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	<title>Micah Zak</title>
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	<link>http://www.micahzak.com/blog</link>
	<description>Professional Illustrator, Web Designer, and Creative Writer</description>
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		<title>You Will Believe A Man Can Fly</title>
		<link>http://www.micahzak.com/blog/you-will-believe-a-man-can-fly/</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 13 May 2011 03:33:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[MicahZak.com News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.micahzak.com/blog/?p=391</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A Special Goodbye to Smallville. After 10 years of  following Smallville and being a devoted fan, the wait is finally over. In a 2-hour long series finale, Clark finally became the man of steel we all know and love. The final two-hour event left me quite speechless, and in all the right ways. First, Clark [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>A Special Goodbye to Smallville.</h2>
<p>After 10 years of  following Smallville and being a devoted fan, the wait is finally over. In a 2-hour long series finale, Clark finally became the man of steel we all know and love. The final two-hour event left me quite speechless, and in all the right ways.</p>
<p>First, Clark flew. Second, Clark received acclamation from both his mom and dad (Martha and Jonathan Kent) and his synthesized, &#8220;real father&#8221;, Jor-El. Third, he put on the suit and saved the day &#8211; just like we&#8217;ve always dreamed he would. Now, pushing an entire planet away from colliding with earth? Now that was worthy of Superman.</p>
<p>The biggest note for me was the passing of the cape from Jonathan to Clark. After listening to an interview with John Schneider several months ago, I was struck with his thoughts on how he would end the series. AS he described his vision, it would bring the focus back around towards the father-son relationship that stood the test of time and, per his blessing, would send Clark off to fight as the Caped Crusader. After finishing the series finale I am very glad to see them take that interview and re-create it in a way that was even better than John&#8217;s original vision.</p>
<p>The second biggest item was the score. To hear John Williams score ringing true at the end blew me away. It gave me the same chills I had when I first saw Tom Welling and Christopher Reeve in Season 2&#8242;s &#8220;Rosetta&#8221;. The subtle integration of one of John William&#8217;s lighter Superman themes made the episode, and made the season for me. With this being the finale, they ended it right. You can&#8217;t have a Superman movie without the John Williams theme. If Superman Returns and Smallville have defined anything, its that the Man of Steel needs his triumphant musical ballad. The minute Hollywood decides not to use the theme will be the minute I stop seeing Superman movies. Hear that Zack Snyder?</p>
<p>What an amazing and powerful series, and what a perfectly sculpted ending.  Smallville has and will be a big part of my family&#8217;s life. We&#8217;ve watched with anticipation over the years, loving every season, and now we have the whole story. A story that will go down in history. This is my acclamation of the greatest television series &#8211; ever.</p>
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		<title>Converting The Outline To Written Literature</title>
		<link>http://www.micahzak.com/blog/converting-the-outline-to-written-literature/</link>
		<comments>http://www.micahzak.com/blog/converting-the-outline-to-written-literature/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 20 Mar 2011 21:55:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Making A Graphic Novel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Writing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Story Outlines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tutorials]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.micahzak.com/blog/?p=369</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[From Foundation To Creation. Once you have your outline completed and all the plot holes filled, now it is time to build the actual story. This could take weeks, this could take months, or this even may take years  &#8211; and depending on how large your graphic novel is, I personally recommend not doing it [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>From Foundation To Creation.</h2>
<p>Once you have your outline completed and all the plot holes filled, now it is time to build the actual story. This could take weeks, this could take months, or this even may take years  &#8211; and depending on how large your graphic novel is, I personally recommend not doing it all at once. Why? Plain and simple, you&#8217;ll burn yourself out and stop working on the project. Write the first chapter, perhaps the second, then go over the outlines again to make sure you&#8217;re heading in the right direction. Once you&#8217;re satisfied &#8211; move on to the next step &#8211; storyboarding your first two chapters. This will help you stay on target &#8211; because you can easily go back and modify a storyboard should you choose to make changes to your first two chapters at a later time, and moving back and forth between writing and planning can help loosen writer&#8217;s block.</p>
<h3>Establish Your Writing Style</h3>
