29 Comments
Sep 15, 2021Liked by Jonathan Hickman

Do you ever worry about things folding together too neatly? A friend once described a piece of writing I loved as “too clever” - that is, for him, everything fit together too perfectly. Like a clockwork. I disagreed, but ever since I try to leave some space for accidents and messes in my stories. The nature of this particular process will inevitably create messes, I think, but what about the rest of your work? Can it be too clever?

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Sep 15, 2021Liked by Jonathan Hickman

I haven't had a chance to relisten to them just yet, but I'm pretty sure the brick by brick Vince Gilligan thing is from one of these two podcast interviews. https://archive.nerdist.com/nerdist-writers-panel-30-vince-gilligan/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0fKP2-BTEA

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Sep 15, 2021Liked by Jonathan Hickman

That’s what I didn’t know I needed, and now I’m hooked. Not just fun stuff. LAYERS of fun stuff. Comics and meta commentary, all bundled up!

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Sep 15, 2021Liked by Jonathan Hickman

Love this. Seriously. Love getting this look into the world building and how your ideas evolve as you go.

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Sep 15, 2021Liked by Jonathan Hickman

Have you had a chance to see Dune yet at any festivals or advanced screenings? Could you talk about your science fiction influences? Both your X-men work and 3W3M see to take lots of inspiration from Herbert work (Khor/Melange, Akkaro/Arrakis, Uninhabitable planets, father son relationships).

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Sep 15, 2021Liked by Jonathan Hickman

I’m really digging these process posts, both as a comic fan and a programmer. I’m not a storyteller, but the language of comics has influenced my sense of creativity and workflow.

I love the concept of “mining continuity,” especially after the 3 Rock posts. It’s a good reminder to let things sit a little undefined or vague, trusting that the details will work themselves out naturally through collaboration.

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Sep 15, 2021Liked by Jonathan Hickman

I was wondering if you do the diagrams drawings yourself, great!

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Sep 15, 2021Liked by Jonathan Hickman

Fun! Works of Joy! A not particularly otherworldly rock from another world!🙏❤️👍

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We've been re-watching Mad Men, we just started season 7, and yeah. That show is disgustingly good at making things fold back on the theme. The first episode of Season 7, where (SPOILERS FOR A TEN YEAR OLD SHOW) Freddie Rumsen delivers Don's pitch, but you don't know that it's Don's until the very end, after watching Peggy and Joan struggle to get taken seriously the whole time, is just...GOLD.

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You gotta love that moment when separate pieces of your work suddenly connect in a perfect and unexpected way, completing a circle you didn't even realize was needed... especially when it's some throwaway piece of info that you mentioned early on connecting to something important, like you're Pee Wee Herman falling off his bike, "I meant to do that."

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Cool & Thanks. I think I said what was on my mind in the last post, Part 3. This post is a good primer for thought. Be well.

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Thank you for sharing this post! and some of the the building blocks that have built you up to the writer you are today!

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Does anyone know when issue 2 of this comic will come out?

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Does mining continuity generally take your stories in wildly different directions then your original plan, or does the plot generally stay the same for the most part?

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I love this behind the scenes view at the process that you have. It makes me feel less awkward and weird about the ideas and idiosyncrasies I display when I write. If nothing else was available, this view at someone else's worldbuilding process is worth the price of admission for me.

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Since you mentioned coincidence, what is the chance that the rock elements [Va][L][La][R] spell pretty much the same as the sorcento final shout ‘Vahl-lahr'? By now I wouldn't be surprised if you have imagined a whole periodic table in which every element has both physical and magical properties, so I guess the real question here is if this is something planned or just one of those gaps that you mentioned that can be filled as you go?

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