Jamais Jochim
Bio
I'm the guy who knows every last fact about Spider-man and if I don't I'll track it down. I love bad movies, enjoy table-top gaming, and probably would drive you crazy if you weren't ready for it.
Stories (246)
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How to Find Inspiration
Here's the deal: I can tell you what inspires me or I can tell you a lot of inspirational sources. It's easy to tell you what has inspired me, but it's almost impossible to tell you what's going to inspire you; every writer is different and has their own different perspective and point of view on things. Because of that the stuff that you find really interesting won't be the same thing someone else finds interesting.
By Jamais Jochim11 months ago in Writers
Recharging 101
One of the problems with being a writer is that we have a dysfunctional relationship with the Well of Ideas. Sometimes it will overflow and we'll get frustrated because we have no way of keeping up with the flow; we'll take as many notes as we can in hopes of having something in the dry times. And the well of ideas will run dry, driving us crazy because we can't figure out how to reconnect to the flow.
By Jamais Jochim11 months ago in Writers
Before You Begin to Write
When it comes down to it, there are two different types of writers: plotters and pantsers. A pure plotter needs to have everything outlined, detailed, and otherwise ready to go. A pure pantser, on the other hand, goes by the seat of their pants: They want to totally improvise their book, with no real plot outlined, looking to find the plot as they go; they want to find things out as they go, hoping to be surprised as they go.
By Jamais Jochim11 months ago in Writers
Do You Have a Story to Write?
One of the worst parts about writing is putting a lot of time and effort into a story, and then finding out that you just don't want to write it about halfway through. One of the biggest reasons why is that, for any number of reasons, there are just too many issues with the story; some of us recognize exactly why while others of just realize that intuitively. The basic problem is that relying on crutches is usually the worst way to create a story; you just have so little actual input yourself that the story is going to be weak and therefore a pretty bad read.
By Jamais Jochim11 months ago in Writers
How To Find An Artist
Finding an artist for your comic can be all sorts of fun. The problem is that most writers just can't draw and so need to find someone who can. This means that they need to frequently find places where artists hang out, frequent, or generally visit in order to find an artist for their project. You need to find someone who is willing to do the art for you, and you need to try a number of different places in order to find the best possible for your needs and given your limitations. Make sure that you offer something worth his time, and you should find a decent artist.
By Jamais Jochim11 months ago in Writers
How to Set Up a Script
Every comic starts with a script. You need to start somewhere, and that's usually the best spot to begin. The script is where you stop worrying about the concept and start seeing what it can do; it gives you a chance to see if the settings and characters actually have legs, or if something needs to be changed, however subtly or radically. Ultimately, the script is where everything starts getting together and you get to see what the comic will actually look like.
By Jamais Jochim11 months ago in Writers
Everything You Need to Know About the Three-Act Structure
Everyone knows the traditional three-act structure, or at least thinks that they do. The concept is pretty simple: The first act inroduces everyone and everything, and then something happens to upset the status quo. Then the villains start putting their plan into place while the heroes scramble to deal with their personal problems while dealing with the villains. Then it all pulls together and everyone gets to the final battle.
By Jamais Jochim11 months ago in Writers
Looking At Harmon's Story Cycle
The Harmon Story Cycle was developed by Dan Harmon, of "Community" and "Rick & Morty" fame. While derived from the Hero's Journey, the Story Cycle is much more suited to character development. That is, while the Hero's Journey is more interested in developing the legend overall and is thus more interested in plot development, the Story Cycle looks more at the character and how that character changes throughout the story. While both track the transformation of the character, the one tracks the narrative path and how that character interacts with his environment and society while the other tracks how the character changes from within and how his perspective changes.
By Jamais Jochim11 months ago in Writers
The Hero's Journey
The Hero's Journey, as put forth by Joseph Campbell in "The Hero of A Thousand Faces", is arguably one of the best-known ways to organize a potential legend. Rather than do a complete re-hash of the rather famous story generator, we're going to look at how to have some fun with the concept while tying it into the standard three-act structure. While it should be relatively obvious, the two work together rather well.
By Jamais Jochim11 months ago in Writers
Avoiding Common Story Issues
There are a lot of traps that writers can fall into, and most of them are pretty easy to avoid when you have an idea of what the trap is. A lot of these traps should have gone the way of the dodo, while others are just emblematic of bad writing. And then there are those issues that are created when someone is trying to parody the problem but does it in such a ham-fisted way that it just comes off as bad writing.
By Jamais Jochim11 months ago in Writers
Some Really Bad Things To Do When Time Traveling
One of the most amazing things about writers is that when they have a chance to create their very own worlds they invariably include a lot of real-world problems. While on one hand, this is not that big of a mystery (a lot of writing is about catharsis, after all), there is the valid question of, well, if you were given the ability to create your very own perfect world, why would you contain problems from the real world? If you hate racism, sexism, and transphobia so much, then why feature them in the world that you yourself are creating?
By Jamais Jochim11 months ago in Writers
Giving Your Characters Their Voices
For some writers, writing dialogue is pure torture. Action is easy: You're just describing what is happening. With dialogue, you not only need to move the plot forward, develop character, and not make it boring. Adding to the fun is that you need to be able to switch between two possibly very different personalities with almost no problem. While this sounds pretty complicated, it's actually pretty easy when you get into the rhythm of it.
By Jamais Jochim11 months ago in Writers
