This is The Voice In Your Head Is Mine. The date is February 2nd, 2021. If you're receiving this email and have no idea what's going on, well, fuck. I guess I blew it. Or maybe you blew it. Either way, you're here and this is Zac Thompson's weekly newsletter.
The last few weeks have been a sprint. It feels as if January went by in just a few days. Which I suppose makes sense, given it was a launch month for a new book. Those things tend to go by in a blur under normal circumstances. Last week was a lethal combo of early mornings and late nights. Somewhere within the five days I recorded three different podcasts, finished a bible for a new thing, and polished off a massive script. So I was pretty exhausted come the weekend. Anyway, one of said podcasts dropped this morning. I was a guest on the excellent WMQ&A: podcast with Dan Grote and Matt Lazorwitz. We got deep on I Breathed A Body, talking expelling some of my 2020 demons, the dangers of social media, and all things mushrooms.
Trying to find some semblance of balance this year with everything going on. Trying to diversify my writing output and managed to write a screenplay I’m immensely proud of last month. And outlined the plot for a new novel last night (the story has been percolating in my mind for months, but it just clicked into place). All of this on top of a few different comic projects! I work best when I’ve got a long runway in front of me. So I tend to plan out most of time for the year, giving myself self-imposed due dates. It feels good to have a target.
Life has been good lately. Lots of movies and reading. Lots of walks. Swimming in good coffee and excellent vegan meals. So I can’t complain, though I’d really like to go see a movie sometime soon! It’s been almost a year and I can feel this hole in my heart from not seeing some big screen cinema with buds. The vaccine can’t come soon enough.
Writing Craft
Leaving You In The Dark
It’s been very interesting to release two new #1 creator-owned comic books in such rapid succession. For those at home keeping score, Lonely Receiver launched in September 2020 and I Breathed A Body hit just two weeks back. Within the span of four months I’ve had the sincere pleasure of seeing people engage with two similar but fundamentally different books.
One thing that continues to come up and something I’ve found really interesting is this tension between those who are fully engaged with a #1 issue and those who find a reason to stop reading.
I’ve structured both of these narratives in a way that drops readers into the story, with very little explanation of what you’re seeing and minimal exposition regarding how the world(s) work. This is bound to raise questions about what exactly is going on.
Now, if there’s something I keep coming back to it’s this: some readers are incredibly hooked by this conceit. While others are put off by an overwhelming sense of mystery in the plot/structure of the world.
I’ve made it no secret that I’ve been reading a lot of “New Weird” fiction lately. This genre is propelled by a sense that everything in the narrative is just slightly off. Much in the same way as David Cronenberg’s horror work. There’s a sense of confidence in the storytelling and there’s very little consideration for stopping to explain how it all works. It’s just taken as matter of fact.
As the world builds there is an inherent dread that bubbles in the background. Within that dread is a sense of discovery that propels readers forward. In order to make sense of the unknown you must keep reading. If only to see the resolution or how things come together. This can be overwhelming (most times by design). In my opinion, it’s not useful and not scary if these worlds fully reveal themselves to you right away.
As both Lonely Receiver and I Breathed A Body are miniseries, the urge to give everything up front for fear of alienating people is REAL.
There’s this pervasive worry that if you don’t establish the rules and the timeline for a new world that readers will disengage from the story, and this is true - to a point. A lot of modern audiences are used to things with incredibly broad appeal. This is not a bad thing, necessarily. As it’s made people much more willing to take a risk on something new or strange. But there’s an expectation to hold the reader's hand, to spell everything out in triplicate and ensure no one is feeling left behind or lost. That everyone should feel invited to join in on the fun.
But, let me be clear, if you’re making your story for everyone you’re actually making it for no one. It’s okay to leave certain people behind. There are certain people who if they somehow wandered into a movie theater playing Existenz, and sat themselves down without knowing anything… by the twenty minute mark they’d be up and out of their seat - angry, confused, or grossed out.
But others will be glued to their seats, eyes bloodshot from staring at the screen, eager for every second of insanity. They know the tricks, they’re familiar with what to expect and they’re tapped into the premise. Those folks should be your target. The people who already have developed a taste for what you’re offering. This means writing for a very specific audience. Knowing and identifying your ideal reader means you can and should embrace certain storytelling devices.
Now that Lonely Receiver is out, and has been for a little while, let’s talk about the bio-organic phones at the heart of the book.
When the book first dropped, a lot of readers were put off by the “ball sack” phone. They found it weird, off-putting and strange, but they also took tons of pictures of it and talked about it. Readers came together to discuss just what the hell this thing was. Some readers were so off put by the strange decision they claimed that it was clear there was no plan (Or that I, the humble writer, had no idea what I was doing). But as you get into issue #2, you see that having one of these phones is something more akin to an organ that exists outside your body, complimenting both the form and the idea raised by the questions that arose from reading the first issue.
As the series progresses, this idea of the phone deepens. Each subsequent issue reveals more context behind what you just saw. A second read is enriched by knowing these facts. But a first read will feel strange due to this process. Through restraint of the world building we create horror, suspense, or dread. Each issue feels like a descent further into the unknown and as answers are revealed, new questions are raised. The story keeps descending in depth of meaning and complexity. Until at the final issue you confront the sort of primal truth that causes you to reinterpret everything that came before. It adds context and deepens the memories of the pages that preceded it.
