Writing Comics

I recently gave a talk at the Bristol Comic Expo 2014 about how I started writing for 2000 AD by
pitching Future Shocks scripts. Ive written up my notes as the following blog, covering everything
from submission tactics to coping with rejection and why theres really no such thing as breaking
in

This blog positions me as some kind of veteran - albeit of a teeny-tiny patch of comicdom - so I'd
better show off a couple of medals before I start dishing out advice. Ive had two original series
published in 2000 AD.

But before I got to write all that, I broke in by submitting Thargs Future Shocks (read on to find
out why I just dropped the inverted-comma bomb). What the heck is a Future Shock? Well,
according to the 2000 AD theyre self-contained, four-page science-fiction short stories with a
twist ending. These things appear several times a year in 2000 AD and there are several genre
variants that employ the same format. These include horror stories called Terror Tales, time-travel
stories called Time Twisters and alternate-history stories called Past Imperfect. But do bear in
mind, if youre submitting, that Tharg is asking for Future Shocks!

Now, 2000 AD has an open-door submissions policy, which means anyone can take a crack at
writing a Future Shock and have a fair shot at getting it published. As such, this is the route
through which the majority of new writers come to 2000 AD.).

Having gone through this apprenticeship myself, from submitting my first Future Shock to
graduating to my first series, Ive learned a great deal. But before I go into any of that, first let me
tell you what Im not going to tell you.

Im not going to tell you how to get your Future Shock submission accepted. Why? Because I don't
know. Im not the editor; Im the freelancer. Im the guy on the outside looking in and as such have
no idea what the editor does or doesnt do, what processes he may or may not go through, what he
may favour or can't stand. (Heres a good time for me to add a little disclaimer along the lines of
all opinions expressed herein are my own and do not represent those of Rebellion, yadda, yadda,
yadda)

All I can tell you is what worked for me; and the truth is all anyone can tell you is what worked for
them. Telling people how to break into comics (and Craig Mazin of the wonderful podcast said
exactly this of screenwriting in the US) is like telling them how to lose their virginity. I can tell you
how I lost mine (and I usually will after six pints of Stella), but thats it. Everyones circumstances
are different. Its therefore pretty much impossible to dish out one-size-fits-all advice.

However, one thing we can all agree on is that Future Shocks are super-hard to write well. And
heres four reasons why:

1.) Youre trying to surprise the reader with a final-page twist that they know is coming the second
they see the words Future Shocks on the contents page. Regular readers know these things
contain twists and will have rounded up a list of possible punchlines by the time they've reached
the bottom of the first page. 'I'll bet it was Earth all along, or the main character's really a ghost, or
he's the killer he's been searching for all along, or maybe...'

2.) Youve got only four pages in which to build a sense of character or consequence, so the reader
actually cares about what youre writing.
3.) Its hard to avoid whats been done before. Never mind what Future Shocks have been coming
up with since they first appeared in 2000 AD in 1977, short-form sting-in-the-tail sci-fi stories
have been doing their thing since at least the 1890s, when H.G. Wells was writing War Of The
Worlds. Over a century later, even the most seemingly original ideas have likely been done to death
already. (Its interesting how at least two recent Future Shocks reflected this sense of a creative
bottleneck by offering very postmodern spins on the Future Shock story: Simon Spurrier and Jon
Davis-Hunts Hacked (Prog 1754, Oct 2011) and David Baillie and Graeme Neil Reids Time Is the
Only Enemy (Prog 1837, June 2013). The first was a witty deconstruction of classic Future
Shock tropes, while the second featured a Future Shock writer who essentially found himself in the
middle of one of his own stories.)

4.) Competition is fierce. I asked Tharg himself, 2000 ADs almighty alien editor, how
many Future Shock submissions does the Nerve Centre receive? I was told approximately two a
day. Thats 10 a week, around 40 a month and almost 500 a year. And how many Future
Shocks actually got published in 2013? Seven.

