This weekend, I'm off to London to go to a huge Comic Book convention. I've never made a secret of my geekiness and my love of comic books, but something I've only recently come to realise is how interested I am in actually writing them.

This isn't, however, something I would tell to a writing or critique group. Why not? Why is is that writing comic books is seen as such an insignificant for of literature?

The skills needed to write a comic book are different to a novel or a short story, but that doesn't make them any less legitimate. The biggest challenge seems to be that you have to try and tell your story almost in two separate ways - one to give instructions to your artist, and one to entertain your audience. Show, not tell is still a fundamental part of this storytelling process, but it seems to take on another layer when you're working in such a visual medium.



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Thanks for you comments on my last blog entry, Sarah, Tara and C. It's always nice to know that other people feel as strongly about their favourite authors as I do!

Anyway, for today, some useful links.

I have a bunch of websites bookmarked that I regularly return to, not just for research purposes, but for inspiration and instruction. So I thought maybe I should link to some of them here. If you have any especially wonderful sites that you love, please let me know!

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At least once a year, I pick up my tattered copy of Stephen King's "The Stand" and re-read it. The love I have for this book (and all things King) is one of the defining factors in my goal to be a writer.

I want to give people the adventures that King gives me. I want to transport them to the places he sends me. And I want to give them the inspiration that I get from him.

While "The Stand" was the novel that fully cemented my love for his works, it's his short stories that influence me most today. When I'd completed my first flash fiction (which isn't particularly good, I now realise), I showed it to a few friends. One of them, also a King fan, gave me the greatest compliment anyone ever could - "It's kinda like a Stephen King story."

The way he can take a simple idea and twist it into something that is so much more, so disturbing, and yet so real. That's what I want my writing to be like. I want people to come away from my stories with the same goosebumps that I got the first time I read "Firestarter" or "Insomnia".

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I know, no posts from me in ages, and then two almost at once :)

My question for you all (if indeed there is actually anyone reading this blog, otherwise it's more of a rhetorical question), is what do I write as an author bio, when I don't yet have anything published?

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I have a short story in my head. Almost fully formed in my head. It'll probably end up around the 5 or 6 thousand word length by the time I'm finished. I have the characters detailed so well in my head that I swear one of them keeps talking to me during the day.

But I haven't written more than the first 100 words yet.

The reason is simple. I'm scared that I won't be able to do justice to this awesome idea I have.

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I’ve discovered (yet another) bad habit of mine when it comes to writing. When I say “discovered”, of course, what I actually mean is “finally acknowledged something my husband has been saying for years”.

I over-edit my story ideas.

Like most people, the reason I start writing a particular story is because something about the idea excites me. I barrel in with my newfound enthusiasm and get straight to work on it, until I hit some kind of brick wall.

Usually, what this brick wall means is that there is a specific feature about the story that isn’t working. I trust my instincts, and try to pay attention to them, so I stop and re-think the whole story. Quite often, this involves my brain wandering off at a dozen tangents and deciding that the story would work better in a whole other country. Or time zone. Or universe.

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I knew it had to happen, but today I received my first rejection.

I'm not upset about it - I'd pretty much convinced myself it was going to happen - but I am grateful for it.

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