<p>Sounds simple, just like every other novel written in the folds of history &#8211; but you&#8217;d be wrong. Don&#8217;t forget there is a substantial difference between writing for a traditional novel and writing for a graphic novel. Large paragraphs and introspective writing just won&#8217;t work in a graphic novel, and detailed illustrations will confuse the reader if translated into words. You&#8217;re working with two completely difference sensory mediums, and people will expect a difference &#8211; whether they understand it or not. Ever seen a terrific book turned into a crappy movie? This happens when the director and screenplay writer don&#8217;t accurately relay the feelings or emotions that the original novel or book translated through its writing style.</p>
<h3>Define Your Story&#8217;s Direction And Start Asking Questions</h3>
<p>I&#8217;m going to be a jerk here and tell you that many, many of today&#8217;s top comic book writers default to drama, sex, nudity, and action to carry their graphic novels. While these can be obvious attributes in any story, they always are secondary to the quality of a story. Take for example the success of <em>Batman Begins</em> and the sequel,<em> The Dark Knight</em> &#8211; sure these are movies, but in the end, aside from all the action, they are GREAT stories. Their predecessors, <em>Batman Forever</em> and <em>Batman and Robin</em> lacked the powerful story telling and relied heavily on flashing neon lights and sexy/appealing actors. Sure I&#8217;m referencing movies here, but in the end, I want to give you examples of mis-translated mediums that you won&#8217;t have to spend hours trying to find at the library and/or ordering from amazon.com because you&#8217;ve never read them. We&#8217;ll get into the comic scene soon enough.</p>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Who is your audience? What are their ages?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Are your primary and secondary characters identifiable? Can others relate with them? Will you lose readers?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Will there be introspective thoughts from the main character(s)?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Will the story focus primarily on the main heroes/hero, or will you jump back and forth between all the characters?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Will there be a narrator or some type of narration? Who will be giving the narration?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Will you be relying on mis-communication<sup>1</sup> to enrapt your audience, or will you use the power of neglect<sup>2</sup>?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">How will you define the balance between action, drama, and comedy in your story?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Will others understand your humor, especially when translated into a storyboard/graphic novel setting? Will it fail?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Will your action sequences be too long? Will they lose the attention of the readers?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Will your drama be believable? Will it be identifiable?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Is your story unoriginal or stereotyped? Is it &#8220;Smallville&#8221; or &#8220;Middle-Earth&#8221; in nature? Can your readers tell if you adapted other writer&#8217;s ideas?</span></li>
</ol>
<p>The list goes on and on. Make sure you answer each on of the questions I&#8217;ve outlined above, and if you find yourself lacking an answer, make sure you find one. You need to make sure your story is unified in its direction, otherwise you&#8217;ll be all over the board in creating it. Asking questions will help keep you honest.</p>
<h3>Don&#8217;t Be Afraid To Rewrite</h3>
<p>I&#8217;ll be honest here, I usually redo EVERY first draft and completely restart once I&#8217;ve had time to look back over it and see how much I was not in the game. That&#8217;s really the best part, though. Re-doing and trying to salvage what you like from the first draft and rework the dialog and story to where it actually works. Seriously, rewriting isn&#8217;t bad. It just means you care about what you are making.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve rewritten Light of the Protector about 14 times now. I&#8217;m finally done with it, but through it all I never gave up re-writing because each time it got better and better. Actually, I got better at writing and character development, so all things worked together.</p>
<h3>And FINALLY &#8211; Add Elements of YOU!</h3>
<p>No one writes better than when they write about things they know. Now this doesn&#8217;t mean you have to write an autobiography, but it does mean your writing should include ideas, experiences, elements that you can add your own personal touch to. Seriously, there&#8217;s nothing more bland than a story that is birthed from pure imagination with no life to it. Put some character into your literature!</p>
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		<title>A Graphic Novel Starts With An Outline</title>
		<link>http://www.micahzak.com/blog/a-graphic-novel-starts-with-an-outline/</link>
		<comments>http://www.micahzak.com/blog/a-graphic-novel-starts-with-an-outline/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:02:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Making A Graphic Novel]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.micahzak.com/blog/?p=343</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Building Your Graphic Novel&#8217;s Foundation. At the heart of every graphic novel is a good story. If you don&#8217;t have a good story, I don&#8217;t care how good your art is, your &#8220;re-play&#8221; value will be very poor &#8211; unless your graphic novel has a lot of nudity. Hehehe. But seriously, I can&#8217;t stress enough [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>Building Your Graphic Novel&#8217;s Foundation.</h2>