Whats your best chance of getting a script accepted amid that scrum? Like I said, I dont know, but
heres what happened with me. I started submitting in January 2007. At the time Id had a lot of
film journalism published, but had no creative credits. Id written plenty of short stories and
wotnot but had nothing published outside the small press. Once I had decided to target 2000 AD, I
submitted relentlessly and got rejected half as much again. So the first thing I learned about
writing Future Shocks was

WRITE PLENTY OF SCRIPTS!

Submitting Future Shocks is a war of attrition in which scripts are your ammunition. Were
talking World War Z tactics here, whereby you get over the wall by clambering up a pile of rejected
scripts, each one better than the last. Now heres the next thing I learned

REJECTION IS A CERTAINTY!

After getting hit by several of these horrible little form letters, youre going to feel as though youre
feeding all your hard work into a shredder. I coped by telling myself

WRITE LIKE YOUVE ALREADY BEEN REJECTED!

Heres some good news: All you need to care about is writing your script. You cant control what
happens once youve posted it. You cant control whether it gets accepted or rejected. You cant
control what artist might work on it. You cant control whether the readers will love it, hate it or
dismiss it as filler. Hell, you cant even guarantee Royal Mail can get your submission as far as
Oxford! So dont distract yourself by worrying about the possibilities. Focus on the script youre
writing. Dont worry about failing or succeeding. Keep a clear head. This allows you to bring all
your experience and ability to bear, and this will help you write as well as you possibly can.

While attempting to maintain this Zen-state (not always successfully), I knuckled down until I had
a stack of scripts on file; around six or seven. So, as soon as that rejection arrived I could fire off a
replacement straight away. Of course, if the editor had included any feedback with that rejection
(e.g. too many panels per page, you need to dramatize the story rather than just narrate it) then
Id review the script I was about to send out, just to make sure I wasnt making that same mistake
twice.
IMPLEMENT ANY EDITORIAL FEEDBACK!

This went on for about three years, in between other writing jobs, including film journalism and
subediting, until I got to a stage where Tharg let me pitch ideas instead of having to write the entire
script. By now Id been regularly writing film and comic-related reviews, articles and interviews for
the judge dread. It's perhaps safe to assume that the fact my copy always met the brief, the word
count, and the deadline, went some way towards convincing Tharg that I was a safe pair of hands.

Soon after, I ventured an idea for my first series (Age of the Wolf), which got accepted, after which
I was in, although in means whatever you want it to mean. No one gives you a certificate. Tharg
doesnt invite you to the Nerve Centre and say I dub thee a script-droid (and if he did hed
probably only anoint you with a clip round the ear and threats of further violence unless you
returned to your cubicle straight away).

Having gone through all that (the submitting Future Shocks not the Betelgeusian beatdown), I can
probably distil everything Ive learned about submitting Future Shocks into two broad categories
of wisdom

1.) ASK YOURSELF WHY YOURE DOING THIS

2.) GET IN BY GETTING GOOD.

Let me break these two down, starting with the first one.

Having spoken to many writers over the years, I reckon theres three types of people who
submit Future Shocks: fans, aspiring professionals and established professionals. The fans arent
in it for long haul; theyre just taking a punt on a cool idea, which is still a perfectly valid reason for
submitting. These guys and girls are in the game on a casual basis. The aspiring pros, however, are
in it to win it. They want to write comics professionally one day. The established professionals
are already making a living out of writing and for them this is just another outlet. These folks may
be seasoned journalists, or fiction writers with several novels under their belt.

In terms of who stands the best chance of writing the sort of script most likely to get accepted, the
established professionals probably have the edge, if only because they can write well enough to get
paid to do it. The aspiring professionals probably have the advantage over the fans because theyre
more likely to have studied the techniques that make a good script. Notice my emphasis here not
on getting accepted, but on writing a good script. Because the surest route towards acceptance is
to

WRITE A GOOD SCRIPT!

Im reminded here of an anecdote I once heard about an agent who telephones a publisher and
says, My clients written a 10,000-word novel. Would you be interested in publishing it? To which
the publisher replies, Depends which words and in which order.

