I miss writing. Like the physical act of writing every day. I did this largely whenever I was working on a new draft of a book. Currently, I’m in the illustration stage for my young adult graphic novel. All of this is a part of being an author; I don’t always just have a chance to do the “fun” stuff, but instead must focus on what is in front of me. Still, this longing to write more makes me contemplate “speeding up” my illustration process so that I can get back to working on improving a draft. However, that would require several hours a night after my full-time job to accomplish this. The end of this post contains affiliate links and Hannah Marie. might obtain a small fee if purchases are made through these links.
My goals right now are set to finish a draft of my illustrations for the entire book by the end of the year, then take early next year to hone the color and dialogue before attempting to publish another book. Right now I like this idea, to mostly “finish” an illustrated draft. Note that several of these thoughts are in quotation marks because I’m not entirely sold on the fact that I can do this. I’ve watched several behind-the-scenes features on some of my favorite movies as I’m blocking my chapters, and hearing from the production designers that it only takes them a couple months to draft out entire scenes for movies makes me wonder if I can do the same. It would definitely take more work, more effort than I’m putting in now, but then maybe I’d have more free time in the summer to focus on art or another draft rather than having to carry parts of my manuscripts with me while I travel.
Another advantage of this quick-draw mindset is that during summer, I would not be focused on the deadline for one of my characters, but rather on documenting the moment. I was looking back at my Appalachian Trail days and I am super proud of what I accomplished journal-wise, but I think that I could have done more if I had focused on the art like I did even a year later.
In regards to my speeeeeeeding up the graphic novel, I could block out three more days in my week, saving one day for rest/movie night and the other for drawing classes I have planned through May. The weekends are always very creative and I am hoping to continue these. When I travel in the summer, I will just take one of my previously completed book drafts and an outline, so then I will have the months of June, July, August, and maybe September to work on fleshing out storyline and characters.
The above picture happened as I was journaling the previous section. There was a bird above me at the coffee shop cleaning the gutters and gathering nesting supplies, while knocking the finds down onto my head! Now I have a cute little moment in time! These are the things I’d like to include in my few weeks of summer ramblings, especially when I’m journaling. I am not ready to completely drop the illustration project for my graphic novel, but it’s so hard to stay focused when it’s so long-term. By focusing myself to work in a smaller chunk of time, I will be able to see the results quicker and I won’t get quite as discouraged. I’ll be able to create more depth in my scenes in that moment, rather than just taking notes and saying that I’ll come back to it in three months. That’s what I’m looking at now. And even though I think it could work to get the entire project done in a year as I have planned, I think I can do it quicker, not as something that frustrates me because I don’t see results. So in a sense, I am putting myself on a time crunch; something like NaNoWriMo for illustrations. I hope to blow my expectations out of the water. Most of the time I am pondering how to draw something. By speeding up sketching, the manuscript might not be ready for publishing at the end of May, but there will be a good storyline ready for details, color, and dialogue input. That is a good way to start the autumn! Still just ideas, but I think in the long run it will be a solidifying way to evaluate the structure of my graphic novel.
Keep scribbling,
Hannah Marie.
Some of my favorite graphic novel inspirational books pictured below:
- Words for Pictures (Bendis)
- The Weekend Novelist (Ray & Norris)
- Stitches: A Memoir (Small)
- Mixed Media Sketchbook (9″x12″, 60 sheets)
