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Ring Psychology

by Aaron Hall

Volume Nine: Know when to fold ‘em 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! “Know when to fold ‘em” Those of you who know me and have read this article have already learned a bit about my love for the game of poker. A game of patience, skill, good timing, and a bit of luck. Most of you have heard the famous chorus from Kenny Rogers; “You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, and know when to run”. It’s sincerely great advice at the poker table (especially if you played in the old west when guns were allowed at the table), but could it be great advice for the creator as well? I’ve got an experience to share that just may make you think so. Regular readers of my livejournal are often treated to work updates. I talk about what issue of what comic I am currently writing or what phase I am at in the creation of a new comic. One thing that I’ve been talking about for the past month is my graphic novel. It was to be my first attempt at writing an OGN (Original Graphic Novel) and I was very excited to challenge myself as a storyteller. But something upsetting started happening. My story had a very original foundation, a character twist I’ve never seen done before. But from there, it really went into a rather predictable conspiracy story. As I got further and further with the planning stages, I found myself thinking “I’ve read this story before. I’ve already seen this movie.” Even though my story had a very unique set up, that set up led directly into your run of the mill Hollywood conspiracy movie. I could even see Matt Damon in the leading role, as the story more and more began to remind me of his film the Bourne Identity. So I sort of agonize over things for a few days, just unsure of myself or what to do next. Finally, I come up with a much more interesting conspiracy for the story. I mean really, I love this conspiracy, it’s great. It’s something that I’ve never seen done, which surprises me because it seems so obvious. So I take this conspiracy and I try to plug it back into the story and I find that pretty much everything I had before doesn’t fit anymore. At this point, I’ve spent about three weeks on the project. I’ve got about seven hundred other ideas brewing in my mind, stuff that is already outlined and sure not to trip me up the way this graphic novel has. So the question that I found myself facing was “Is it a good idea to continue with this graphic novel right now?”. And the answer was just obviously no. I was pouring so much time and energy into it and I was just barely moving forward with it. It’s still a great idea; I still plan on doing it one day. But not today. I’m going to shelve it and all the notes and outlines and just pick it up a little down the road. This will allow me to get back to being productive and working on ideas that are much more ironed out and need a lot less work. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to do this as a writer, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. I have a comic book idea called “Seasons” sitting on the shelf right now that is awesome. It just had one major flaw that I had spent far too long trying to correct. Finally I had to face facts and walk away from it for a while. I know for a fact that one day I’ll come back to that comic idea and it’ll all click and I’ll finally get to tell those stories. The same goes for my now shelved graphic novel, I have no doubt that I’ll one day work it out and get to present the story to the world… or at least to my mom, she reads all of my writing. And just to end on a little karma high note here, a few days after making the decision to walk away from the graphic novel idea, I read something that sparked an entirely new graphic novel idea in my mind. The thing is, it uses all of the story points in my other graphic novel other than the conspiracy. So all of those story points that I was so attached to but couldn’t use because of the new conspiracy are now going to be put to good use in this new graphic novel. There’s no shame in cutting your losses and walking away. As a matter of fact, there are times when it can be the smartest thing you can do. It really wouldn’t have done me any good to keep agonizing over my story and wasting more and more time trying to concoct ways for it to all fit together. By stepping away not only did I free myself up for some new projects, but I also was inspired with a new idea. The next time you find yourself stuck with something, ask yourself that hard question that I asked myself. “Is it a good idea to continue with this right now?”. And all of you non writers out there, once again I’m giving you a cosmic truth that you too can apply to your lives. Bad relationships, bad habits, bad work environments. Ask yourself, “Is it a good idea to continue with this right now?”. Walking away doesn’t always mean weakness, sometimes it means intelligence. Until next time, this is the man behind the man behind the man and the white guy that recently beat Mike Tyson, 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.