As a matter of fact, in a two week span I found and started a new job, found and bought a new car, found and moved into a new apartment, and my wife found and started a new job.  That was a two week period, even though most of it took place in the first week with carry over into the second.  Since then, we’ve been working, decorating, and driving around Denver; this town I’m not at all familiar with yet.  It’s been a lot to deal with, but that’s life, huh?

On the writing front, I’m now a copywriter at the American Humane Association.  Reading up on child and animal neglect and abuse and synthesizing it into a heart-wrenching and visceral thing.  Hopefully a heart-wrenching and visceral thing that will land us more donations, but that’s neither here nor there.

There have also been meetings with possible investors, advise-givers, and artists in hopes that one of the many projects I have floating around in my brain ether is produced.  At this point, it feels like a lot of impasses all at once, but it’s those difficult roadblocks that provide the fortitude to keep going.  So, that’s where I’m at.  Waiting for things to happen, nagging people to get things to happen, and continuing to write.  Seems to be the way of most, if not all, writers, so at least I feel like I’m getting somewhere.

Coinciding this all this is an unassailable feeling that we want to go back to Seoul.  We miss Korea, the people, the subway, and the bussle.  We miss our friends and the connections we made. But, at the same time, we recognize that we’re here, with a new car and 12-month lease that will anchor us at least for a little while.  There’s still that hope though, that in a year we’ll be back on Line 2 to Gangnam for dinner or the 730 bus on our way to the outskirts of Itaewon to visit Faysal and Misun or walking through the crowds at Dongdaemun to buy a new sweater or shirt.  It’s so odd to thing that people all around me equate owning a car to independence, while I feel that riding the subway gave me the most freedom.  I could write, listen to podcasts, and watch people’s interactions with each other without fear that I might drive off the road.  That’s liberation.  Not having to care.  And I guess that’s where I want to be professionally, too.  Focus on what I love even if I’m working on a project that doesn’t matter to me.  There’s freedom in the confirmation, there’s freedom in being swaddled by my laptop’s keyboard and wikipedia research and Final Draft.

Today, I’m a copywriter and learning a lot, but tomorrow I’ll be writing for me.  I live for those days.

Hope you’re all doing well.  Sorry again for the delay.  Hopefully I’ll write more now that I’m in front of a computer all day long (I just spit at my Acer monitor and IBM Thinkpad).  In the mean time, think about your path and ride it.  After all, if it weren’t for that positive thinking, I wouldn’t have written a book and I wouldn’t be able to hone my craft by writing copy all day long.

As it stands, some things have happened and others have not.  To be more obtuse, the world still turns.  Or to put it a different way, I’ve spent the last 8 months on a single project: ‘Han’.  Now, ‘Han’ began as a graphic novel concept and ended as a webcomic.  Most recently I’m pretty sure I mentioned that ‘Han’ was on a rather permanent hiatus and now I can’t get the damn thing out of my head.  That’s to say that while I should be branching off, considering and planning and skeletoning new stories or projects my mind comes right back to ‘Han’.

I started going at it from different angles.  Maybe I could create more this…  If this character were this then there would need to be other characters to counterbalance it an…  You get the idea.  The problem is that ‘Han’, right now, isn’t being worked on, with the exception of over-and-over in my brain.

Many of you are reading this saying, “no,” you’d say, “Don’t give up on ‘Han’.  There has to be a way,” and there might be. I’ve been trying to create something more accessible and perhaps more inclined toward solid, professional backing but it’s been slow moving.  Like the expanding universe, slow.  Or plate tectonics.  And that’s boring.  Also to say “it’s not allowing me to work on other ideas because my brain (the river that it is) delta’s right back to ‘Han’,” the bastard.  On the plus side, however, this new angle, this new way of looking at ‘Han’ is supremely exciting and might be much of what’s keeping my mind on it.  It’s a chance to do something really fun/awesome/more culturally significant than slap bracelets.  Damn, I broke my string of earth-based metaphors

To bring things back to earth and that’s how, in a hackneyed way, I bring it back, I’d like to mention that I have a box of Reading With Pictures books sitting in our apartment.  We’ve successfully sold/given way (mostly) around a third of them. We’ve sent emails out to friends and family about the many places the anthology has been mentioned/I have been mentioned (horn successfully tooted) including the super cool article in the Korea Herald about ‘Han’ titled U.S. graphic novelist explores han: experiences it in the process (this may not actually be the title).  There’s something rewarding about being mentioned as a graphic novelist even if my graphic novel never got off the ground.

