Pro Tip: On Writing

I'm having problems with a short comic script I'm working on for Oni/EC, and today I was blocked up, trying to fix a plot point. I felt overwhelmed, with too many conflicting notes and ideas and mental noise getting in the way of going forward. I was mainly stuck for connective tissue between segments, and working out the basic logic for the plot conceit.

I was also trying to find things that would help build up the characters a bit more, which, in an eight-pager, often involves visual cues and details. How they dress, their body language, what their living spaces look like, etc. Eight pages isn't a ton of space to develop a rounded character, and you usually lose the first page for the intro and set up. So, it's more like seven pages. And since it's a horror story, you can expect the last page or two is going to be used up leading events to a horrible conclusion, so there's not much room there for character development. So, use whatever space you have to underline your characters. If we see heir homes, those places should speak to character. In the simplest and broadest of terms, take two characters like Felix and Oscar from The Odd Couple. If you saw their bedrooms before meeting the characters -- one hotel-neat, another a bombsite -- you'd already have an idea of their personalities. In a short comic you're pretty much going to be dealing with very simple, obvious visual cues. But the more detail and texture you can throw in to support a character, the more that character will exist on the page. Every panel counts, especially in a short comic.

Anyway, I was stuck on some things. And my head was full to burst with stuff. And none of it was working.

So, I took a walk.

I've found that a short walk around the neighborhood can clear my head, and, even if I'm not actively trying to think about a script problem, my brain will be working on it in the background. I'll often find the fix without concentrating on the problem directly, without worrying over it. I don't know how body or brain chemistry works, or how the synapses fire in accord to problem-solving. I do know that getting away from the desk and the keyboard will often break up the mental logjam. I have hit on a lot of important ideas and script fixes while walking, driving on the highway, washing dishes or taking a shower. It's like clearing the mental slate, and doing busywork or just moving around, resets everything.

Again, I don't know the science of clearing one's mind, I just know it can work wonders for your writing brain if you take a break and change your environment. I'm incapable of meditation, I've tried, but I can walk. Or wash the dishes. But walking is better for me.

I need to get my act together and walk more often not just to change the scenery but because I'm in pretty sad shape physically these days and have practically zero aerobic endurance. I have re-rolled a Stamina of 5 as I've hit old man-years sitting on my ass all day in front of a computer or a piece of paper. Walking up a slight hill today had me sounding like a broken bellows. But while I was huffing and puffing and wheezing like a dying engine I thought of something that I could add to the script to better develop the two main characters. And the bit would also work as a transition from one part of the opening sequence to the next. Where this idea came from, I don't know. I wasn't actively thinking about the script. Maybe the brain working in the background got some much needed blood and oxygen while I was trudging along.

Anyway, the idea's going into the script. It's only a panel and a narrative caption but it's a link I needed. Sometimes that bit of connective tissue is all you need to be able to move ahead with a script that's not coming together easily. And sometimes a disconnect from staring at the computer monitor or blank piece of notebook paper will get you there. Not always, but if you're going to be stuck, it doesn't hurt any to be stuck mentally while doing something physically. Air in the lungs, blood to the brain and all that stuff.

And I saw five cats and two dogs while I walked. So, there's also that.