This week was pretty hectic and to be honest I didn’t really have the time I wanted to interview someone about something current. Here is what you get instead…
So it was my senior year of high school. I decided two and a half years previous that I wanted to write comics. My senior project was developing a plan to do so. While I knew at the time how to get through the assignment and give them what they wanted, I also felt I was screwed as far as mapping a true plan to become a comic writer.
One thing that did actually help though was seeking some advice from people who had been in the industry. I had a set of questions that I asked 3 different writers. One of those people was Brian K. Vaughan. This was right in the middle of Y: The Last Man. Ex Machina had just taken off and he was relaunching Runaways. This was Brian K. Vaughan in the midst of being a hot new talent. I asked him his advice about becoming a writer and made a little comic out of a power point. I know you probably don’t care about any of this but here we go: 17 year old me asking Brian K. Vaughan some questions in what is one of my very first interviews.
Adam Messinger: What got you interested in writing?
Brian K. Vaughan: I didn’t choose writing, it chose me. Like most writers I know, this was something I was drawn to from a very early age, almost like a calling. I’ve always loved to read, and when I ran out of stories that I liked, I realized that I needed to start making some of my own.
Messinger: What got you interested in writing specifically comics?
Vaughan: I’d been reading comics since I was seven or so (when my parents used to bring home comics for my brother and me whenever we were home sick from school). I first knew that I wanted to write comics when I read Alan Moore’s groundbreaking graphic novel WATCHMEN in one sitting during a family vacation when I was in eighth grade.
Messinger: How did you get into the field?
Vaughan: The short version: I was in the right place at the right time. When I was a sophomore at New York University in the film and dramatic writing program, I was part of something called the Stanhattan Project (named after Marvel creator Stan Lee). A former Marvel editor named James “the Professor” Felder decided that he needed to look outside of comics for new talent, so he started this informal writing workshop at NYU to teach the ins and outs of the medium and the industry to young writers (Joe Kelly was also a graduate). James liked my work, threw me a little job or two to help get my foot in the door, and I spent the next three or four years pitching every editor under the sun, honing my skills on whatever gigs I could land, and slowly crawling up the ladder to whatever modest rung I’m currently hanging onto.
Messinger: How did you prepare to become a writer?
Vaughan: The only way you can prepare for any kind of writing career is by writing, and writing A LOT. I was part of the “Power of the Pen” competitive writing program in grade school, I took a lot of writing classes in high school, and then majored in film and television at New York University. But really, the best training was reading a lot (not just comics), writing a lot (four pages a day), and living life to the fullest (nothing beats experience).
Messinger: What kind of goals did you set for yourself and how did you go about meeting them?
Vaughan: My goal was always to be a published writer, and after that, to become a professional writer, someone who makes his living only through his or her writing. As for how I met my goal, it was with a lot of hard work and determination, never giving up even when editors turned me down. When dealing with editors and publishers, there’s a thin line between being persistent and being annoying, and I learned how to walk it pretty well.
Messinger: What was the biggest obstacle to overcome in the goal of getting into your career?
Vaughan: The biggest obstacle was probably my lack of skill, and I like to think I overcame it with practice. It’s said that every writer has a million bad words in him, and you have to get those out of your system before your writing is consistently good.
Messinger: What has been the biggest obstacle to overcome in your career?
Vaughan: Now that I’m a professional, the biggest obstacle is probably deadlines, and I overcome them with discipline, learning to work past writer’s block and write every single day, 365 days a year.
Messinger: What is required to layout the story so the artist can tell it?
Vaughan: I write scripts that resemble screenplays. They describe every panel of every page in detail, as well as all of the dialogue.
<Note: Brian gave me a link to an example of what it looked like on his website. Upon looking checking to see if the link still worked I discovered it has become a spam site. Sad face.>
Messinger: What has been your greatest achievement in writing comics?
Vaughan: Probably the success of my original, creator-owned comic book, Y: THE LAST MAN. Recently optioned for the big screen by New Line Cinema, Entertainment Weekly gave the comic an “A,” The Washington Post gave it an “A+,” and The St. Louis Dispatch called it “the best science fiction story in America.” Our best-selling collected editions have been published in several languages all over the world, including France, Germany, Norway, Spain, and Indonesia.
Messinger: What would your advice be to a young talent who is interesting in writing comics?
Vaughan: It’s the best job in the world, so don’t give up. Write every single day, keep your ears open, don’t waste TOO many hours with video games, and be good to people. That’s about it.
Thanks to Brian K. Vaughan for being a good sport and answering an annoying teenager’s questions. Be sure to check out his new book, Saga, from Image debuting in March. Fiona Staples and BKV are sure to pump out a great title.