Well, I guess that’s all the rambling madness I have in me for now.  Thank you for your continued love and patronage, your continued visits to this site as well as ‘Han’, and for purchasing the ‘Reading With Pictures Anthology’.  That is to say, if you haven’t bought the book you should be ashamed of yourself and be cast out amongst the reeds.

Nothing but love!  Bye for now.

Lately I’ve been reading American Lion by Jon Meacham and Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.  – this is after I finished Slaughterhouse V for the first time.  My immediate reactions so far are “brilliant” and “whoa” or even interrupting my wife to tell her something that I’ve just read.  These are the normal reactions when reading something that touches you, something that effects you either positively or not.  Their high points in your reading but they ironically lead to low points for me.

What I mean to say is that reading something great should be a motivation but it’s not always.  At times I’ll read something staggering and want nothing more then to write something in that same vein, hoping to stagger the population or something, Mark Twain might say, to shake people from their stupor; that’s not a quote, just an observation and suggestion of what Mark Twain might say.  But therein, as Admiral Ackbar in his infinite online video iterations, will tell you is a trap.  Because writing something with the soul purpose of knocking someone on their ass or shaking off the societal strains put on by the overbearing and misguided words of some megalomaniac man is a trap.  It really can’t be done.  Sure, creative writing teachers have been saying for years to “write with intention” but it doesn’t always work.  If you’re like me, all too often those intentions and purposes derail the story.  Making a well plotted piece a true “piece”.

But that’s not all!  This same derailment can come from  comments both positive or negative.  Hell, someone could shower praise upon you, fill your heart with such happiness that those tasks you were loathe for in the past turn  enjoyable.  It won’t stop there though!  You go home, a skip in your step as you ignore the intermittent rain that has annoyed you for the last week or the fact that you forgot your umbrella.  Then things start to get real.  You read over the review too many times.  You’ve sent it to everyone in your address book in hopes that they’ll share in your glowing moment until there’s a thought that “what if I can’t live up to it?”  What happens then?  I’ll tell you, everything stops.  You’re crippled by a moment that should have been glorious and provided you with enough boast-fuel for the next month has turned into a sprained brain.

To sum this up, there’s no way to tell whether you’re reading will effect you for better or worse.  You can portend that a novel, newspaper article, or trip to the market will actually bring positive results and help you plow through a particularly difficult section of your book, script, short story, whatever.  But that doesn’t mean you should fear those activities.  On the contrary.  I know I offered up some truly incredible points here but the fact is, they’ll only effect you for a short time.  At the top I mentioned that my current funk will probably only last a few hours or the rest of the day, perhaps someone reading this will have moments where they’re unable to hit the keys for months on end.  But think about it, you’re being effected by something.  You’re letting it control your mind, your thinking, your life instead of breast stroke you forward.  Doesn’t that boggle the mind?  Doesn’t it just make you angry at how your mind has decided to process that moment or nugget of information?  Stupid brain.  What the hell?!

The key is, I’ve found, to harness your stupid brain and use those lull-filled moments to get you further than you thought.  After all, what’s a better motivation than being annoyed with yourself?  I don’t think there is anything.

So, get out there and get some writing done.  Don’t let your brain win, let your brain win!  Also, read this awesome review of the ‘Reading With Pictures Anthology’, including some very nice things said about yours truly.

You can’t derail me brain, moment, or book!  Hancomic.com

Speaking of the webcomic.  Yes, there was a bit of a hiccup.  We were hoping to release it to the kraken-like tubes last week but arrived at an issue: we didn’t feel like we were ready.  Sure, releasing a comic is a lot like hanging your ass out in the breeze, but you at least want to have an escape route in case the neighbor lady sees you and wants to call the police…or shoot you with her rifle.  This is where we’re at.  Fear over being shot in the ass by an old lady.  And that’s reasonable, right?

Look for ‘Han‘, our new webcomic, at hancomic.com, and come back here on the 6th for a page from the script that resulted in that webcomic.  One last little bit, if you’re on the Twitters, you can follow us @hancomic for updates, info, and random nuggets of knowetude.  Take care folks!  Looking forward to hear your reactions to our WEBCOMIC.

