Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
This podcast is for anyone who loves a good story. Board now for interviews and writing samples from talented authors!
If you would like to be featured, email your work to storystation@riverbendmediagroup.com
Submission guidelines:
There is no word count, but please select a piece that can be read in ten minutes or less.
Pieces with extreme violence, language, or other explicit content will not be considered.
Thank you for your interest!
Every story is a ticket to somewhere extraordinary. No need to pack a bag, just settle in and let the words transport you. Now boarding: an insight to an author's mind. This is The Story Station.
Emma: Stories come in many forms. Some of the most engaging and enchanting include a visual element. Stephen McCranie, the author of Mal and Chad and Space Boy, is here to talk to us about drawing comics and graphic novels. I don't know. I really honestly don't know what to call it. What would you call it, Stephen?
Stephen: Graphic novels is good. Comics is good. Sequential art, I guess, more broadly. My comics are published in digital formats and print. So at this point, I guess sequential artists might work.
Emma: That's cool. I've never heard that before. Sequential artists.
Stephen: Yeah. There's a cartoonist named Scott McCloud who wrote a comic book about comic books called Understanding Comics, and he coined the term sequential art to try to catch all of the, yeah, to try to describe the medium.
Emma: That's something that really interested me because I've had a lot of writers on the show who, you know, they sit down to write their book and then they just write it start to finish. So when you're writing and releasing parts of your story in a sequence, I don't know... What do you have to say about that process? What's it like creating and releasing your work in segments?
Stephen: I think I'm in pretty good company as far as a serialized release goes. I mean, Dostoevsky originally published Crime and Punishment as a serialization, and there's just something about the desperation of week to week having to figure out what's gonna happen next. And I think what I like about it is it forces you to surrender control of your story in a way that can be very special and organic. Because if you are trying to write something from start to finish, it becomes very easy to micromanage your story and your characters can sort of start suffocating under the plot that you've forced them into. But my big realization for the serialization was that as long as I knew who my characters were, what they wanted, and what was happening in the scene, then I was safe to move forward in the story. Just trusting the characters to sort of dig out the conflict and being as honest as I could about where they would go and what they would do given the circumstances. It has allowed me to create a story that has both the scope of a highly planned big story, but also the week to week sort of vignette style storytelling. I don't know. It's hard to describe, but I would recommend it if only for people to be freed from that sort of over control of their characters.
Emma: I think Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, that was also written released in serial form, which kinda makes me think... because that one's kind of long. So I wondered when I read it, I was like, would this be easier to read if it came out in little pieces instead of, you know, a huge book that's... Anyway, I was gonna ask, does the story ever take a turn that surprises you?
Stephen: Yeah. Absolutely. The way I think about it is kind of like how you plan your week. When you get to the beginning of your week and you write a big plan out and then you start living your week, like, it never goes according to plan. But somehow having the plan is actually really helpful in spite of the fact that life happens and things happen and, you know, kids will get in the way or whatever. If you still have written the plan, you will know what is important in any given moment and it actually helps you adapt to circumstances easier if you know where you're trying to get to go as opposed to not having a plan. And so the same thing with outlining your story, if you outline your story, then you go and consult with your characters and you start writing and you discover that they need to go a direction that you hadn't anticipated—having the outline is still useful for knowing what's valuable in any given scene, even if you are sort of discovering new things as you go. And so it's kind of like the best of both worlds is both planning and...
Have you ever played D & D, or any role playing game? So I think the funnest campaigns are the ones where the game master is, like, allowing you to do the things that you wanna do. The ones that aren't very fun are where they're sort of railroading you along a preset story path that they have in mind. And so that's kind of how I treat each episode is like a weekly session where I show up with my scene that I've prepared, and then I ask my characters what they wanna do and then try to be as honest about that as possible, even if that means I have to throw away a lot of material that I prepared.
