Getting Started - Part 1 (The Purge)

A friend asked me recently about how I get started writing.  He was looking to start writing his first comic book.  So here is an overview of just one way to go about it.  

Well obviously you need to start with an idea.  In the past for me some story start with a scene, a gag,  a bit of cool sounding dialogue or a simple image (Lincoln's Hat with a bullet hole in it).  So you take that tiny, itty-bitty, little nugget and start asking yourself questions.  What your trying to do is create a world in which this story exists.  Then just simply purge start making a list.  

Ask yourself every question you can imagine...Who? What? When? Where? How? Why? 

This isn't meant to be difficult it's suppose to be fun.  There is no right or wrong answer.  It's just you trying to get all your crazy, brilliant, mad ideas about this one idea out.

Start with the Characters, or with the story, or with a conversation, or with action scene.  It all works toward the same end.

Some of this information may never make it into your story but it will help inform your choices when crafting the narrative.  So get purging.

Keep Reading and I'll Keep Writing,

Casey