Idol for writers?

[rogersuk]

I am new to the CBR forums, so sorry if this has been brought up before, which I'm sure it probably will have been.

Comic Book Idol is great for aspiring artists, but are there any plans to give this kind of opportunity to writers in a similar way?

[Brandon Hanvey]

It's has been asked a couple times before. But J. feels that a contest for writers would not be as easy to judge or as exciting to watch.

But you never know. He may change his mind.

[stealthwise]

I'd be all over that like Oprah on a baked ham, but I agree, it would be certainly tough to put together and make entertaining.

[m_trembley]

Speaking of entertaining...
That Comic Book Idol Fall 2005 is sure to be super exciting!!!!!

|Wouldn't you say J. ;) ;) ;)


An Idol for wrinting would be very cool, much slower, but for people interested in that, it would be a neat way to introduce new writers to the world of comics....

Anywho, i am simply waiting for J. unvail CBI3...

[Trench]

Count me SO BLOODY IN if that ever happens.

And it could be interesting if you have some artists to draw the scripts or the like... but that may be placing it firmly within the art category as well...

Sorry. I'll be the first to shamefacedly admit that I haven't paid much attention to the CBIdol, but I'd be all over this...

[grendel824]

Something like a ladder system that could eventually lead to "teams" being put together to actually make some comics would rock. Writers would be tough, since scripts are so involved, but maybe boiling that down to a pitch and/or plot summary, perhaps with a sample script page, could work. I'm dying to collaborate on some comics with people, but finding dedicated artists who don't have illusions of glory (read: not willing to "stoop" to drawing someone else's input) is tough.

[Grant]

It's has been asked a couple times before. But J. feels that a contest for writers would not be as easy to judge or as exciting to watch.

But you never know. He may change his mind.

Plus everyone thinks of themselves as a writer so I manage reading through all submissions would be pretty time consuming. I'm sure a lot people would want to enter but wouldn't be so willing to check out what other people wrote.

If they had like writer/artist team competitions I think that would be pretty interesting.

[J. Torres]

Anywho, i am simply waiting for J. unvail CBI3...

And I'm waiting for Jonah :p

[m_trembley]

Dare I say that CBI3 is in fact approaching... :D

[PatrickG]

Howabout a Comic Book Idol for complete teams?

The deadline thing might go out the window. Maybe limit it to entries from the past year?

Make it similar to the Image pitch requirements (which are almost an industry standard for creator owned stuff) and have it as a smaller sub-contest.

Thing is, even if somebody gets their project up and running at Image or Alias or Dark Horse or wherever, publicity is very much up in the air especially for new or less prominant creators. And it would allow feedback.

[Grant]

Howabout a Comic Book Idol for complete teams?

The deadline thing might go out the window. Maybe limit it to entries from the past year?

Make it similar to the Image pitch requirements (which are almost an industry standard for creator owned stuff) and have it as a smaller sub-contest.

Thing is, even if somebody gets their project up and running at Image or Alias or Dark Horse or wherever, publicity is very much up in the air especially for new or less prominant creators. And it would allow feedback.

Why not just pitch your book to those companies instead of doing a contest on a message board?

[PatrickG]

The same could be said for artists though.

My point is, it could make a HUGE difference for a new book to have some prestige under its belt and some exposure.

[MacQuarrie]

How about a Comic Book Idol for editors? I think I'd make one heck of a good one.

[Brandon Hanvey]

How about a Comic Book Idol for editors? I think I'd make one heck of a good one.

I can see it now. The riveting action of people finding typos, fixing weirdly written sentences and re-working strangely paced action.

[mgs]

I can see it now. The riveting action of people finding typos, fixing weirdly written sentences and re-working strangely paced action.

haha, LOL! :)

[frbarba]

i second to that :D

[The Sword Is Drawn]

I would love the opportunity of a contest like this if ever it were to happen. Although I can understand the reasons why not.

[shwa96]

Comic editorial guy here, and I had a thought about this.

