr. Q’s word balloon, then reflect, respond, and riff on each phrase, writing down my rough ideas like mad and eventually typing them into the Publisher template of six panels per page.

I'm now sorting through and categorizing those word balloons according to speaker. Some word balloons are best suited to the hedonist; others are best suited to the scientific materialist. Some to the Teacher’s Assistant. In the first 40 pages I’ve come up with 11 or 12 main categories of comment meaning I’ll now have 11 or 12 main characters.

Here’s a pictorial survey of the convoluted process of creating words before pictures.

Here's page 11 of the first rough draft; speakers of each word balloon are unidentified

I drew a dozen or so random cartoon faces using a brush pen; the final drawing
will be rendered in Micron .05 pen and then colored with Prisma Color pencils.

I cut and pasted those faces onto sheets for easy clipping

I scotch taped faces to appropriate word balloons in each panel (pages 1-40, so far)

FYI: The guy in the first panel is Mr. Q. Panels 2, 3, and 6 is a rapper (Hispanic or black, haven't decided yet). Panels 3 and 4 is a cartoon depicting the Teacher's Assistant. As mentioned, there's no guarantee the final characters will look anything like this. 

I was always under the impression one created characters with values, histories, temperaments, and idiosyncrasies first. Then writers put those characters together in a variety of situations and let chemistry do the rest.

I on the other hand reversed the sequence. I first juxtapose the philosophy of Ecclesiastes with the musings of university students. This in turn creates reactions of puzzlement, anger, outrage, confusion, humor, and so forth. And then finally, to make sense of those reactions, I isolate the speakers according to character.

Here’s the challenge: Those thumbnail sketches look nothing like the final character, size, gender, age, facial hair, hair dos, or attire. Their facial expressions are inert and they’re all talking heads. The finished product will include wide angle shots, long shots, close ups, facial expressions, full body action (in a classroom), and color. These thumbnail sketches are useful to distinguish one speaker from another but I am working hard not to allow these pictorial references influence how the final characters will look.

This is all wonderfully complicated. If there is an easier way to create graphic novels I don’t know it…which is understandable. I’ve never drawn one before.