In October of last year, I wrote a post on this blog talking about my most recent story. I talked about how it was a major change for me, genre-wise, because, you know, it’s a historical sci-fi (in other news, I’ve decided it’s in the year 1954 exactly).
But I had no idea how big of a step it would be.
Because…
Well, because I’m writing it as a graphic novel.
I understand this might be disappointing for all y’all who aren’t into graphic novels–to tell you the truth, I don’t really read graphic novels, either, but this story is demanding to be told in a much more visual way than my other stories.
Currently I’m working through sketching out all the characters, outlining, and scripting. Since I’m doing this for Camp this year, I have a lot to do before April.
Which is in nine days.
my process
I’ve been low-key developing this story since… I’d say June last year, on and off, and it’s been a very different experience than any other story I’ve worked on. For one thing, I knew the ending before I knew the beginning. For another thing… I’ve been able to visualize several scenes… but they haven’t come to me in order.
Which is why I’m now using yWriter to organize the scenes, so I can write out descriptions in any order, and then drag them to a different place.
scripting
I’m new at this. And since it’s not going to be published this way, it’s just to help with drawing the graphic novel, I’m doing it in an odd style.
Basically I’m roleplaying with myself. 😉 I have yet to really figure out what I’m doing, so maybe when I finish the scripts, I’ll publish another post about my revised process.
sketching
I’m currently designing all the characters. These are my initial sketches for Lesley… And, yes. I know they don’t look like quite the same person. xP
I’m having trouble sketching Sylvester, so I think I’m going to skip to sketching Chareh. Once I’ve settled on a design, I’ll draw sheets with different angles and expressions, for each of the main characters. Also for a few of the main supporting characters, like Lesley’s dad, and the editor of the New Hasting’s Herald newspaper.
I’ve also sketched out a few pages of the main story. They won’t actually be like I have them (I’ve even changed dialogue in a bunch of places), but it helps me visualize what it’ll look like.
What, you mean you want to see a sample?
… Okay.

This isn’t how the final draft will look, certainly, but it’s what I drew when I was first trying to decide whether to do the story as a graphic novel. I’m going to have a similar layout, I think, but the style will be much less… Sketchy… 😂
Also, young Sylvester will have a face.
Just sayin’.
And that strange sentence will bring us to a close, but I have a request for y’all. I’m trying to come up with a new title for this story, as I was never really happy with the one I had—and it also sounds too similar to a different story’s title.
If you’re new to this blog and/or story, I still have the back-cover teaser on my “Works In Progress” page, so you can check it out there. But I’d love to hear any suggestions you have for a new title.
What’s your experience with graphic novels? Do you have any suggestions for titles? And last but not least, are you doing Camp NaNoWriMo? Comment below!