Stumblebum Studios Archives

		Archives	Home

Ring Psychology

by Aaron Hall

Volume Four: The Sounding Board Writing, like any other artistic or creative undertaking, is far from an exact science. I in no way believe myself to be a master of the game or a voice of authority on the dos and don’ts of writing. This column is simply me sharing with all of you some of the things that I’ve picked up along the way that seem to help me out. Use them, abuse them, make fun of them, or sell them on eBay. Now, on to the article! “The Sounding Board” A writer, like anyone else who sets out to create something, needs tools. If you were building a house you’d need a hammer, some nails, probably a saw of some type. A penciler needs a certain type of pencil, an eraser, rulers, and all sorts of other stuff I wouldn’t even know if I saw it. The fact is, a writers tools are much more abstract than this. They consist of things like your vocabulary, a thesaurus, a good place to do research (you really can’t beat the internet for this in my opinion), and most importantly a writer needs a great imagination. Of course he/she needs a computer or at least a notepad to write on, but we’re going a bit deeper than that. My most valuable tool is hands down my good friend/roommate Chris, or my “sounding board”. Essentially, he’s someone who’s always available to listen to my ideas and critique my writing. Sometimes he helps me develop a good idea into a great idea, sometimes he helps me iron out a line of dialogue, sometimes he just nods and says it’s good as is, and sometimes he cringes and tells me how terrible my idea is. It’s like having a built in test audience. It’s almost hard for me to put into words just how much of a help it’s been having that person to help me out. One thing that you’ll hear over and over as a writer or even an artist is the need for a “second set of eyes”. That’s what a good sounding board can do for you. Just because something sounds good or looks good to you, the fact is that doesn’t mean it’s actually good. Over the course of writing an entire issue of a comic book there’s a pretty good chance that I missed something or messed something up or simply overlooked an error. Bringing in a second set of eyes, or a “sounding board”, can really help cut down on those types of mistakes. Now the fact is not all of you have a creative minded best friend who loves comic books around all the time like I do. That doesn’t mean you can’t find yourself a sounding board. Take your script up to the local comics shop; let the owner or a worker read it over. Take it to a writer you know, even if they don’t particularly write or read comic books. They’ll still be able to let you know how your story is structured and put together. Maybe an English professor at your school would be a good choice. None of those work out for you? Why not turn to this useful little tool we call the internet? There are plenty of other comics creators our there that are willing to help, and most of them can be found over at www.digitalwebbing.com in the forums. The community over there is very positive and friendly and willing to help out anyone with any questions. It’s an invaluable place to get critiques, make connections, and basically become a better creator. So there it is ladies and gentlemen, just another of the ingredients that make writing a little bit easier for yours truly. By having someone I can trust and rely on to talk my ideas over with I’m able to catch problems and revise ideas at an early stage, which makes them better in the long run. Until next time, this is Jay Z’s backup security guard and three time Major League Baseball steroid failure, Aaron Hall, signing off. If you have any questions or comments about creating comics feel free to email them to freejenkins@gmail.com and I’ll answer them right here in this very column because yes, I care about you that much.