<p>At the heart of every graphic novel is a good story. If you don&#8217;t have a good story, I don&#8217;t care how good your art is, your &#8220;re-play&#8221; value will be very poor &#8211; unless your graphic novel has a lot of nudity. Hehehe. But seriously, I can&#8217;t stress enough how important it is to develop a good story.</p>
<p>Every writer has their own way of writing, some just open a notebook and start writing, some create multiple appendixes filled with back-story and historical foundations before ever considering the opening scene of their book, others write &#8211; rewrite, and then rewrite again until they are finally happy with the work, only to show it to others and find out they missed some massive plot holes. Then there are the few &#8220;gifted&#8221; writers that can compose any story and keep it all in their minds. I, unfortunately, am not the later. I can barely keep track of the work I do each day, let alone every plot twist and character trait. I recommend summaries and outlines for EVERYONE. If you can compose a great story from an outline, then &#8220;graduate yourself&#8221; to writing one without it &#8211; but first use the outline.</p>
<h3>Write the End First</h3>
<p>I will pull from one of the more famous writers in the late 90&#8242;s/early 2000&#8242;s for this one. J.K. Rowling herself said &#8220;the last chapter of the final book in the Harry Potter series was completed in &#8216;something like&#8217; 1990&#8243;, years before she completed <em>The Sorcerer&#8217;s Stone</em>.</p>
<p>I actually did the same thing. I composed the ending to the <em>Light of the Protector</em> trilogy in 1994. It has only changed slightly, despite several complete rewrites of the original story &#8211; the focus of the stories remain the same, though characters and events change. The same goes for <em>BlueFire</em>. I wrote the basic outline and ending in 2002, and though it is a far cry from the original plot points, BlueFire still has the essence of the original story.</p>
<p><strong>Here are some good logical points to consider for writing the end first:</strong></p>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">It gives you a direction to funnel all the characters, plot twists, and relationships.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">It reduces the number of rewrites and keeps you on track.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">It helps you focus the emotional overtones of each scene you write.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">It helps you develop plot points to bridge off to create a good sequel.</span></li>
</ol>
<p>Sure, there are many others, but those are the main ones that come to mind. Naturally, this assumes you have all your characters, and you know what you want to do with them. If you don&#8217;t find yourself at this point, I recommend creating a &#8220;loosely&#8221; written ending, to help in your story&#8217;s development.</p>
<h3>Begin Developing Your Characters &amp; Events</h3>
<p>This is where using an outline will start to come in very handy. Since developing complex characters doesn&#8217;t happen over night, simplifying character/events in an outline format will give you the advantage of refreshing your memory at a glance when you are ready to continue the story development. Here&#8217;s a basic example of a story:</p>
<div style="margin: 10px; border-radius: 10px; -moz-border-radius: 10px; -webkit-border-radius: 10px; border: 1px solid #555555; padding: 10px 25px 10px 0px;">
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Introduction: </span>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Two plumbers from Brooklyn discover a magical portal via a pipe to another world taken over by a vicious monster &#8211; Bowser: The Koopa King.</span></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Body: </span>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Lots of Stomping and Shell Kicking.</span></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Ending: </span>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Mario &amp; Luigi defeat Bowser and Save the Princess.</span></li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
<p>Okay, so that&#8217;s a VERY simplified story line. But consider the outline I originally created for BlueFire (with some important information omitted):</p>
<div style="margin: 10px; border-radius: 10px; -moz-border-radius: 10px; -webkit-border-radius: 10px; border: 1px solid #555555; padding: 10px 25px 10px 0px;">
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Introduction: </span>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Alexis &amp; Ethan are pulled into another dimension and must struggle to survive as they find their way back home.</span></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Body: </span>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Alexis is in love with Ethan.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Ethan learns humility through having to deal with being transformed into an Imp.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Alexis learns how to become woman through the trials and struggles of living on a farm in a dangerous new world.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Aelxis learns how to use her newly discovered powers &#8211; BlueFire.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Ethan falls in love with Alexis.</span></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Ending: </span>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Alexis and Ethan are married and The Villain is defeated.</span></li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
