Is your head is filled with amazing characters you could find in comic books, but you can’t draw to save your life? Well that’s okay. Have you ever looked at the names on the cover of a comic book or a book that involves several illustrations? Go take a gander at the cover of a comic titled Ghost Rider: Road to Damnation and you will see the names Ennis and Crain at the bottom. You may think “Well those guys drew the comic,” but then who wrote it? In truth only one of them, Garth Ennis, wrote the comic; the other, Clayton Crain, is the artist. You may be thinking “Oh you are a liar, go home,” but think about it this way; an artist, say Frida Kahlo, paints a portrait with an intended meaning, but nothing to go with is the meaning found? Just as well, if you have a good writer, say Fernando Pesso, writes a book, but people don’t like to read his long, drawn out chapters, will his work be important if nobody reads it? The truth is you need a writer to make a comic as much as you need an artist.

Well you can’t draw yourself out of a hole, but you can write somewhat. Let’s get some of your creativity out there. First, you will need a few supplies:

• a pencil
• a notebook
• a pocket size notepad
• an eraser

No you may be wondering a few things, but I will go through the necessity of each of the supplies. The pencil, fairly obvious, is to write down any idea that comes to mind. The eraser, I find may not be necessary, not only because the pencil will have one, but also because it is good to keep all of your ideas. It is mainly in case you need it. Now a good question here is “Why do we need a notebook AND a notepad?” The answer is simple: it is the difference between a desktop computer and a laptop. You wouldn’t carry your desktop to a coffee joint to write just as you can’t save the same amount of stuff on your laptop that you can on your desktop. If you need to quickly describe a girl in a nightclub you wouldn’t be carrying your notebook with you, nor would you wake up at 2:45 in the morning and write about your epic dream in your notepad. The notebook is more for large ideas and at home while the notepad is more for on the go to jot small notes.

Over the next couple months I will give tutorials on how to write a superhero. The tutorials will range from beginner ( for those whose writing is like their drawing) to advanced so you can start giving people like Stan Lee a run for his money. I will also give a few activities to help you hone your skills as well as have fun with writing. We will get to writing soon, but until my next post I want you to keep all your good ideas in your head.