Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, entertainment

Adventures In Graphic Novel Writing By Jeff Sturge

Jeff Sturge writes,

The story of the Voyageur takes place at the tumultuous beginning of the 17th Century. It's about a 15-year-old peasant boy called Fintan, rooted out of his everyday existence and swept up in a whirlwind adventure into the unknown; A fish out of water caught up in a secret war he doesn't understand. But in a broader sense, it's about new ideas and technology shifting the balance of power between people and nations, a theme so prevalent in our world today.

I'm a screenwriter, script editor and a producer who's spent the past 15 years working in documentary and reality TV. I developed the story of The Voyageur – first as a TV series – for a couple of reasons: Without a script to showcase, no one was going to hire me as a writer. And while reality TV can be interesting, I needed a creative outlet to combine my love of writing with my passion for history. But time after time, doors were slammed in my face. TV shows are expensive, and surprisingly few production execs are willing to give over millions of dollars to a writer with no prior scripted drama experience. And an equally dismal number of agents are waiting to represent you if you have nothing an exec wants.

So I looked to another more cost effective medium to tell my story – the graphic novel. Unlike television, with a graphic novel you've got total control over the whole production. You're not limited by budget, the producers you're working with, or the long list of other people involved in any given project. It's just the artist and the writer, and you're really making a product that's all you. Liberating to say the least!

The storyline of the Voyageur as it appears in the present series is the culmination of a number of different scripts and ideas. Developing it from concept to series was not an easy task, and envisioning an entire world based in my head if you're someone else is arguably more difficult. But my illustrator/partner Nick has managed to do it on a level I never imagined. Nick pours his heart and soul into every panel, often agonizingly frustrating to wait for, but equally satisfying every time I see the result. Influenced by masters of the genre both past and present, Nick has been heralded for his groundbreaking work on books like Kenk, Underworld and Impaler. But, never happy to continue in the same style, his illustrations are constantly morphing as he constantly pushes himself as an artist.

So we created a well-received piece of work that we couldn't have been more proud of. Now all we had to find a publisher. But the world of book publishing is a mean playing field in the digital age. And again we were met by a litany of closed doors. It was a sheer coincidence that we met Guernica, who happened to be on the panel of a grant we were applying for and also happened to be looking to make their first foray into graphic novels. But even armed with this publisher, their small size meant that funding this book was our responsibility.
Enter crowdfunding, savior of the aspiring writer in this Brave New Internet World. Nick and I managed to get a fair bit of money through various government grants but by far, our greatest success has come from Kickstarter. if you're willing to put in the legwork, a crowdfunding campaign not only offers a substantial amount of money but also guarantees that people will at least own your book – and hopefully read it.

Now, with a successful second Kickstarter campaign under our belt, our series is slowly becoming a reality. So where to next? One thing we learned from the first book was that getting the book published is only half the battle. Next, people have to know about it. And here you have two options. Hire a publicist – which is expensive – or once again, do the legwork yourself. So here I am! Writing this article not only to relay my story but also to promote my book. Being an author today means much more than just being a writer. You're also a fusion of an agent, a fund raiser and a publicist. Tough? Yes. But, if you're willing to put your heart into it, the tools are all out there. Creativity and natural talent will only take you so far. You need focus and perseverance to bring it all home.

Jeff Sturge

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