<p>Naturally, that&#8217;s a modified story line &#8211; the ending is false and the body is from the original 2002 script. Very simple, but easy to remember. Now with that written in a program like Microsoft Word or Open Office, we can easily start adding details and growing the outline as we start to get new ideas for the story.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s revisit our &#8220;revised&#8221; BlueFire outline by adding a few events to the outline &#8211; notice I haven&#8217;t introduced chapters yet. When you are creating your story, you need to throw that book format out the door and focus on the quality of the story. Fitting in into a publication layout will come soon.</p>
<div style="margin: 10px; border-radius: 10px; -moz-border-radius: 10px; -webkit-border-radius: 10px; border: 1px solid #555555; padding: 10px 25px 10px 0px;">
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Introduction: </span>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Alexis &amp; Ethan are pulled into another dimension and must struggle to survive as they find their way back home.</span></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Body: </span>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Event 1 &#8211; Crossing Dimensions </span>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Alexis is in love with Ethan.</span></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Event 2 &#8211; Arrival in a New World </span>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Alexis is taken in by a family of gnomes who help her adjust to living in a dangerous new world.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Ethan is transformed by a powerful wizard into an IMP, but due to his dimension of origin he actually absorbs the power of the wizard &#8211; being coming an non-English speaking, god-like, 2 foot tall monster.</span></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Event 3 &#8211; Learning How Cope </span>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Alexis learns how to become woman through the trials and struggles of living on a farm without the luxuries of 20th century technology.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Ethan helps save Alexis and begins following her around and she makes him her &#8220;pet&#8221;.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Ethan learns humility through having to deal with being transformed into an Imp.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Eventually Ethan falls in love with Alexis.</span></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Event 4 &#8211; Discovering BlueFire </span>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Alexis learns how to use her newly discovered powers &#8211; BlueFire.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">She starts looking for a way back, and with the help of Ethan&#8217;s god-like imp powers is able to discover their true kidnapper.</span></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Event 5 &#8211; Redemption </span>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Ethan saves Alexis once more, but in doing so is transformed back into a human and mortally wounded.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Alexis is heart-broken and swears to avenge him &#8211; traveling to the farthest reaches of their world for a mythical wizard who can save Ethan.</span></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Event 6 &#8211; Returning </span>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">This part I won&#8217;t include&#8230;. to many original ideas.</span></li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Ending: </span>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #b94e57;">Alexis and Ethan are married and The Villain is defeated.</span></li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
<p>As you can see, I&#8217;ve created some basic events that help focus the story towards the ending. Naturally, for a good story, you&#8217;re going to have more than 5 events &#8211; but also remember than some events will be &#8220;major&#8221; events, and each major event will have several/many sub events. This is where the development begins. Naturally, as you look back you can recap and make sure you haven&#8217;t missed anything important in your story development. For those of us that still remember writing essays in grad/middle/high school, you may recall learning this. :)</p>
<h3>Wrapping Up</h3>
<p>Remember, this stage isn&#8217;t about dialogs &#8211; although if you have inspiration, don&#8217;t hesitate to write it down! In creating your outline, focus just on events and literary &#8220;chess moves&#8221; in moving your story line towards your ending. In the end, you&#8217;ll agree &#8211; this is a very helpful technique.</p>
<p>Read &#8211; Converting The Outline to  Written Literature.</p>
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		<title>How To Make A Graphic Novel</title>
		<link>http://www.micahzak.com/blog/how-to-make-a-graphic-novel/</link>
