Last episode I gave you the many faces of our pal Toby. By brushing off my pens, I jostled my creative bones, and I’ve been hard at work ever since.
I don’t know about you, but when I sit down to write a story, I don’t have a theme. I don’t really have an ending, or a beginning, or really any sort of plot, and maybe one character at best. I really only have ONE amusing anecdote that would make for some clever banter with said character and another yet-to-exist character.
And this is why I’m not a Writer, capital W.
But I love to write. And when our skeletal friend Toby and his clever banter bloomed into my imagination from nowhere (aka: New Idea Obsessionâ„¢), I determined that I would do ALL of this writing stuff the proper way, once and for all. Formulas for the win.
The Sources tell me that a theme is absolutely required. And a dear friend of mine encourages writers to emblazon a big yellow Post-It with said theme in bold black ink. (I’d even consider triple underlining it.)
My takeaway isn’t that a theme is the cohesive egg binding agent that holds a meatloaf story together for the famished audience. I mean it is. But much more importantly, it’s a tool-meets-guideline that helps a writer stick to their plan, especially those of us who show up to the writing room without a plan — ahem.
So once I sat down and wrote down the theme that will course through the veins of Bonesick, a comic idea bubbled to the surface.
Yes.
A real life comic strip that I was willing to draw and put out into the public world has now become a reality. Essentially, I’m now literally doing the thing I said I’d be doing.
I digress. Rather than tell you the theme, here’s a scene that gives you a bit of insight.
. . .
Forgiveness
As noted in my super quick Bonesick synopsis, Toby’s haunted by a bad choice made long ago. The scene above takes place relatively early on. He’s bothered. He’s lonely. He’s toying with the idea of mercy and exoneration. But like so many of us who grab for our scrollie devices when we feel the slightest bit uncomfy (those grocery store lines are brutal, am I right?) … Toby’s just not ready for his New Job. And as I mentioned in the synopsis, it could already be too late for Toby. So why bother?
We shall see.
Newbie Lessons
Being a totally green to this comic world, I decided that I’ll just trust my gut and tap into the stuff I’ve subconsciously downloaded from being alive for four decades. Then I’ll ask questions later. But here are some mini lessons:
Drawing by hand is arduous, but very satisfying. I adore my pens, and analog papery illustration is a welcome respite from computer work day in, day out. Plus, I’m drawing again, dear lord in heaven, finally.
With that said, I was WAY too freaked to color by hand. So with a little P’shop experimentation, I decided it’s a-ok to do this part digitally for now. My color ink is on standby.
Same goes for the dialog. I went back and forth so many times on various conversation details — the punchline especially — I decided this part has to digital too. This stuff pains me because, although I’m a digital designer, I’m a luddite at heart. But I do recognize that software is here to stroke our hair and tell us everything is going to be ok. I’m cool with it.
I took a shower to figure out the punchline and it worked. I was SO stuck on that one. But if wet and wild history has taught me anything, look to the Slippery Tiled Box: the one place where you can shun people and technology if you so dare so your mind is free and clear to ideate.
I’m not a fan of drawing humans. Hence Toby. But I have to show that Toby exists in world of humans with flesh in order to tease out his Skin Free story. So I’m just going to have to continue to practice hands. Sully the Bartender will always be just hands and a silhouette though. I grew up with Wilson to Tim ‘The Tool Man’ Taylor, so it’s lodged in my brain as a device.
I will continue to sprinkle in my story values, which feed into the overall theme:
Meaningful Mundanity (Can one quick chat with your favorite bartender set off an entirely new outlook on life if you let it?)
Agnostic Acceptance (Can forgiveness be something Toby needs and yet doesn’t need at all?)
Adventures in Normcore (Fun Fact: the bar is actually a gay dance club called Nick Roman’s. Toby is a hetero-skeleton, but loves to stop by after work because it’s downstairs from his apartment and the music is always good.)
This was a TON of work for a quick 8-panel strip. I worked in spare hours over the course of a week. Oof. But the first one’s the toughest, so cheers to the elbow grease and confidence boost to keep this thing in motion.
ELZ--this is incredible! I love this mix of hand drawn and digital, and Bonesick's investigation into belonging and forgiveness. Can't wait to see what comes next!