Zub Tales

After my previous post about my output in 2013 and some thoughts on writer’s block, I received a lot of wonderful comments and messages. Quite a few people asked about ways to be more productive/save time while they work, so I thought I’d cover a few things that have worked for me in case they’d be helpful to a wider readership.

Although creativity and writing can be driven by inspiration and there are more/less productive cycles, there’s also a lot of repetition that can take up undue amounts of time if you let it. Whenever I notice I’m doing the same kind of thing again and again during my work process I look for ways to automate parts of it to save myself time later on.

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TEMPLATES and BOILERPLATES

When you’re constantly communicating with clients, publishers, other freelancers, and conventions you’ll notice that the same information is required over and over. Do it once, do it right, and save it so you never have to put that information together from scratch again. It’s easy to update and adjust once you have the foundation in place.

• I use a script template (It’s based on Fred Van Lente’s killer script format and the latest version was put together by the incredible Rob Marland, which you can download right HERE) that auto formats and auto numbers pages, panels, and dialogue lines so I don’t have to waste time doing it myself. It sounds silly and unnecessary but, trust me, when you have hundreds of pages of script and multiple panels per page it’s really helpful to just hit Enter→ and immediately roll into the next sequence without hitting Tab>Bold>and typing “Page” and “Panel” over, and over, and over again. The other nice thing with auto numbering is that if I take a line or panel out of a script, it cascade renumbers everything to match the new sequence, which is a real sanity saver. The technology is there, so I might as well use it to my advantage.

• I put together a standard intro paragraph about myself and my work so I can easily cut and paste it into an email and then customize it from there for introducing myself to new clients. The same goes for review copies and press contacts.

• I have a short 50-80 word bio and a longer 100-150 word one along with a recent photo of myself (both print and web-sized) so I always have them for conventions, signings, whatever.

• Publishers always need mailing information and that info tends to get lost so, as soon as I start working on a new creator-owned project, I get everyone’s updated contact info and put them in a text file ready to go. It’s also helpful for sending people I work with little surprise gifts or Christmas cards.

Basically, whenever I’m typing up information that seems generic enough that I may need it again, I’ll save it to my cloud storage with a self-explanatory title so I have easy access to it later. Speaking of which…

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THE CLOUD

I used to walk around with 3 or 4 USB thumb drives with iterations of my latest work and was in a constant state of ‘version madness’ trying to remember where I’d saved the latest document or cursing myself if I forgot to back-up a copy somewhere safe.

Now I have a set of organized folders on Google Drive (Dropbox or any other comparable service should work just as well) that automatically uploads the file I’m working on to my desktop computer, my laptop, my office computer at the college where I teach, and online to my Drive account. It’s goddamn magic. I no longer have to worry about losing my work or wondering if I’m working on the latest version of a story. All of them are current, all of them are safe.

Even if I do some writing on a plane or somewhere else without an internet connection, the minute I hook up to the internet again (at a hotel or a coffee shop while I’m on the road) it propagates the newest save and every version is up to date again. With small files like documents the process is practically instantaneous and, since they don’t take up much space, I can keep a full archive of every script I’ve ever written in the cloud so it’s easy for me to access old or new work wherever I am, whenever I need it. The same goes for pitches, outlines, contracts, logos, and key reference documents I use all the time.

I even have my email signature in a text file in the cloud with every email program (software or online) pointing to it, so if I ever need to change my signature all of them are the exact same and up to date. Anal, yes, but also very convenient.

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AUTOMATION

Photoshop has a wondrous feature not enough people use – Actions.

When you’re producing 20+ page stories month after month you’ll end up doing the same things to art files time and time again. With Photoshop Actions you can set it to Record you doing the sequence once, then do it as many times as you want by clicking on the new Action you’ve created. You can even point an Action towards a folder and Batch Process the whole damn thing. Set it up and walk away while Photoshop chugs through the files. It’s glorious.

• Publisher needs cover art in 3 different sizes/formats for solicitation? One-click Action.
• I need to resize page art to a standard size and create a ‘floating’ line art layer before sending it to the color flatter? One-click Action.
• I need low rez pages with a watermark for reviewers? One-click Action.
• I need differently sized page files for the letterer? One-click Action.
• One of the colorists I work with has consistently dim colors? One-click Action.

Any time I can see that I’m going to end up doing something more than a couple times in Photoshop, I build an Action for it and automate that bastard. There’s no reason not to.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Funny enough, these tutorial posts here on my site are also, in part, a time saving measure. When people started asking me about how to break into the business, or how I write comics, I realized it would be something that would probably come up a lot. I decided to really hunker down and write up an extensive answer for each of those questions so I could easily point people towards it and not worry about brushing them off.

Everyone gets equal attention and a detailed answer instead of me ignoring the question or writing something vague and unhelpful because I don’t have time to deal with it when they ask. It’s a resource people can use and, if it’s helpful to them – great. If not – at least it didn’t take any more of my time.

Work time can be fleeting, especially when you’re trying to fit it in alongside a day job or other responsibilities. Working smarter with templates and automation can help you maximize your time and let you focus on the fun stuff – story building, art, and creativity.