Emma: Wow. That was a great analogy. I really like how you said that. One of the things that I really loved about Space Boy is the characters are so compelling and interesting. So do you have any tips for how to create and develop characters that really resonate with your readers?
Stephen: I think the first thing is figuring out what your character wants in any given moment. And not just your main characters, but every single character that they interact with. That, to me, is, like, at the center of what it takes to create the illusion of life, so to speak. I don't know what that means exactly from a life sense that humans seem to be defined by their desire, but it is a really—as far as story goes, knowing what the character wants is kind of the way to make them readable or legible to the audience. And I think specifically, like, if you know what they would be willing to bleed for or die for, then you're basically getting at what the character values the most. And as the audience watches them encounter obstacles, seeing how much that character is willing to sacrifice for what they want is what story is. It's that character overcoming those obstacles and finally... maybe not reaching the thing that they wanted, but finally reaching the thing that they need. I think that's the key to sort of unlocking your characters.
Emma: Okay. Yeah. Knowing clearly in your head what they want and what they are willing to sacrifice and risk. How would you recommend being able to show that? Well, I guess you kinda answered that, because it's through their actions, right?
Stephen: Yeah, and when you have two characters that want the same thing, suddenly you've created a protagonist antagonist relationship. And, you know, out of that can come your villains and your heroes. I think the key to creating a good villain-hero pair is that they both need and want the same thing, and only one of them can have it. That's when two characters have conflict against each other. But they don't have to necessarily be heroes and villains. It can just be ordinary people.
You know, in a romance, obviously, desire plays the central role. And if you have a love triangle, then it's like, who's going to get what they want? Out of the three people, who is going to end up together and who is going to be alone? That's compelling to us as humans, and that's the reason we read stories, is to try to understand how we can get what we want and what is important in life. "What is something that is so worthwhile to pursue that it would be worth dying for" is a reason that we read stories is to find out those types of things. It's a way that humans communicate morality and value is through these stories.
Emma: That's really deep. Alright. I'm gonna back up a little bit here because we've been talking a lot about your writing and different aspects of creating characters and things, but what inspired you to write comics in the first place?
Stephen: That's a good question. I've been writing comics since before I knew how to write. So I would actually draw pictures and my mom would fill in the speech bubbles for me according to, like, how I wanted each one to go. So it's almost like my first written language. So in that sense, it... I don't know if I was particularly... I think it was fun. Or there was someone at my church who I really looked up to. He was bored during sermons, so he would draw comics. And I thought he was super cool, so I... maybe I wanted to be his friend or something like that.
But I think as I've grown up, now that I'm working professionally, my goal as a creator is to create comics that nourish. I think that there are really useful and helpful ideas and concepts that comics specifically can make into something that's very approachable and understandable and has clarity and legibility. There's a huge sort of gift that I can give people by making something that is maybe painful and hard to describe by bringing it out into the light, so to speak, by making it clear. And really talking about how to navigate through the pain or past the pain or around the pain to get to where they want to go. That's, I think, what I'm inspired to do as far as creating my work goes is to create comics that nourish.
Emma: Well, I think you succeeded, as someone who has read one of your comics. And yeah, I can also relate to what you were saying about watching people draw during church because my sister is an incredible artist. And, yeah, sometimes I just I like to sit next to her so I could just look over her shoulder and see what she's working on.
Stephen: Right.
Emma: Drawing, I think, definitely can help people focus sometimes, you know, listening and just having something to do with your hands while they listen.
Stephen: Yeah. I think drawing is like a different way of thinking. It's interesting. There's some different types of thinking that you can employ to solve problems, and sometimes the only way to figure out something is to draw a picture of it.
So as a writer, for all those writers out there listening to the show, sometimes you might have a scene and it's really helpful to create a visual representation of that scene just physically in your workspace, whether it's, like, a simple map. Tolkien began his story with a map. He just made a big map, and then he's like, I wonder what happened in this world? And it went from there. Or it could be pictures of your characters that you can draw, things like that. If you're wanting to proceed with your writing, sometimes, actually, the best way to do that is with drawing because it's just a different form of thinking.