		<comments>http://www.micahzak.com/blog/how-to-make-a-graphic-novel/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Jan 2011 21:56:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Creative Tutorials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Making A Graphic Novel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Writing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.micahzak.com/blog/?p=282</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[From Imagination, to Visual Creation. Over the next 5 posts I&#8217;m going to walk you through how to create a graphic novel. Easy to say, hard to do. Sure there is a substantial amount of literature entitled &#8220;How to Draw a Comic Book&#8221;, and &#8220;Make Your Own Graphic Novel&#8221;, so let me be frank &#8211; [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>From Imagination, to Visual Creation.</h2>
<p>Over the next 5 posts I&#8217;m going to walk you through how to create a graphic novel. Easy to say, hard to do. Sure there is a substantial amount of literature entitled &#8220;How to Draw a Comic Book&#8221;, and &#8220;Make Your Own Graphic Novel&#8221;, so let me be frank &#8211; the following tutorials will not focus on how to draw &#8211; they will focus on how to CREATE or COMPOSE a working graphic novel. There is such a massive difference between drawing and creative writing that I have to distinguish this.</p>
<p>Personally, I&#8217;ve been involved with comic books and cartoons since about 1987 when, at 6 years old, I drew my first &#8220;graphic novel&#8221;. Sure, it was Mario, and sure it didn&#8217;t look very good based on what you see on my site today, but &#8230; for a 6 year old, it made all my friends VERY jealous. In fact, at the time, it made all my 14-year-old friends very jealous as well. Anyway, on with the show.</p>
<h3>Comic Book Versus Graphic Novel</h3>
<p>This is a big area of debate, so let me set the record straight: A <strong>Comic Book</strong> is a pre-formatted stand-alone periodical that can be read front to back with little to no knowledge of what has happened previously in the story. When done properly, it quickly introduces the main characters, takes them on the quick romp through the 22 to 24 page issue or periodical, then concludes by usually suggesting there will be another issue yet to come (a new conflict coming next month). A <strong>Graphic Novel</strong>, on the other hand, is a graphically represented story. Usually the confines of the 22 to 24 page periodical are discarded and a book-like chapter layout is followed. Each chapter is just another fragment of the story and cannot stand on its own, unlike the stand-alone periodical format of a comic book.</p>
<p>There is generally no artistic difference between a graphic novel and a comic book, although some could argue that a graphic novel is more open in its artistic presentation, and not pre-formatted like a comic book. I will bring this up in a later post entitled Visual Branding.</p>
<h3>Planning Out Your Creative Writing</h3>
<p>Before you even start thinking about characters, pages, dialog, beginnings, endings, action, romance, or comedy &#8211; you need to define your project. This means you need to set a schedule and make a plan for yourself. You need to determine how large your comic book will be, how graphically intense your illustrations will be, your method of creative composition, and a calendar based accountability system that will give you motivation to complete your project. Seriously. If you don&#8217;t do this, then you are pretty much shooting yourself in the foot. Unless you don&#8217;t have a job/school, you may never get it done.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s look at the outline for Creating a Graphic Novel. When I&#8217;ve completed a Tutorial, a link will be available via the title and &#8220;Learn More&#8221; link on each item:</p>
<p style="border-top: 1px solid #555555; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 5px;"> </p>
<h2 style="margin: 0 0 10px !important;">1) A Graphic Novel Starts With An Outline.</h2>
<p><a style="z-index: 1000; position: relative;" title="A Graphic Novel Starts With An Outline." href="http://www.micahzak.com/blog/a-graphic-novel-starts-with-an-outline/"><img style="padding: 5px 15px 0px 0px;" src="http://www.micahzak.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/graphic-novel-01a.jpg" alt="" align="left" /></a></p>
<p>Like any written piece of literature, a graphic novel starts on paper &#8211; in the form of an outline. Why? I&#8217;ll explain this in the next post &#8211; &#8220;Creating Your Creative Writing&#8221;, but basically &#8211; an outline is really easy to edit &#8211; and it&#8217;s really easy to show to others and make sure your story makes sense. If you start writing and hand someone 50 pages worth of dialog, they may not read it &#8211; ever. If you hand them two pages worth of an outline, they will definitely put the time in to looking it over and giving you the feedback you need.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.micahzak.com/blog/a-graphic-novel-starts-with-an-outline/">Learn More</a></p>
<p style="border-top: 1px dashed #555555; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 5px;"> </p>
<h2 style="margin: 0 0 10px !important;">2) Converting The Outline to  Written Literature.</h2>
<p><a style="position: relative; z-index: 1000;" title="Converting The Outline to  Written Literature" href="http://www.micahzak.com/blog/converting-the-outline-to-written-literature/"><img style="padding: 5px 15px 0px 0px;" src="http://www.micahzak.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/graphic-novel-01b.jpg" alt="" align="left" /></a></p>
<p>Once you have the outline done, it&#8217;s time to move on to writing the chapters. Write each chapter as if it were a simple book or screenplay. Only use as much description as will effectively remind you the focus of each scene when you move on to drawing them. Remember, this won&#8217;t be a book (although you could turn it into one at a later time), so don&#8217;t get too carried away.</p>