It’s a strange form for comics, I’ll admit. But it’s a strange thing to be writing comics for a monthly audience. There’s some bullshit wisdom that says “every issue should be/could be a person’s first”, but that logic doesn’t hold for most serialized stories and it certainly doesn’t apply to chapters of a book. You’d never read the first chapter of a novel and guffaw with “I don’t understand everything about this story!”
Part of the reason I use so much expository restraint horror is to propel a sense of discovery. There is nothing scary about knowing everything. Horror is about heading into the dark and the more exposition you give readers, the more light they have to chase the dark away. You want to give them just enough to keep moving forward, but not so much that they know exactly where they’re going.
I think of it a lot like the first Resident Evil game. Each issue should end in that moment where you’ve opened a door and for a few seconds (or a month with comics, yay!) you have no idea what’s on the other side.
UNDONE BY BLOOD or THE OTHER SIDE OF EDEN
Hello, yes. It’s me the comic-writer with a new book coming out in a few weeks. This time, we’re talking about UNDONE BY BLOOD or THE OTHER SIDE OF EDEN. This is the last week to pre-order the series from your local comic book store. Pre-orders are necessary for the health and success of a series like this. So please, if you haven’t done so already, let your comic book store know you want a copy!
This series reunites the entire team from the first arc and much like the first storyline, The Other Side of Eden is a tale of two Westerns. The first follows Silvano Luna Del Rio, a down and out postman who works in the fictional town of Buttar, Texas. It’s 1934, the Great Depression has fundamentally changed America and Silvano sets out with his friend Bud Fortune to rob the first skyscraper west of the Mississippi. What could possibly go wrong?
Other than Bud, Silvano relies on a Solomon Eaton western novel to offer him guidance. As he’s caught up in the myth, we see a younger Sol who’s down and out in Mexico. He must make a tenuous alliance to pull off a heist of his own. As you can imagine, both stories don’t really go according to plan.
Returning to the world of Undone By Blood is such a joy. We’ve been having a blast crafting this new storyline and coming up with ways to surprise old and new readers alike. The entire series is a big love letter to the Western movies we love, while also acting as a commentary on how the genre evolved over time. The juxtapositions between these two stories will be the driving heart of The Other Side of Eden. Much as we’d like to think otherwise, the mythical cowboy has no place in reality.
Plus, Sami, Jason and Hass are working magic on this book. There are some mind-blowing pages that I’m just so damn proud to have my name on the cover. Sami Kivela deserves an Eisner for his art (in this book and everything he’s working on) and if you don’t believe me, just look at this:
So, once again, you’re getting your Coen Brother’s neo-noir western and your Sergio Leone spaghetti western at the same time. But this time you’re getting it through a brand new pair of eyes. Silvano’s been an incredibly interesting character to write and I can’t wait to see what readers think of him. You can expect a complex morality tale that doesn’t shy away from the grisly or weird. Lonnie and I have gone out of our way to fill this arc with strange sights and characters who chew the scenery (Bud is already one of my favorite characters we’ve created).
It all hits shelves on March 3rd. And you’ll definitely hear more about it between now and then. All the same, please reach out to your local comic book store and let them know you want a copy!
And yes, the TV show is coming along… slowly but surely. This pandemic adds another level of fuckery to the whole thing.
What I’m watching
SOME KIND OF HEAVEN - A feature length documentary about The Villages -- a massive, self-contained retirement community located in Central Florida. The doc follows a few choice residents as they try to live their final days in a place that’s manufactured around being constantly busy and happy. It’s a fascinating look into aging, being left behind, and the complexity of mental health issues in old age. Some of the footage is genuinely unbelievable and the subjects involved are tragic, complex and hilarious. It gets my highest possible recommendation.
MAGNOLIA - Revisited PTA’s incredible orchestra of a film. A modern masterpiece that I hadn’t seen for years. A towering achievement that celebrates the best of what film has to offer, the cinematography, acting, and score are all perfectly on point. But what remains most impressive is the fact that this is one story told across nine different characters. Every scene acts as a carefully laid brick within the overall structure, nothing is wasted and thus everything has an incredible resonance when taken as a whole. The final act is superb and pays off the entire film in a staggering fashion.
Tiny Scabs
A few quick hits if you’re looking for some stuff to read/watch.
This excellent oral history on Marvel Comics Secret Wars is well worth your time if your a comic fan. Utterly fascinating look into how you pull off a massive publishing event that includes cancelling and rebooting your entire line.
This VICE doc on All Gas No Brakes is incredible. A deep dive into the origins of Andrew Callaghan’s series and the dudes behind the camera who help him create one of the best shows on the internet.
This week’s playlist:
Goodbye
Another week is gone. Remember to celebrate your wins, to lift others up, and talk about what you love. Give yourself the space to have some downtime. The world is insane, so take a deep breath, focus on today. No need to get caught up in what we can’t change.
Z