Our low residency session here at Hamline is in full swing, and today we had a marvelous presentation by Gene L. Yang, author of American Born Chinese and other graphic novels and comic books. He talked quite a bit about his writing process and the things he focused on while crafting his stories. Character, page turns, arc--all of it just as important to a comic book and graphic novel as it is to a picture book or traditional middle grade novel. The lecture hall was buzzing with excitement.
Marsha Wilson Chall, one of our faculty members, reminisced about buying comic books as a child, and whether that had any influence on her becoming a picture book author. I too remember trips to the drugstore to buy comics. Maybe a fascination with Archie and Veronica is the real reason I turned to writing YA fiction.
Tin-Tin (the Belgium comic by Herge, about the young detective, with his dog Snowy) was definitely a huge influence on me then and now. Not only is he why I became a picture book person, but he is why I will always have a dog.
ReplyDeleteSorry I'm not there to reap the benefits with you all. Thanks for the update, Marsha!
Keep the updates coming! I'm missing the residency and all the students and faculty!
ReplyDeleteGene knocked that lecture out of the park. Very, very impressed.
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