Writing a book often becomes a full-time job. And not only just the writing, mind you. The research, interviews, and outlining process might be the most difficult of all as you attempt to create from the air something. Once you get all that down, the book probably isn’t as difficult. That is, unless you’re writing like a jerk (Jack Kerouac). The truth is, once you have your break through, once the story starts to run, you’re able to work on it in your spare time. And that’s what the next few months have in store for me. For, you see, I have acquired a day job.

And what a terrifying omen that may bring. Since we arrived here in Seoul, I was terrified at the prospect of having to teach or work in an office again because working in an office and teaching aren’t for everyone (especially not me). And even though I did try and apply and go in for interviews with schools here, things didn’t work to much great disappointment (WOOOOOOO!). In that time I was able to research, perform interviews, and create a solid outline for the book – as stated above – and focus on the creation process. The birth of an idea. But now, poppa needs a day job.

Why? Well, I’m married and we’re struggling. Living in a large city has massive advantages in its brilliant public transportation and equally massive disadvantages in the price of a box of cereal. But you pay anyway because, hell, living in Seoul is incredible. So, after floundering, without fault on my end, for seven months, I packed it in and focused again on finding work. And not just because we need the money. It has far more to do with being an adult and not being a “layabout”.

Of course, most people of my generation, Generation Meh, would love nothing more than to be inactive, video game playing, corrugated potato chip eating philistines, but that’s childish and, lets face it, not my MO. Having lifted myself out of my desk chair and detached my brain stem from my USB port (I’ll miss you data) it feels a lot like failure. Like I’ve given up on the book and wasted all that time and might not actually get the thing done, but that’s where a schedule, determination, and a loving kick in the ass by your wife comes in. Because no one wants you to have wasted time more than your wife…she’ll kill you for it…she knows you’re afraid.

Anyway, the gears of my brain and time and space and the vastness of the interwebbings are working in tandem for the first time in a while.  What’s that, you say?  Well, I’ve been busy at work on this here graphic novel for the better part of three months.  Reading, researching, crying, writing, crying some more, outright weeping, and now, success.  Problem is, I can’t tell you about it yet.  It’s a secret.  For at last the next month.  Then I’ll tell you all about it.  And you’ll all be happy in your little happy hats.

With that said, I can offer up the following information: the book hasn’t been halted, it’s been transformed, in a manner of speaking.  Also, there has been a vast change in the production, people translating and lettering it.  It went from a book I was concerned would never be penciled, inked, colored, and birthed into something that, at this very moment, looks incredibly pretty.  Oh.  So. Pretty.

So yeah, more will be disseminated in the coming weeks and month.  Maybe little pearls of awesome will find their way onto this very page.  Who knows?  I don’t…probably.

Bye!

Anyone can pick up a book on keeping a schedule.  There are hundreds of thousands, flooding the market.  Books on scheduling your time in the office, home office, and freelance writing to name a few categories.  But, while writing a book can fall into one or all three of these categories, there’s something different for the creative types.  Something that comes with trial and error and that most books don’t often help.  I want to talk about scheduling the specific, creative moments that kick up the wind in the sails and cruise any writer and/or creative person toward their end point.

Now, I would be remiss if I didn’t give credit to my wife, who helped me to develop a fair and balanced schedule to maximize both my writing and researching.  Without her gentle nudging and loving understanding, I’m not writing this book, I’m playing Plants vs Zombies or Peggle or generally being lazy.  Because, the truth is, every creative person needs those moments of unwind or meditative zen, uninterrupted spaces where he/she can cleanse their minds of the book or whatever you’re working on and be a reed.  I took a class in college called ‘Contemplative Writing’ – one of the best and most beneficial writing courses I’ve ever taken – where we exercised various methods of meditating or simply allowing the ideas to come to you.  After all, when you fight with your brain (writer’s block), you’re going to lose.  It’s best to release yourself, take the ego out of the equation and simply let your subconsciousness or the ether of the universe or spirituality or whatever you believe in dust off the captain’s chair and correct course.

Recently, I took two weeks off from writing my graphic novel.  It wasn’t the best idea, but, having fought with a single scene for over a week, I decided I needed some time to not think about it.  So, I wrote a 3-page story and became heavily invested in the aforementioned Plants vs Zombies.  The first thing, the 3-pager, was a great idea.  I was able to put the big book to the side and allow the other ideas that had been calcifying in the back of the ocean of my mind (must keep the metaphor together) out.  And it was great.  The story turned out great and I had another short story that is currently being “arted” into existence, by the fabulous Kira Slaught, to show the world how versatile my writing is.  The other part, the Plants vs Zombies part, was defeatist.

