Friday, 13 January 2012
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
What's In A Title? ...
What's in a title, well, for me, quite a lot actually. A title can be many things. It can be a statement. It can invoke a feeling. It can set the tone, and it can ignite the imagination and the curiosity, or it can sum up the story you're telling in a few simple words.
So once you have a good idea of what it is you're writing and what it's all about then coming up with a suitable title should be easy right? Yeah, if only it were that simple.
This age old problem has been brought into sharp focus again for me lately while i've been working on the possibility of a comic book anthology of origin stories. The ideas and the characters for each of the five series to be included came pretty fast and surprsingly easy, but the titles, oh the titles, they were a different story altogether.
The title of the anthology was also problematic as i wanted to invoke the feeling of those classic anthology series such as Detective Comics and Amazing Fantasy. I wanted to invoke a certain feeling. I came up with numerous titles, most of which were awful, titles which ranged from the uninspired 'Comic Anthology' to the more interesting 'Amazing Worlds', 'Universal Stories' and 'Tales of the Modern Age.'
I had all of these titles bubbling away in my head for days. Most of them were interesting, but none of them were right. And they weren't right because they didn't feel right, they didn't bring to life what i was aiming for. Nothing worked, not until the moment i was doing something else entirely and two little words popped into my head.
' Tommorrow's Tales.' They were perfect. They felt right. Somehow these two words together perfectly invoked what i was after. Somehow it told you what i was aiming for.
I'd love to say this has just been an isolated case, but oh no, every single time i put myself through the same thing, whether it's an overall title, an issue or chaper title or even the name of every character within them.
So what's in a title? For me,
everything ...
James
So once you have a good idea of what it is you're writing and what it's all about then coming up with a suitable title should be easy right? Yeah, if only it were that simple.
This age old problem has been brought into sharp focus again for me lately while i've been working on the possibility of a comic book anthology of origin stories. The ideas and the characters for each of the five series to be included came pretty fast and surprsingly easy, but the titles, oh the titles, they were a different story altogether.
The title of the anthology was also problematic as i wanted to invoke the feeling of those classic anthology series such as Detective Comics and Amazing Fantasy. I wanted to invoke a certain feeling. I came up with numerous titles, most of which were awful, titles which ranged from the uninspired 'Comic Anthology' to the more interesting 'Amazing Worlds', 'Universal Stories' and 'Tales of the Modern Age.'
I had all of these titles bubbling away in my head for days. Most of them were interesting, but none of them were right. And they weren't right because they didn't feel right, they didn't bring to life what i was aiming for. Nothing worked, not until the moment i was doing something else entirely and two little words popped into my head.
' Tommorrow's Tales.' They were perfect. They felt right. Somehow these two words together perfectly invoked what i was after. Somehow it told you what i was aiming for.
I'd love to say this has just been an isolated case, but oh no, every single time i put myself through the same thing, whether it's an overall title, an issue or chaper title or even the name of every character within them.
So what's in a title? For me,
everything ...
James
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
The Readthrough, The Play And The Graphic Novel ...
Well, it's been a busy time on the creative front of late. Last Tuesday was the first script in hand reading of my first theatre play, 'A Matter Of Light And Darkness,' and it went as well as i'd hoped. It was a great night, and very worthwhile. I had a lot of great feedback and i learnt a lot from it. All in all i have to say a merry time was had by all.
Then on on Saturday i went to see the theatre production of the play, ' The Utah Bride' by Carmen Medway- Stephens, which i would highly recommend you get to see if the chance arises.
And yesterday i finished up the last few pages of the script for issue 10 of 'Modern Days' which means that Volume One is now all finished script wise. All in all it's 245 pages of comic, over 400 pages of script, and five months of solid work and research, and so far it's my proudest achievement as a writer. I have to admit i'm really looking forward to writing Volume Two which i should be getting to in the new year ...
James
Then on on Saturday i went to see the theatre production of the play, ' The Utah Bride' by Carmen Medway- Stephens, which i would highly recommend you get to see if the chance arises.
And yesterday i finished up the last few pages of the script for issue 10 of 'Modern Days' which means that Volume One is now all finished script wise. All in all it's 245 pages of comic, over 400 pages of script, and five months of solid work and research, and so far it's my proudest achievement as a writer. I have to admit i'm really looking forward to writing Volume Two which i should be getting to in the new year ...
James
Saturday, 10 December 2011
The Play's The Thing ...
Well, lot's going on at the moment. Just finished the script for issue 9 of 'Modern Days' yesterday, which means if things go as planned issue 10 should wrap up the story of Volume One.
But that's not the whole story. Oh no, there's still plenty more to come in Volume Two.
There's angels a plenty, there's gods and there's talking owls, there's old friends and new enemies, there's a mysterious priest who likes to wear frock coats ... oh, and there's tragedy too.
But anyway, i digress, that's all coming up next year.
At the moment, well, this coming week in fact there's going to be the first informal "script in hand" reading of my first theatre script, 'A Matter Of Light And Darkness'.
Yep, a real live reading, with real live people performing the parts, and not just the voices in my head.
I'm looking forward to this. It should be a great night. I've been busy re- writing the script inbetween working on 'Modern Days', and it'll be very interesting seeing how people react to it.
James
But that's not the whole story. Oh no, there's still plenty more to come in Volume Two.
There's angels a plenty, there's gods and there's talking owls, there's old friends and new enemies, there's a mysterious priest who likes to wear frock coats ... oh, and there's tragedy too.
But anyway, i digress, that's all coming up next year.
At the moment, well, this coming week in fact there's going to be the first informal "script in hand" reading of my first theatre script, 'A Matter Of Light And Darkness'.
Yep, a real live reading, with real live people performing the parts, and not just the voices in my head.
I'm looking forward to this. It should be a great night. I've been busy re- writing the script inbetween working on 'Modern Days', and it'll be very interesting seeing how people react to it.
James
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Thursday, 1 December 2011
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