Emma: With that, I don't know... One thing that really impressed me about Space Boy was not just the artwork, because the artwork's incredible. Like, it's kind of funny because I thought, oh, you know, I can read this really fast because there's less words on the page, you know. But, actually, I think it takes me longer to read because I'm just looking at the pictures because they're so, you know, they're so detailed and so stunning. But then the words, too, are also... It seems like every word is meaningful and not just thrown on there, but really well thought out. So how do you find using both words and images and kind of balancing those to share your story and idea?
Stephen: I think much in the same way I was talking about, like, an author might benefit from studying art or painting. There is just a lot of value to be had in this multidisciplinary, cross-disciplinary studies. And so for me, as far as when to use art or when to use pictures or when to use words, for me, studying cinematography was a large part of the development of my style.
I went to a community college. I thought about going to an art college, but it just didn't make sense to. There would be no job waiting for me at the end of art college and then I'd be severely in debt. And so I decided to go to a community college, which was much more affordable, but they don't have any cartooning classes there. And I was like, well, what if every class I took, I asked how I could draw comics with what I'm learning here? And so if I was in a sculpture class, I would be like, how can I use this for making comics? And if I was in a painting class or a drawing class or a screenwriting class or an English class or whatever it may be, I was just constantly asking like, how can I use this for my work?
And yeah, one of the most valuable things I found for finding that balance of pictures and words was studying cinematography. That whole visual language is there in film and it translates super well to comics. So I think that's part of the equation.
I also would really recommend if you're a young author or artist to start out with a lot of teeny tiny projects.
So for me, I did comic strips in my school newspaper. That's how my book series, Mal and Chad, got started was as a comic strip for my school newspaper. And there was a semester where I did five strips a week, and it was it was a lot. But it also forced me to figure out how to tell the most interesting story I could with only four panels. And that landed me sort of the brevity that I needed to have efficient scenes. And like you said, to get to those lines and phrases and the dialogue where every single word feels like it has something behind it. Yeah. So that would be how I'd approach that.
Emma: That's really cool. So sounds like being very intentional about your practicing and experiences and really just adding them all to this mental repertoire, maybe, of...
Stephen: Yeah. I think it's about it's about tools. It's about how many tools are in your toolbox. So if you want to have that sort of economy of storytelling or economy of art or line or whatever it may be, knowing when to use what tool is sort of that key for efficiency. Like, there are times in a novel when it really pays to switch to that Hemingway, like, you know, staccato short sentences way of talking. Or there are times in the same novel where it's a very important thing, like, if you wanna draw out a moment to maybe spend some time, you know, massaging the details of the room or whatever location they're in in order to sort of draw out the suspense. And I think that in that way, you can, yeah, you can be very compact in what you're doing if you know when to use what tool.
Emma: Tell me a little bit more about your creating process. Do you outline your stories first, or do you just kind of draw them and write them at the same time?
Stephen: Yeah. It is an outlining process. It's very similar to that approach that I was telling you about with being the game master or the DM, where I prepare the scenario and then I sit down to actually write the scene and really think deeply about what the characters would actually do in that scene, given what I've presented them with. And then I have to go back and adjust my outline according to what they've done. So I'm constantly trying to predict what they'll do and see what they'll do. And then once they find what they actually do, I need to adjust my plans. And so it's a feedback loop where it's like a discussion between sort of an external objective perspective of the story and an internal sort of subjective perspective of the story.
I guess another way to put that would be it's kind of like I go back and I talk to the author of the story, who's sort of the god of the story, and then I return inside the world and go and talk to the characters, who are the living creatures that the author has created. And I try to find a way to preserve the free will of the characters and also see that the will of the god of the story is accomplished, where there's a sort of a mystery there—a mystery of free will that I'm trying to preserve as I write. And for me, that's been the most fruitful approach.