I follow a lot of comic book writers on the Twitters, and all too often I hear them talk about playing a new video game.  At first it was Call of Duty 152 or which ever number they’re on (I’ve never played it) and switched to others, but one thing was clear to me, video games were helping writers.  The problem was, I wasn’t following all writers and found very quickly, in my own experience, that video games are neither going to help me tap into my ignored subconscious nor help me get my brain back into writing the book.  It took me out in a big way, and now I’m behind my self appointed schedule. (You thought I would never get back to the schedule thing, huh?  Ye of little faith)

But it wasn’t all bad, this weekend, Lindsay and I went to Gyeongbok Palace and the National Folk Museum and, by doing some hands on research, my on-board, creative motor was operational yet again (I will milk the metaphor, oh yes).  And I guess that’s the point: schedules are flexible.  They’re to be created and cater to each person; because, no matter how many experts tell you that playing a video game or taking a walk with their dog helps their brain reset, it’s not the same for everyone.  All creative types, however, need – and I can’t stress that enough – to struggle and fail with different schedules and methods of fixing their sails in order for their creative process to work right.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a painting to research…but first, a quick game of Plants vs Zombies…I hate you, brain.

There’s this phenomenon with creative types where they need to keep themselves going.  That’s to say, when everything around them is crushing or there’s little to be excited or have faith in but something keeps them going.  Fuels them.

I’ll explain what I mean in the form of a story:
Nearly a year ago, I finally graduated from college.  When I left, I was flown out to Nashville by Devon and Golriz of the fantastic site SoulPancake.com to work on content and help them manage their volunteer work force.  While there, I saw Dev’s drive and passion for the site.  He stayed up until two in the morning to make sure work was edited and ready for release the next day and pushed himself to wake up early to witness each posts response.

At some point, I thought I might be able to get a job out of SoulPancake.  That I’d be able to, eventually, earn some money from editing or some such work. When I first arrived in Nashville the prospect of a job was suggested to Devon.  He told me that he absolutely expected SoulPancake to earn money, that it would have cash flow from sponsors and other avenues within the next few months and that I would be one of the first to get paid.  This pushed me to do everything I could for the site.  The problem was, it didn’t happen.

Before I left, I wanted to know that this job possibility was still there.  On my second to last day I had a conversation with Golriz about their situation.  In the shadow of their trampoline, she told me that while she had complete faith in Devon and the growth seen on the site, it would be irresponsible to believe that she’d be paid.  After all, the economy wasn’t doing well and advertisers weren’t giving money out to everyone.

I eventually asked why she and Devon pushed themselves so hard if they knew it wouldn’t produce any monetary fruit and she explained that Devon had to.  If he didn’t believe that, eventually, things would work out the site would invariably never have been made or launched.  If he didn’t have faith that writers were talented and capable, it would have been a similar situation.  It was his faith and blind hope that drove the site, and now, it’s remarkably successful with a book on the way.

That might be a difficult concept for a lot of people to understand.  Throwing yourself headlong into a project with the knowledge that it could blow up in your face isn’t logical.  It’s the opposite.  And yet, I’m doing it right now.

I’ve been working on this graphic novel fr the last four months.  I’ve pushed myself by looking at a 6-page short comic I wrote as my motivation thinking, “if this 6-pager is published, publishers will read it and be more likely to give me a change.”  And it kept me going.  I wrote the 6-pager and, when it was done and edited, focused again on the graphic novel.  Now, two chapters in, things have started to fall apart.

There are problems with the artist, and I’m not sure if he’ll finish any of the work he agreed to. I spent two days wallowing in self-pity, talking with Lindsay about how horrible things were and how I should just give up, but somewhere inside me a loud voice responded, “Write the damn thing.”  Despite the anger that I deservedly feel, I want to continue.  I have to.  If I don’t stick my fingers in my ears and shout everything will be drowned out by the overwhelming prospect of failure.  And failure will not happen.  I don’t care if this 6-page story isn’t published.  I’ll try a different venue and a different artist.  I don’t care if the first six publishers shoot down the 6-pager and the graphic novel because someone, eventually, will read it and recognize what I’m trying to do.