<p>I personally find myself doing a lot of tweaking in these first few stages. After all, a strong foundation is important to carry your art from start to finish.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.micahzak.com/blog/converting-the-outline-to-written-literature/">Learn More</a></p>
<p style="border-top: 1px dashed #555555; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 5px;"> </p>
<h2 style="margin: 0 0 10px !important;">3) Adapting Your Written Literature.</h2>
<p><img style="padding: 5px 15px 0px 0px;" src="http://www.micahzak.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/graphic-novel-01c.jpg" alt="" align="left" /></p>
<p>The first step in accurately adapting your written literature is to storyboard it. This process isn&#8217;t mathematical and needs to have the most room for re-writing. If you don&#8217;t put the time in here, the graphic novel itself will suffer when you realize you didn&#8217;t storyboard a scene properly. Make sure you keep that group of close friends/confidants on hand to approve each layout. I will discuss more about Graphic Novel Layouts later.</p>
<p>Don&#8217;t think that your piece of written literature can be immediately  adapted into graphic novel format. This just isn&#8217;t true. Well, okay &#8211; it  actually can be done, but it will not be done well. The big difference  between your regular novel and a graphic novel is the medium through  which the story is conveyed. Each scene from a novel must be analyzed,  digested and regurgitated into a graphically workable layout. Scenes  that rely heavily on dialog must be truncated, action sequences must be  carefully thought out, and moments of comedy must be arranged properly  to maintain/enhance comedic integrity.</p>
<p>This process isn&#8217;t a  one-man show. You need to get the opinions of others to make sure you  are adapting it into a universally understandable medium. Get some close  friends to commit to reading your work and giving you constructive  feedback. This will make sure the integrity of the written literature is  maintained.</p>
<p>As mentioned in the preceding point, presentation of each scene must be taken into account when story boarding. For example &#8211; how long should this scene be? How many pages? How many panels? Where should the dialog go? Can dialog heavy sections be represented in a massive dialog balloon with just the face of the speaker showing, or should it be spread out over several frames to enhance what the character is trying to convey? Can action sequences be effectively reconstructed form the literary composition, or should they be truncated/re-formated? You get the idea. Start asking yourself questions about the story and its adaptation into graphic novel format.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Learn More</p>
<p style="border-top: 1px dashed #555555; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 5px;"> </p>
<h2 style="margin: 0 0 10px !important;">4) Starting With The Dialog.</h2>
<p><img style="padding: 5px 15px 0px 0px;" src="http://www.micahzak.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/graphic-novel-01d.jpg" alt="" align="left" /></p>
<p>Once you have completed the placement of the dialog, I recommend laying it out. This is perfect in a digital world. Some people like to draw &#8220;mini-layouts&#8221; that represent each character and scene before laying out the dialog, but it isn&#8217;t necessary. Just remember to leave room for your illustration. Again, put some time into your Dialog Layouts, this will minimize the level of &#8220;re-draws&#8221;. Don&#8217;t be afraid to re-write some of your dialog if it doesn&#8217;t fit. I&#8217;ve actually run into times where I re-wrote several scenes after reading them in a graphic novel format. They sounded good in my screenplay, but once adapted, they lost their impact.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Learn More</p>
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<h2 style="margin: 0 0 10px !important;">5) It&#8217;s All About The Pencils.</h2>
<p><img style="padding: 5px 15px 0px 0px;" src="http://www.micahzak.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/graphic-novel-01e.jpg" alt="" align="left" /></p>
<p>I actually print out my layouts with the dialog balloons at about 15% to 20% opacity at this point. It is here that I will being the illustration. For those that already created a &#8220;mini-layout&#8221;, you will compose the detailed layout over your mini-layout. Don&#8217;t be afraid to &#8220;re-arrange&#8221; your speech balloons digitally after you&#8217;ve drawn your illustrations and determined the dialog placement won&#8217;t work. Remember, this is a creative process and it needs to evolve with you.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Learn More</p>
<p style="border-top: 1px dashed #555555; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 5px;"> </p>
<h2 style="margin: 0 0 10px !important;">6) Digital Versus Traditional Inking.</h2>
<p><img style="padding: 5px 15px 0px 0px;" src="http://www.micahzak.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/graphic-novel-01f.jpg" alt="" align="left" /></p>