To write a good script youll need to know how to build up an idea, how to tell a story visually, and
understand drama, character and plot (and how those last three are all the same thing). So the
advice to the underdogs out there has to be

THINK LIKE A PRO EVEN IF YOURE NOT!

Dont think like an amateur. Think like the writer you want to become. Get good at what youre
doing.

When I first started submitting I guess I was somewhere between aspiring and established (lots of
work in niche publications and not much else, but Id been around the block enough times to know
what I was doing). When I started writing comics, I made all the usual rookie mistakes, which
Tharg got me to wring out of the accepted scripts before they went to the artists. But once Id made
that first couple of sales and emerged blinking into the wonderful world of professional comics
writing, I started to realise that a lot of the terminology I was used to hearing when I was still
a Future Shock virgin didnt really reflect the truth, certainly not as I was experiencing it.

For starters, breaking in, as I discovered, is really more like seeping in, like mould. I recall Simon
Spurrier saying something to this effect elsewhere, but breaking in implies theres this one
barrier, this single door that you have to get through, on the other side of which is this wonderful
Wonkaland of comics in which youll never be rejected again, in which editors will queue up to give
you work, and youll get paid to write whatever you want. That dream may come true way, way,
waaaay down the line. If youre super-lucky.

For now, the reality of submitting Future Shocks is this: You will exhaust yourself breaking down
that door, getting that first script accepted, and once youre through, guess what youll find on the
other side? Another door. And behind that, another door, and so on and so on. And each of those
doors will be as hard to get through as the last. Submitting never gets any easier, even after youve
scored a few sales, even when you get better at it. Its like a video game where your character levels
up, but the monsters just get stronger, and so the challenge remains the same.

So words like breaking in dont reflect the truth and yet do determine your view of the business
youre trying to get in to. So

BEWARE ASSUMPTIONS!

Another term that can be deceptive: comic writer. If you want to become a professional comics
writer you need to know what that means in reality and not what you think it means based on what
youve read in interviews and other such promotions. I always used to assume, even when I had
plenty of professional experience, that if someone was referred to as a comic writer then they
spent 100% of their time writing comics, when, of course, thats very often not the case.

For many freelance writers, writing comics is just one gig among several. Chances are theyll be
toiling through two or more deeply unsexy writing gigs that they wont want to mention during
that interview with SFX magazine. They may be making the majority of their income proofreading
recipe books or writing marketing copy for a high-street bank (Ive done both). Lucky is the writer
who can straight away launch a freelance career based on a creative niche like comics, which is why
you need to be aware of the bigger picture at all times.

FUTURE SHOCKS ARE NOT THE BE-ALL AND END-ALL!

If youre submitting Future Shocks with an eye on becoming a professional comics writer (that is, a
freelance writer who works in comics), then submitting Future Shocks should be thought of as one
fishing rod among many. Write other things for other outlets and see what bites. Do you know an
artist? Have a firm idea about how you can self-publish something that will actually reach an
audience? Then go for it.

Over the years, Ive met a heartbreaking amount of people whove become fixated on writing or
drawing for 2000 AD above all else, whove built the idea up in their head until it means more to
them than is healthy.

ASK YOURSELF WHY YOURE DOING THIS!

The answer to that question shouldnt be because you have to, because youll be a failure if you
dont, because getting a script accepted will validate who are. Stephen Pressfields awesome little
book War Art rightly warns of the dangers of staking your self-worth, your identity, your reason-
for-being, on the response of others to your work.

Why was I doing it? Because I was a freelance writer who wanted to work for a paying creative
outlet. I didnt let it mean any more to me than that. Of course, emotionally it means way more to
me than that. My inner fanboy is constantly bouncing up and down squealing I write for 2000 AD!
Woo-Hoo! But I keep him locked away when he needs to be and never let him get in the way of the
work. Now, lesson two

GET IN BY GETTING GOOD!

This came from an interview I read with former 2000 AD editor, from Comic Heroes magazine. He
said, "Everyone always asks how to break into the industry, but they never ask how to become a
better writer. That's the answer - you break in by getting good at it."

