The Flower and Death Ch. 1

So as I said announced in my last post, my graphic novel script for Blind Follies: The Flower and Death (my take on the myth of Persephone and Hades) is completed at 7 chapters in length... Well... The first draft is done, and that's a huge accomplishment!

See, that's the thing about first drafts: They are necessary steps toward solidifying your story. One one hand, no one needs to read it. On the other hand, once you have a draft you are happy about, you can pass it off to a few trusted volunteers. Which is exactly what I did. And I'll tell you, the feedback I received was incredible. It really forced me to take a step back and look at the story in ways I hadn't thought of before. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows and compliments, but that's a good thing!

While I believe you must put your heart into a project to make it take flight, you can never hold it so precious and close to you that you're unwilling to make changes and allow it to be all it can be. Those first blows were tough to take, but I'm lucky in that they came from people I admire and respect. I mean if I'm too afraid to hear what my friends have to say, why would I think it's a good idea to put my story out there on a bookshelf?

At the same time, it's important to not focus on every single opinion. You are never going to be able to please everyone. Rather, try to step back and hear what everyone is trying to tell you as a whole. What are the common things people want to see more or less of? I got a lot of conflicting opinions, but as a whole, I realized I really needed to go back and revisit the 2nd half of my book (chapters 5-7). I think I got so caught up in getting everything down that they came off as a bit rushed and the life/death metaphors that were prevalent in the first half became lost.

The good news is I have 4 chapters of material to work with on the art-side of things in the meantime! So while I take my time to better develop my latter half, I am continuing work on my first chapter. Again, this one will take me the longest, as I am still learning. I'm developing the style of the book and fleshing out my character designs while taking the time I've denied myself to develop a better understanding of design, light, color, and perspective necessary for visual storytelling.

For anyone that reads these posts, thank you for sharing my journey. As I move forward, I can only hope my experiences being a baby-comic artist will encourage others to keep bumping along through their own trial and error. You'll hear more from me soon.


_{2015 Convention Schedule
-Sac-Con: Sacramento, CA - Mar 1- Small Press *New location!*
-Emerald City Comicon: Seattle, WA - Mar 27-29- TBA
-Wizard World: Sacramento, CA - Jun 19-21- Artist Alley
-Anime Expo: Los Angeles, CA - Jul 2-5- Artist Alley
-SacAnime Summer: Sacramento, CA - Sep 4-6- Artist Alley *NEW*}

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