I don't know if you've ever heard the term—there's authors who, like, who are architects versus gardeners or, seat of the pants writers versus outliners. I think that the best writing is both. I think that the best writing is one where the character, it feels like the author doesn't have anything planned, and as you read it, it feels like the characters are just running around pursuing everything that they want and making all kinds of mistakes. And then at the end, they have a breakthrough and you realize that it was all supposed to be that way the whole time. Like, there was no part of the story was wasted and that even though it felt like it was going in a thousand different places, it was supposed to be that way or else you would never have arrived at this special revelation. Yeah, it's hard to describe. Does that make sense?
Emma: Yeah. That's fascinating. I've never really heard it described quite that way before. And I think I see that a lot in Space Boy because... like we were talking about earlier with it being released in segments, each new part that I read still felt very... like it wasn't a waste. Like, it contributed to the story like you were talking about. We've been talking a lot about Space Boy, but would you like to give a little teaser, a little... for people who haven't read it?
Stephen: Yeah. Space Boy is a story about a girl who lives on a deep space mining colony. She's really interesting because she can see what she describes as people's flavors. She can kind of read—almost like she has a certain type of synesthesia where she can see sort of who someone is. She can kind of taste their unique personality and see who they are just by catching a glimpse of them. Her dad is involved in a mining accident and has to take the blame for it. And he's fired, and her whole family is sent back to Earth. But the tricky thing is it's a thirty year journey to Earth. So they're all put into cryogenic sleep, and she wakes up in a different Earth on a different planet, and all of the friends that she made back in the mining colony have grown up without her. And she feels very alone until she goes to her new high school and meets a boy who, for the first time in her life, she meets someone who doesn't have a flavor. And she gets involved in this boy's life and tries to solve the mystery of who he is and where he came from.
So we're about to listen to a scene that was put on by some fans who dubbed my comic and made sort of a fan dub, which you can watch on YouTube if you'd like to, for those listeners out there who want a visual to go with it. But we thought that this would make... Since comics is such a visual medium and radio is an auditory medium, we thought that this would actually be really nice because they did a lot of nice folio work and music and all that kind of stuff. So we're gonna listen to a scene here where Amy's gonna go to lunch with her friends, including David, who's kind of a jock character, who's currently dating Cassie. You might be able to hear some of their voices. And then Amy gets introduced to all of their friends at a lunch table. And it's a very simple scene where Amy makes some of her first friends after arriving on Earth. So let's jump into it.
David: Amy?
Amy: Mm?
David: The lunch line's over here.
Amy: Oh, I'm not getting a lunch. You go ahead.
David: Are you sure?
Amy: Yeah, I don't have any money.
David: I'll buy you a meal. My treat.
Amy: Oh, you don't have to do that.
Cassie: You want a diet or something?
Amy: No, I actually did bring lunch today, but... someone stepped on it.
Cassie: Seriously? Who?
Amy: Some boy. He had white hair, was kind of tall.
David: I think we know who you're talking about.
Amy: Do you know his name? I tried talking to him, but he just ignored me.
Cassie: No one really knows his name. He doesn't go to class much. All I know is you should stay away from him.
Amy: Why?
Cassie: This might sound crazy, but I think he's possessed or something.
Amy: What?
Cassie: I'm serious. Some kids swear they can feel this, like, dark aura coming off him. They say if you look into his eyes for too long, you start getting nightmares.
Amy: Oh, come on. You guys are just trying to scare me.
Cassie: Think about it. When you saw him, didn't you sense something was a little off? Like something inside him was broken or missing?
Amy: Well, yeah.
Cassie: Just promise me you'll stay away from him, okay? You're a nice girl. I can tell. I don't want you to get hurt.
Amy: Well, okay. If it makes you feel better.
Cassie: Good. Now are you gonna let us buy you lunch or what?
David: Amy, this is Howard, Logan, Meisha, Maki, and Zeph.