So how do you get good at writing Future Shocks? You start by reading the two compilations
Rebellion have published, thats
1. The complete Alan Moore future shocks
2. Best Thargs Future Shocks
But you also examine the foundations upon which the series is built. Future Shocks are short twist
stories, which never mind those found in Will Eisners The Spirit or classic anthology comics
like Tales From The Crypt is a form probably as old as the short story itself. While submitting
my Future Shock scripts I read plenty of twist stories by those whom I had decided were the
masters of the form, particularly Saki and O Henry. I watched shows like vintage Twilight
Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Youre reading and watching these to examine how they work, but youre also familiarising yourself
with the types of stories that have since become clich. Youre becoming literate in the form.

Now the classic advice about writing, which youve no doubt heard a zillion times, is to read as
much as possible and write as much as possible. Id argue these two disciplines alone are actually
of limited benefit to a writer. You need to read a lot? Definitely. Write a lot? Certainly. But you also
need to take time out and

STUDY!

Lets say you want to become a great comic writer, youll dutifully work your way through the
classics: Eisner, Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns and everything else that finds its way onto every
100 best graphic novels list ever. But unless you know why youre reading these books all youre
really doing is ticking titles off a list

DONT JUST READ IT, STUDY IT!

Whats so damn important about Watchmen anyway? Why does everyone say I have to read it?
Dont rely on the opinions of others, no matter how unimpeachably expert they may be. Challenge
everything youve heard about this book. Approach it like youve never heard of it. Make up your
own mind. Have the courage to disagree.

With a clear head, unclouded by hype and reverence, ask simple questions. What techniques is this
story using? What effect does this create? What are the storys antecedents? Whats the historical
context, the circumstances in which this story was produced? What do you know about the person
who wrote it?

Take nothing for granted. Develop an aggressive, even arrogant sense of what you think works or
doesnt work. Cultivate a sense of taste. Compile your own canon. Fuck the classics.

The same goes for writing. You can write a dozen scripts, but if youre not learning more about
what the medium can do, experimenting with new techniques, and being brave enough to fail, then
you will never improve and every script you write will suck just as much as the last one.

Theres three strands to learning how to write anything (comics, novels, plays, anything)

1.) UNDERSTAND LANGUAGE

2.) UNDERSTAND THE MEDIUM

3.) UNDERSTAND DRAMA.

The first is a given. If you want to write professionally, but cant be bothered to learn how to string
a sentence together, or how grammar and syntax work, then youre the equivalent of a plumber
who doesnt know which way up to hold a monkey-wrench.

No editor worth writing for is going to accept poorly written English. If your Future Shock synopsis
contains more than one typo or grammatical error, then Im pretty sure thats all the excuse Tharg
needs to reach for another rejection slip. Hes got a filing cabinet full of these submissions, which
he needs to get through before lunch.

Having worked for several years as a subeditor, I know how lazy writers can be when they think
they can get away with it. But theres no subeditor at 2000 AD to check your spelling for you or
sharpen up your syntax before Tharg takes a look at it.

As I was rightly reminded by a member of the audience during my talk at Bristol, learning
difficulties such as dyslexia need not be a barrier to writing professionally (it didnt stop F. Scott
Fitzgerald, Agatha Christie or Quentin Tarantino).

As for the rest of you, there are plenty of books on grammar and style out there (Id recommend
Constance Hales firecracker of a style-guide for starters, as well as several of the Chambers and
Oxford guides on style and plain English). Theres no excuse, people.

The same goes for strand number two, understand how your medium works. Were talking comics
here, so the bible has to be Scott McClouds Understanding Comics (a must!) and his third
book, making comics. Id also recommend Eisners venerable but still relevant theory of comics
and consequential arts . Sorted.

Now, strand three, understand drama. This is particularly relevant when it comes to writing Future
Shocks because you dont have room to get away with spouting reams of exposition; it has to be
this tight little six-pack of a story.
Heres how drama works: your main character is trying to achieve something, but something or
someone is standing in their way, and something awful will happen to that main character unless
they achieve their goal.

That right there is the nucleus of storytelling and it goes back to the days of togas and inventing
democracy. The key to understanding how it applies is to see how it exists within stories on both a
macro level and a micro level, that is, to the overall story and within the smallest component of the
story: the scene.