Now, please enjoy the boilerplate finish to my tutorials below… 🙂

If you find my tutorial blog posts helpful, feel free to let me know here (or on Twitter), share them with your friends and consider buying some of my comics to show your support.

Feel free to share your own time-saving methods in the comments so other people can find and make use of them too!

I mentioned in my previous post that I scripted a thousand comic pages this year. That wasn’t hyperbole. The actual total was 1003 pages. I was backing up files and reorganizing old documents when I thought about the crazy productive year I’d had and got curious about how many pages I scripted in 2013 compared to previous years. Going back through my files checking old projects, here’s how it added up:

1000 pages is equivalent to 4 comics a month, which is solid output for someone working in the business full time, let alone juggling a full time day teaching job at the same time. I’m not saying that to brag, just trying to give some context.

That being said, it hasn’t been easy. In order to hit my freelance deadlines and stay on top of my day job, everything else in my life took a back seat in 2013. My social time with family and friends was fleeting. I barely played any video games or watched TV/movies. Almost every single trip I took was to a convention or signing. On top of all that, I stepped away from my Project Manager position at UDON, wrapping up ten solid years of working with people who have been like family to me. Writing consumed everything in its path.

My wife was incredibly patient through all of this, understanding that I had to make writing a priority to make the most of opportunities that came my way. Thankfully, she worked away on her own prose writing at the same time. We both have aggressive creative goals, which is one of the reasons why we’re a good fit together. 🙂

Producing stories week after week taught me how to ‘turn on’ productivity when I need to. It’s like any other kind of exercise – you start slow, keep practising, and bit by bit you improve. At this point I’m able to break down a story faster, pace out scenes better, and more quickly get into character when I’m writing dialogue. You can read tutorials and learn from other writers’ techniques, but there’s no replacement for putting in the time and building your skills through experience.

People have asked me how I stay motivated and push past writer’s block. I don’t have a foolproof system and I have unproductive days just like everyone else, but my answer is probably not what you might expect.

When I get blocked up and need to get writing work done, my biggest motivator is fear. I know that sounds weird, but it’s true.

I have a deep unshakable dread that people who are waiting on my work (the line artist, colorist, letterer, editor) will get screwed over if I don’t deliver when I say I will.

I’ve been in too many situations where people haven’t upheld their end of things and those experiences have branded into my brain what that feels like. When I’m distracted or seizing up I try to put myself in someone else’s shoes and imagine how frustrated I would be if I was expecting that script and didn’t get it on time. After that, my gut clenches up and shit tends to get done…

…And if it doesn’t, a rye-whiskey and a bag of Doritos works pretty good too. 😛

Crown & Coke – Jim’s writing fuel. Always drink responsibly. ;P

Having concrete deadlines looming overhead is a definite motivator too. Starting new creator-owned projects is more difficult because it can always be put off compared to deadline-driven work for hire gigs. Once I have an artist attached to a project it becomes more ‘real’ and my guilt-fear complex takes over. I don’t want an artist to be waiting on me when I said I’d have a script for them. I do everything I can to deliver on time or let the editor/artist know ASAP if things aren’t going as planned. It’s a respect and integrity thing for me. The fastest way to my bad side is lack of communication.

I don’t want people to get the wrong idea. I’m not here to tell anyone how much work they should be producing. My output and schedule is different from anyone else’s. Everyone has their own situation and has to do what works for them. There’s no “one size fits all” solution, especially when it comes to creativity.

Some people write a little bit every day like clockwork. I tend to do story breakdowns and plotting for quite a while and then binge-script once I feel confident I have the story figured out. When I’m finally ready and in “scripting mode” I can pound out 8-10 pages on a good week night or 15+ pages on a Saturday or Sunday working through the day. If someone else does 3 pages a day for 7 days in a row and I plan things out and then script 20 pages over two days, it doesn’t matter – We both have a finished script ready by Sunday night.

Even then, I wish it was that simple. I can’t honestly say I produced a script a week. Deadlines overlap and outside responsibilities occasionally trump writing time, which translates into bursts of productivity between pauses trying to figure out plot lines or waiting on project approval. The flexibility of writing is both a positive and negative – You can work any time, but you always feel like you could do more. What’s important is finding methods that work for you and recognizing your own triggers, good and bad. The only way to do that is with time and practice.

My goal for 2014 isn’t about writing more, it’s about improving my overall quality and being selective about what I’m working on – Launching creator-owned projects that show a wider range of ability and taking on work for hire projects that inspire me and bring out my best. That’s where I feel I’m at right now. Look at that dorky 5 year bar chart above and understand that it’s a process that takes time. Everyone’s path is going to be different, but I can say without reservation that writing regularly will definitely help you improve, no matter what skill level you’re currently at.

For the first couple years I was worried about whether I’d be able to deliver anything at all. After that I fretted I was typecasting myself with too many sword & sorcery projects. Right now, I’m feeling a bit more balanced. It’s impossible to know if 2014 will be as productive as this year was, but hopefully I’m better prepared for the challenges to come. I don’t have all the answers, but I think I know how to keep some of this momentum going and enjoy the ride a bit more.