I'm sitting here with a book due. The artwork has been done for a week, but I'm waiting on a finished letter script from the writer. It's an unusual situation (usually it's the artists who blow deadlines), but I got through the frustration by thinking, humorously, about the fact that we're putting this book together the way they sometimes did way back in the day. You know, Kirby would do the art, and Lee would write the dialogue after.

So I happen across this forum while perusing CBI's fresh meat, and I realize that one way to do this and keep it exciting might be to follow that old school format. Give the entrants all the same artwork, and have them write the dialogue.

You would keep it visual and exciting while being able to easily compare the writing ability of entrants. I mean, you're seeing how different people write the exact same thing, and you have two different ways of approaching it. You can give them the general story, and see how they bring it to life, or you can give them the artwork with no story and just see what they come up with.

Of course, the problem with this idea is that, except in a limited degree with the second approach, you don't get to see how a writer is at coming up with an original idea and forming it into an organized and well-told story. The second approach gives them the freedom to come up with something original, but with significant boundaries; it has to fit with the artwork.

I don't know if this is a problem, however, so much as a good test. Often times in this industry, at least when working on someone else's character, you don't have freedom. You're constrained by history and continuity, both past and future. If editorial brings you on to write Superman for 6 issues, and they have very specific ideas about what they want to do with Supes after you leave, you don't have free reign to, oh, say...make Kal a father. You have point A, and your editor gives you point Z, and you sure as hell better get there by the end of your 6 issues if you ever want to work again. You may have a really great idea, but if it doesn't fit within the big picture, it's not going to make it. That's why you always hear about writers shelving these stories they really wanted to tell but couldn't.

Still, you do need to see how people are about coming up with something on their own, and that's where a pitch round would come in. Two page, single spaced pitches from each contestant presenting an original idea. They're quick and easy to compare, and they can set the basis for the final round and the reward.

So, say you combine all of these approaches.

For the first few rounds of the contest, you give the contestants artwork, alternating between artwork with and without a general story. You do these as exercises while the entrants know that one of the middle rounds is going to be a pitch round. So they have some time to work up a pitch. After that round, you go back to the rounds where artwork is provided. Again, these are exercises, but the entrants are tasked after the pitch round to write a complete first issue script based on their pitch. So they do these exercises while they work on their script. The final round would be the finalists' original scripts.

Perhaps the reward for winning could be publication of that script. I'm sure some company out there would be willing to sponsor the competition and make that assurance. Image seems like a likely candidate. Based on their business model, it wouldn't really be a risk for them. They take their fee, and I would imagine that the book would have enough press from the contest that it would at least have enough sales to cover Image's fee. What's more, they don't get involved in editorial or creative matters, so they don't have to commit to working on a story that doesn't really interest them. They just distribute and take a fee. They also don't take any IP, so the winner keeps the rights to his/her story.

So that's my idea for how it could work and still be interesting to readers. Feel free to pick it apart; it's just a place to start.

[davidbovey]

It's has been asked a couple times before. But J. feels that a contest for writers would not be as easy to judge or as exciting to watch.

But you never know. He may change his mind.

I think what would be cool, is a team effort... a writer writes the story, has an artist draw it up and the winner gets it published somewhere.

[Gonzogoose]

There's actually a contest like that called Small Press Idol, but the problem with it is it takes an extraordinary amount of time. That particular contest lasts some five months or more! Plus it's a little unbalanced time wise. While writing is no easy task either, it still takes far less time to write five pages than it does to draw 5 pages, and that could cause deadline problems should it be held to the shorter time constraints similar to CBI.

But I agree, to make a writing idol contest it would have to incorporate art to make it interesting to watch, and therefore it would be more a conceptual or in action contest as opposed to judging actual writing in script form.

[Mongoose mcCloud]

Could it be done using basic thumbnails similar to what's used to show an editor what an artist has planned for each page of a regular book? Although you may think thumbnails need to be super-clear and ultra-detailed from the stuff that ends up as backup/bonus material in hardback trades showing how a book is put together, just communicating the story and what's happening on the page is all that's necessary to show what potential a writer has.
Most artists could run off the thumbnails quicker than the writer can write the pages - if anything, it's the dude who has to letter it that would hold the show up.