Is it egotistical to think this way?  Of course it is.  But, really, there’s nothing else I or nearly anyone else with a dream can do but think we’re awesome and capable and that our idea is worth it.  Because, without that ego, we would sit in cubicles like I used to and bemoan the opportunity we let split.  And I’ve already spent six years in cubicles, working at jobs I had no desire to be doing.  It’s time to buckle down.  My stories will be published, dammit.  Not because I think so, but because they’re pretty damned good.  And when that day comes, I’ll feel vindicated for all my slamming into walls and verbose prose and pontifications.

This is what creative people have to do to keep themselves sane and get work done, put on the blinders, have faith in yourself, and hope.

This derailment doesn’t mean I won’t be writing about the book I’ve been working on or the process, it just means that I’ll be focusing on getting healthy – I’m on the road – before dedicating myself.  It’s not what I wanted, but what ever is?

With all that said, I just want to tell whomever it is that reads this blog that I’m doing better and should be blogging consistently this week; also, writing a script for a book.  That’s it for now.  Night eastern hemisphere!

The whole blog won’t just be this, of course, but I’d like to focus on it a bit more than anything else…anything else being that I haven’t written anything at all for quite some time.  As well, it’ll allow me to exercise one of the pillars of what I’d like to talk about, exercising.  So, without further adieu, here’s what I’m thinking…

This may start out as a rambling, incoherent mess as I’ve just woke up and my faculties aren’t completely with me but what the heck, it’s a blog after all, not the Wall Street Journal.

I am writing a book, a series of books, actually, about Korea, Asian culture, and how some of the tenants of Asian culture have found their way into the western world and vice versa.  It’s a subject I’ve been thinking a lot about since we arrived here in Seoul and one that I think will interest some people.  The story is about a Kyopo, someone of Korean descent who was raised and grew up with a Korean family somewhere else.  So as to say, a guy whose family left Korea in the early 20th century and moved to the U.S. is a Kyopo.  It’s a far more universal concept than the Korean word allows, but it’s great that such a word exists.

See, my mom’s from Tehran, Iran.  She fled the country in the 70s for the U.S. and has never returned.  So, I’m a Kyopo of Iran, I guess.

Anyway, the story will focus on several characters, many of which are Kyopos, both going back to their native lands and dealing with those feelings of being reattached to something missing.  A reunion to a past unknown, of sorts.

Now that I’ve given you the most basic summary of the story, I’d like to address the actual nature of what I’m trying to do here.  See, I just had this conversation with my wife about how things were structured at CSU’s (Colorado State University) journalism department.  Not only were students taught how to write and edit stories, but also the process of being a successful writer.  There were lessons about how to write a letter introducing an article you wrote to publishers and how to file for taxes as a free lancer, and I realized I had none of that.  Perhaps I took the wrong classes – I don’t think so – but there’s something of absolute importance in understanding the realities of writing and the business of writing.  All to often folks talk about how they’ll be writing a novel, sit down, and try to write one without understanding basic ideas and tenants of structure, outlining, and theme.  It’s a problem, so I understand it, that definitely takes place in grad schools but should be addressed in your undergrad.  After all, some of us couldn’t, and still can’t, afford to attend graduate school but still have the talent and ideas to write a book.

That said, I’ll give you a list of some of the topics I’d like to address in the coming months:
The business of writing
Structure of the outline
Motivation
Schedules
Planning
The creative process is won through devotion and pushing yourself
Practice, and don’t stop even if he ideas aren’t coming
Taking breaks are necessary
Reading as research
Reading as exercise
Writing outside of the book
Multiple stories at the same time

This list will expand as I get started and I’d love to receive comments and suggestions from people in the notes ares.

It should also be noted that my process – so as to say, everything I will be writing about within this context – will be focused on writing a graphic novel and not simply a “traditional” novel.  The process, I’m sure, varies in many ways, but I’m guessing that generally they’re much the same.  Also, because of those differences, there’s something specialized and focused for a different set of people.  There are tons of books and blogs about writing books, but few about writing a graphic novel…especially written by me.

All right, so that’s the plan.  I’ll be writing my first post tomorrow are part of my warm ups for the days work.  All posts will be shot over to twitter and my facebook page, so as to alert as many people as possible to my jabbering.

Thanks, and I look forward to writing and reading your responses.