Howard: Hello.
Logan: Hi.
Howard: I like your ponytails.
Amy: Thanks.
Zeph: So... uh... Sorry, what was your name again?
Amy: Amy.
Zeph: So. Amy. Tell us about yourself.
Amy: Well, I just moved here. To Earth, I mean. I used to live on a mining colony in deep space.
Zeph: Deep space? How deep we talking here?
Amy: Pretty deep. It took us a full thirty years to travel to Earth.
Logan: Woah.
Zeph: Did they put you in cryogenic stasis?
Meisha: Of course they did, stupid, or else she'd be like forty-five years old.
Amy: Forty-six, actually.
Meisha: Did it hurt? Like, when they froze you?
Amy: Not really. Not that I can remember.
Zeph: I can't imagine being asleep for that long.
Amy: Oh, stasis isn't the same as sleep. It's not like going to bed and then waking up. It's more like they turn you off and then turn you back on thirty years later. Like you stop existing for a bit.
Zeph: That's horrifying.
Howard: Weren't you scared?
Amy: I didn't think too hard about it. I had a lot of other stuff on my mind.
David: So that's why you didn't know how to use net gear. You skipped the last thirty years.
Cassie: You're a time traveler.
Amy: I never thought of it that way. I guess I am a time traveler.
I get bombarded with questions for the rest of the lunch period. When the bell rings, I realize I've barely touched my meal. I scarf down as much as I can while a few of my new friends wait for me. Yes. Friends. I don't know when it happened, but somehow, I made some friends.
Emma: That was super cool. I love how they added the music and stuff because then you have the visual and the audio and just everything. That's super cool.
Stephen: Right. It's kind of amazing to see what they did with it. There's this young fan who reached out during the pandemic to ask if she could make the fandub, and I was like, sure, go for it. I mean, that's fine. That sounds fun. What I didn't know is that because the pandemic, everyone was at home trapped inside of their houses, and there was a lot of people with a lot of free time on their hands, and she ended up organizing this enormous, complicated, sophisticated organization of people with folio workers and video editors and compositors and voice actors, and they were meeting for rehearsals and sessions, and the production value is extraordinary. It was a group of sisters who ended up just creating this huge, I guess, coalescing of the fandom to make this possible. So I'm really thankful to them and really feel special that it actually happened.
Emma: That's so cool to just see your work come to life and to be enjoyed by so many people. I don't wanna keep you too long because I know you're probably a pretty busy person, but is there anything else that you'd like to share about storytelling?
Stephen: I would say, I guess, to finish up, one other key I would... I think in order to make writing a sustainable thing for you is I think that writing shines best when you are using it to not necessarily broadcast an answer, but explore a question in an honest way. I think that's when it can really resonate with people.
There is good uses for if you've had a life experience and you really want to share what you've learned, I think that's really important. But there's also, I see in Hollywood and in other places, examples where people are sort of using story as a means of propaganda or to sort of bluntly hit their audiences over the head with some sort of pre-canned message. But I think if you're trying to figure out what you want to write, try to write a story that could literally change your life. Look at the questions that you are struggling with right now, the questions that you don't have answers to, and write that into your stories and explore those questions and honestly look for the answers. In that way, your stories can become sort of a medium of thought for other people who are struggling with the same things.
And who knows? At the end of the story, you actually may come to a conclusion about things that have happened to you or things that you're scared might happen to you that really could have an amazing impact on your life. So, yeah, bringing your suffering and bring your doubts to your writing table and your desk and, you know, work through it with your characters, work through it with your audience. I think there's a lot of fruit to be had there for people who are ready to bravely approach the things that are hard in life. So, yeah, you got this, you writers.
Thank you for traveling with us. Next stop: your work of art. Poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, you name it. Email us at storystation@riverbendmediagroup.com. Submission guidelines are not shy; they can be found in the podcast description. The Story Station, hosted by Emma, is a production of Riverbend Media Group.