Workblog December 2006.

After working (on the translation side) almost exclusively in the subtitling business for a long time, I'm currently working on the translation of Lunar Jim, an animated series for younger children that is being dubbed in Dutch.

It's fun work. Subtitling is predominantly the art of cramming an overdose of information into as few words as possible, but a translation for dubbing is almost as much writing as it is translation. Sure, it has it's own hurdles in terms of available space, but the focus is more on creating a complete, entertaining experience than it is on a slavish representation of words spoken in the original language. There is more room for style here.

Lunar Jim lets me exercise both my translation and my writing muscles, even though deadline pressure has seriously crimped my opportunity to work on any of my stories. I expect this series to keep me busy at least until the end of the year.

Whenever I have a spare moment, I'm piecing together a short script for an artist friend of mine, and emailing with the artist on Hyper Action!

References:
www.LunarJim.com
www.CreativeSounds.nl

Spec Script: X-Men--Anniversary.

Something a little different this week.

Writing, as a comic book writer with very little published work, is all about creating new opportunities. If a project even gets an artist attached, it generally still moves forward at a glacial pace.

Thus, second-issue scripts are a rarity--almost every script I begin is a new project, and requires development of characters and themes, and generally slows things down.

A while ago I started wondering how I would be on a deadline, if I got to work on an established property, and I decided to experiment. I decided to go with the X-Men since I could write those characters in my sleep, and I went to see how fast I could deliver a decent story.

Eleven pages of script, in about 24 hours. I don't know about you, but I was quite satisfied. Rereading the script now--and performing some very minor edits--I'm still quite pleased.

Will you enjoy it as much as I did? Only one way to find out:
http://www.telltaleproductions.nl/scripts/x-menanniversaryscript.pdf

Timeline: Ideally right before 'Dangerous' (beginning in Astonishing X-Men vol.3 #7), although anywhere in that general period can work.

Dream Artist: John Cassaday

Haiku House of Horrors VI: Haunted

Not far from this town
There's a house where no one goes
Inside, shadows roam