With quite a bit of time on my hands recently, I came upon an idea for a new project. I began talking about it with my friend Henning Ludvigsen, and he agreed the idea had merit. Aside from doing the covers and illustrations for my novels, Henning is Art Director for the MMO Darkfall. To say he’s a busy guy is an understatement. Still, this new project will be completely under our control. We won’t be following a tight schedule; updates will simply be released when they’re ready.

So, what’s the project?

We’re going to do an online graphic novel together. Doesn’t sound too earth-shattering, but what we’ll be doing differently is show every step of the way. Intended to be both instructional and hopefully entertaining, we plan to lay out every decision and thought process that goes into the creation of a story and the artwork that conveys it. And we’ve already started. Before the first cell can be drawn, we need a story. The next update I post will show the very first steps I’ve taken toward world-building and how I go about it.

One thing that occurred to me while starting this project is a question that some might find themselves asking: What qualifies us to provide such instruction? Well, Henning’s ability as a character artist goes without saying. His artwork clearly speaks for itself. As for me? Honestly, not a damn thing. My degree in English is utterly useless when it comes to creating stories, short of having a preference for where commas and periods go. All I can say is judge for yourself. If my writing doesn’t provide any entertainment for you, then knowing how I go about it won’t be of much use either.