What does Indiana Jones want to achieve in Raiders Of The Lost Ark? The recovery of the Ark of
the Covenant. Whats standing in his way? The Nazis. What will happen if Indy doesnt achieve
what hes set out to do? The Nazis will take over the world.

Now lets zoom in on that scene when Indy visits Marion at the bar in Nepal. What does Indy want
to achieve at the start of this scene? He wants to convince Marion to tell him where to find the
headpiece to the Staff of Ra. Whats standing in his way? Marion doesnt want to tell him because
shes still mad at him about the way he treated her in the past. What will happen if Indy doesnt
find the headpiece? The Nazis will get it, discover the Arks resting place and eventually use the
artefact to take over the world.

What youre developing here is the writers x-ray vision, which will enable you to see through an
overall premise or a single scene and identify whats driving it. Its the equivalent of an artist
spending countless hours studying anatomy until they know instinctively how to structure a pose.

Lets come up with a generic Future Shock premise right now. Lets say theres a guy in space-
prison. What does he want to do? Escape. Whats stopping him? Bars, security guards, perimeter
guns. What will happen to this guy if he doesnt escape? We could settle for saying hell spend the
rest of his life behind bars, but lets ramp it up a bit. Your stakes need to be as dramatic as possible.
So lets say hes offended fellow inmate Big Xertlik, Anvil-Headed Nutter of Worlds, who will
Scotch-kiss our hero into oblivion unless he escapes within the next hour. Ooh, a time limit. Now
were cooking.

Now lets zero-in on a scene. Lets say our hero is on work detail, breaking rocks with a laser-
hammer, and an alien guard is about to discover the hole hes digging and through which he was
about to escape. Oh crap. The guard is striding towards him right now! What does our hero need to
do? Prevent the guard from discovering the tunnel and alerting the other guards. Whats
preventing the hero from doing this? This bruisers heavily armed and so are his buddies. Whats at
stake? Horrible tortures await those who try and escape, so our heros going to wish he was staring
up at Big Xertlik, Anvil-Headed Nutter of Worlds, if that tunnel gets discovered.

LINE OF ACTION. COUNTER-ACTION. STAKES. THE ONLY FORMULA YOULL

EVER NEED.

Obviously, youd need to put a fresh spin on that space-prison premise and ask a whole bunch of
other questions, like whats going to make my space-prison story different from everyone elses?
How can I make the reader care what happens to this guy? Whats the twist at the end? Notice how
working up a story is about asking the right questions. Learning about drama will help you
understand which questions to ask and how you can give the best answers for the story that you
have in mind.

Writers, being writers, like to romanticise, especially about writing. But dont be fooled. The hard
work involved in writing a story isnt magic; its mechanics. Its craft. Its learnable. Yes, theres
instinct involved, but instinct is built upon knowledge and experience. As the French Romantic
painter Eugne Delacroix once said, First learn to be a craftsman; it wont keep you from being a
genius. (By the way, I found that quote in John Yorkes into the wood, a comprehensive
breakdown of the mysteries and function of drama, and another must-read).

And its the same with ideas. You shouldnt worry about being unable to generate enough ideas to
keep writing scripts. Learning about drama can help you build a Future Shock idea out of anything.
Check a Sunday magazine. Find an article that tickles your interest and ask how can I turn this into
a Future Shock? Who might be the main character? What might they want? Have fun

MAKE A GAME OF IT!

Remember that freedom you felt as a kid when you were writing or drawing? Back before it all
came to mean something? That lack of self-consciousness is what youre trying to get back to,
because thats how youll stand the best chance of doing your best work. If youve received a dozen
rejections, then clearly you may have to ask yourself whether your best is ever going to be good
enough for this publication. But the only way to find out for sure is to give it your best shot.

And that's all I had to say on the subject of Future Shocks. I was going to include a section on
twists, different types, how they work and so on, but I didnt have room to include it. Plus, its a bit
advanced, so Ill probably end up doing this as another blog at some point