Sisyphus & the vomit draft

First up, some updates.

• The Metropo Tumblr continues to post some cool updates. We recently posted up a tale from the book with art by Naomi Franquiz. Go and take a look. Amazing, right? Naomi is one of those artists whose work always catches my eye and it was a huge buzz to not only get her working on the anthology but to then see her knock it right out of the park.
• It’s still in the early stages, but it looks like I’ll be taking on a new batch of projects as editor in the coming months. More on this as it develops!
• The as yet unannounced anthology I’ve been helping put together (I’ll just call it Project Hammer from now on) continues to develop and come along nicely. We’re now at the stage of pairing artists with writers. It’s like playing cupid but with words and ink. It’s great.
• For those on the Beautiful Canvas train (that’s all of you, right?), Ryan has some audio annotations for your ears here. If you’re in a reading mood though then the written annotations are up too.

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I’ve just finished up a draft of a one-shot script, the last in the ‘War’ trilogy of one-shots. It’s a way away from being something I’m happy with right now, but that’s okay.

I know a lot of people tweak and rewrite their drafts as they go, skipping back a few pages, tightening things up and then on to the next page. Not me. I’m prone to incredible bouts of perfectionism, to the point of it crippling any forward momentum.

So, right now, I speed through a vomit draft, let it percolate and sit, then get back to it. My process is basically lots of quick rapid drafts with it the piece getting stronger with each iteration. It’s not pretty and it certainly isn’t fast, but it’s a way of working around my own psychological shortcomings. I’d love to have something done in 3 or 4 drafts but it’d be a recipe for disaster for me.

Finishing is always better than something left incomplete. This is the hack that allows for the former. That and consistency. Writing every day (even if you can only manage an hour on some days) beats sporadic outbursts of Herculean effort every time. Once that boulder is rolling it builds its own momentum.

It’d be interesting to hear what little hacks and intricacies other writers have in crafting their drafts. If only so I don’t feel like such an eccentric weirdo.

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Some KS links for your consideration.

Leo Johnson’s Transience is worth your eyeballs and money on Kickstarter right now. It’s already funded but that shouldn’t stop you getting your hands on some good comics, right?

Also on Kickstarter right now (and also already funded) is The Tim’rous Beastie Anthology from Iron Circus. Take a look at that cover and tell me you aren’t already won over?

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• I’m not sure if the word ‘banter’ in its modern incarnation has spread much beyond these here fair isles. But, here’s a long read on the term and how it’s become synonymous with a certain strain of masculinity.
• Vulture has a list up of the best comics of 2017 so far.
• I’m really enjoying this deep dive on 2006’s Casino Royale.
• Speaking of James Bond, I missed this review of Spectre by Anthony Lane in the New Yorker the first time around, but I love it for its description of Bond as ‘a thug let loose in a daydream’.
• Seymour Hersh continues to be a personal hero of mine. Here he is doing some stellar investigative reporting for De Welt on the recent U.S strikes in Syria.
• An article on Pokemon Go (yes, it’s still a thing) and the way it’s impacted urban design in Plymouth.
• Roxane Gay on how to be a contemporary writer.
• Brendan Keogh on the divisive Spec Ops: The Line five years later.
• The daily word count of famous authors.
• Film Crit Hulk on Spider-Man: Homecoming. He has some valid points.
• Finally, this piece by Ryan Holiday on Iron Maiden and how they informed his writing and creativity is well worth a read.