This is the nineteenth edition of The Voice In Your Head Is Mine. The date is September 21st, 2020. 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.
It’s Monday morning. The last seven days have been busy thanks to the Undone By Blood announcement and I’m gearing up to announce a new book in the next few weeks. So all systems are go over here. Despite this, I’ve managed to find some downtime and burrow deep into Merlin Sheldrake’s wonderful non-fiction novel Entangled Life. It’s a fantastic read on mushrooms and how much we know (or don’t) about the weird little animals that can seemingly thrive in any environment.
Writing Craft: Voiceover
A few weeks back, some folks on Twitter entered a heated debate about the purpose of interior dialogue in comics. Specifically there seemed to be some distinctions made between caption boxes and thought bubbles. I didn’t say anything because the whole thing reads as stupid to me. Use whatever works for you in the moment in the story you’re telling.
But for what it’s worth, I think thought bubbles are dated and hokey. To me they don’t represent anything more in the moment than the typical caption box. When it comes to writing comics they are a tool like anything else and it’s more about how you use either caption boxes or thought bubbles rather than what their default use is.
So let’s talk about voiceover. Comics is dominated by first person perspective interior thought caption boxes. Which is to say, the protagonist is narrating part of their experience to the reader filling blanks where needed and adding context to scenes where the visuals may not tell the whole story. And this is important, voiceover shouldn’t focus on anything that’s already presented to the reader in visuals. While they can be used as tool to add an emotional state to whatever is happening in the panel - in my opinion: they should never overtly comment on what people are already seeing. And if they are, it should be in an effort to show the character is saying/doing one thing but thinking something else entirely.
The best example of this I can think of is Charlie Kaufman’s script for Adaptation. Watch it and think about what the interior voiceover is trying to tell you in each scene. It’s almost always in conflict with whatever is going on in the scene. This trailer is awful, but it begins with a great example of what I’m talking about:
For me this is the most important thing. Making sure your voiceover has conflict inherent in it, despite the context. It’s not enough to have a character just explaining everything about how they’re feeling in a given moment. When lost in thought, most people are actually a million miles away from what’s happening in front of them. Channel that. Give your voiceover a different thread to deal with outside the plot of your story. That concurrent struggle will run in contrast to the more plotty things your character is dealing with and will give them real flavor in the way they experience the world.
But more than that - think about who is speaking the voiceover. A painter is likely to think about the shape and form of things in front of them. They’re probably more likely to see things in a more beautiful and less realistic tint than say a lawyer. A lawyer’s interior life and language would likely be more rigid and based on sound logic and reasoning. It’s important to think about the words and ways your character expresses themselves beyond just relaying complex emotions for the sake of it.
The more you think about interesting ways to craft voiceover, the richer and more complex your storytelling will become. Narration can be a crutch – an easy way to do the hard work of emotional storytelling without doing real labour. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Most people don’t communicate directly. They are indirect, they shy away from their true feelings, and they don’t often say what they mean. Most people are not even honest with themselves. So think about those things when writing voiceover. It’s not enough just to spell things out. It’s a complex dance that needs to unravel and evolve.
Your voiceover should change with your character.
ANGEL + SPIKE #14
This week marks my debut in the Buffyverse as the writer of BOOM! Studios’ Angel + Spike series. I’ve loved these two characters for over a decade now. Angel is one of the genre shows I credit as pushing me to become a writer. This new arc is called “The Past’s Prologue” and features the debut of my favorite Buffy character crossing over into the Angel world. You’ll find out who on Wednesday.
For now, marvel at the interior art of Hayden Sherman and Roman Titov. Working on this book with Hayden has been such a joy that we immediately began building something new together. It’s going to blow minds.
Comics You Should Buy
Okay, this will probably be a short feature in this newsletter every other week. But this week I’ve got a few friends with comics on their last day to order. So you should call up your local comic book store and let them know you want these books.
BLUE IN GREEN
A jazz-noir-horror graphic novel that’s immaculately put together by an incredible team. It’s already one of the most beautiful comics ever made and it’s not even out yet. Harkens back to the heyday of Vertigo horror. If you loved Ram’s These Savage Shores - you can’t miss this.
THE VAIN
The Vain is a vampire horror story that takes a progressive and modern lens to the age old bloodsuckers. It’s a new series set in 1941 and centers around immortal bank robbing vampires. But there’s a wonderful twist at the end that will be sure to get people talking. The New York Times is already gushing about this one.
GIGA
A brilliant book about a world left behind by ancient mechs. It follows a society of people who are living on these decommissioned beasts and longing for them to return. It’s effortlessly brainy and deftly executed. The art inside is absolutely gorgeous beyond compare. Don’t miss it.
Tiny Scabs
I watched The Night Porter on Criterion Channel over the weekend. It’s an erotic psychodrama that has themes of sadomasochism and obsession. It’s also a Nazisploitation film. While extremely challenging in places and containing incredible performances - it wasn’t really for me. Too real these days, I suppose.
I also watched The Endless on Netflix. A Lovecraftian horror movie about two brothers who return to a UFO death cult years after they escaped. It’s a really strange movie that revels in the weird. It wasn’t perfect but I really admired it. Check it out.
This week’s playlist right here:
Peace
Another week. It’s Fall now. Go outside and take a deep breath. Enjoy the crisp air. Feel the leaves crunch under your feet. It’s spooky season so watch a horror movie or two.
Z