I Guess It Was a Good Day

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Just so folk(s?) don't get the impression that I'm in some sort of suicidal confidence-spiral, let it be known that I had a pretty good day today. And the goodness of it was accentuated by the badness of yesterday.

Alas, after three weeks of typing away on my new script, I showed it to Jiyoung yesterday. This is a woman who has learned to be very, very tactful in her critiques of my projects. The verdict? Well, she had something good to say about two of twenty pages. I went to sleep embarrassed, hopeless, feeling like I should throw in the towel.

And then today, I charged back up the hillside and rewrote the entire thing. And though it's rough and first-drafty, it's not bad. So not bad that I feel comfortable starting concepts for characters. Tomorrow I'll do a polish pass. If that goes well, I've got enough script for the first issue of the comic.

I originally intended to write the entire script from beginning to end before touching the stylus, but now I wonder if that might be needlessly masochistic. After all, once things start taking physical shape, new story avenues might suggest themselves. I've still got the step outline, so the major events shouldn't change. And if they do, that's okay too.

So I think I'll just get to drawing next week. Man, it feels good to say that. I sure will enjoy having something other than promises to show for the five months I've been away.

In other news, I'm reading lots of manga. The stuff I'm reading right now:
  • Slam Dunk, by Takehiko Inoue
  • Dragon Head, by Minetaro Mochizuki
  • Gantz, by Hiroya Oku
  • Rurouni Kenshin, by Nobuhiro Watsuki
  • Mushishi, by Yuki Urushibara
  • A Drifting Life, by Yoshihiro Tatsumi
That last one has really stuck to my ribs. It's rad that the Seattle Public Library has manga.

I'm sure I'll have useful thoughts about the medium at some point, but right now I'm just sort of bathing in it. There's a lot to learn here.

Comments

  1. CiboJune 18, 2009 at 11:25 PM

    If you ever get the chance, give 20th Century Boys a shot, man! :D Now that guy writes good suspense! (Or Planetes for some of the sexiest, hardcorest conventional space-travel scifi. <3)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nate SimpsonJune 19, 2009 at 12:31 AM

    Great minds... SPL didn't have Planetes, but it looked so cool I ordered it on Amazon. Should be here in a couple of days. 20th Century Boys, I hadn't heard of. I'll look it up right now! Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. CiboJune 19, 2009 at 9:28 AM

    The SPL should be ashamed of itself for packing bloody Gantz and not Planetes, good lord! But Planetes is definitely one to own, I cannot impress that hard enough. I'm glad you're still on track tho, gan batte! Keep the internet updated on your progress; the world loves a dreamer but worships the doer. ;D

    ReplyDelete
  4. SoloOctober 3, 2009 at 3:17 AM

    Dude, you should try REAL by Takehiko Inoue. Thats one realy cool manga by him.
    Or you should try Air gear by Oh Great for some explosive visuals.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nate SimpsonOctober 3, 2009 at 8:29 AM

    Solo - I really enjoyed Real -- I read it some time after I made this post. Air Gear I haven't seen yet. I'll go check it out on your recommendation. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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