<p>As mentioned in my post <a href="http://www.micahzak.com/blog/digital-inking-digital-illustration/">Digital Inking</a> you may want to consider the benefits of digital inking. In the end, the choice is yours, but I will be covering the process through digital inking. This is where a program like Adobe Photoshop will become invaluable. Sure, I always recommend it for creating your storyboard layouts, but it is here that Photoshop will begin to shine. By combining your stylus with Adobe Photoshop, you will discover the ease and flexibility of digital inking, and immediately wonder why you didn&#8217;t switch sooner. The initial hold up will be the disconnect between the eye and hand. I always work on a transparent layer placed above the scanned image, and sometimes multiple layers to make sure I can Liquify the outlines easily if necessary.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Learn More</p>
<p style="border-top: 1px dashed #555555; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 5px;"> </p>
<h2 style="margin: 0 0 10px !important;">7) To Color Or Not To Color.</h2>
<p><img style="padding: 5px 15px 0px 0px;" src="http://www.micahzak.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/graphic-novel-01g.jpg" alt="" align="left" /></p>
<p>This is where your illustration will explode into life. The application of color turns any comic into a world-class production, and great work into stupendous work! Okay, perhaps I&#8217;m getting carried away, but honestly, this is my favorite part. The final step to making your graphic novel come to life. Whether it&#8217;s 50 pages or 500 pages, this is the final leg of the journey.</p>
<p>Not all graphic novels are colorized, but color never hurts. Whether it&#8217;s as simple as a &#8220;Sin City&#8221; style of dual tone illustration, or as gorgeous as say&#8230; my work &#8211; or the high-rollers from the DC or Marvel universe, color always has an dynamic impact. Once upon a time it was expensive to print, but as the digital world becomes more and more a thriving place to market yourself, color is becoming a more and more worthwhile investment. The only one main thing you will need to take into consideration &#8211; the time it takes to complete it. Seriously, depending on the style or quality of color, you could be double or tripling your development time. If quality is your goal, then it&#8217;s a no-brainer, but if you&#8217;re designing a 250+ page graphic novel, you may want to seriously thing about it.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Learn More</p>
<p style="border-top: 1px dashed #555555; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 5px;"> </p>
<h2 style="margin: 0 0 10px !important;">8) Marketing Your Graphic Novel</h2>
<p>Get a website. Seriously. If you are reading this, then you know the power of having one. Social media is the new standard for communication. Read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/UnMarketing-Stop-Marketing-Start-Engaging/dp/047061787X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1294349718&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">UnMarketing by Scott Stratten</a> and start planning your marketing campaign. If you&#8217;re tired of template websites and don&#8217;t want to pay thousands for an actual design firm, then contact my own <a href="http://www.zakgraphix.com/" target="_blank">St. Louis Web Design</a> company &#8211; ZakGraphix.com &#8211; and we&#8217;ll take care of your unique website needs.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">Learn More</p>
<p style="border-top: 1px dashed #555555; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 5px;"> </p>
<h2 style="margin: 0 0 10px !important;">9) Planning For The Sequel</h2>
<p>Seriously. Never rule out a sequel. It&#8217;s part of the creative process, especially to get readers to come back for more. I always leave a few things undone at the end to leave room for a potential follow-up to each graphic novel I create.</p>
<p style="text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #555555; padding-bottom: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px;">Learn More</p>
<h3>Wrapping Up</h3>
<p>As always, I&#8217;ll be revising this tutorial and adding to it, so check back soon! I&#8217;m Micah Zak and I&#8217;m very proud to have assisted in educating you concerning the development of graphic novels. Sure there are a lot of other ways to compose them, but I&#8217;m sticking with the tried and true methods I&#8217;ve developed over the years. Good luck!</p>
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		<title>Welcoming 2011 &#8211; Happy New Year!</title>
		<link>http://www.micahzak.com/blog/welcoming-2011-happy-new-year/</link>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 01 Jan 2011 18:42:27 +0000</pubDate>
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				<category><![CDATA[MicahZak.com News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.micahzak.com/blog/?p=277</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Plan To Make A Difference! Naturally, a new year means new resolutions. These resolutions will last about a month, maybe two. Why? There are a million little reasons, but usually they fail due to lack of accountability. This is because these New Year&#8217;s Resolutions are focused on you, and usually the only one to keep [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>Plan To Make A Difference!</h2>
<p>Naturally, a new year means new resolutions. These resolutions will last about a month, maybe two. Why? There are a million little reasons, but usually they fail due to lack of accountability. This is because these New Year&#8217;s Resolutions are focused on you, and usually the only one to keep you accountable &#8211; is you. So what? Are there any other types of resolutions?</p>
<h3>Invest In Others</h3>
<p>The best type of New Year&#8217;s Resolution is investing &#8211; in others. Sure, you&#8217;ll get the whole &#8220;good-will-towards-men&#8221; feeling, but also you&#8217;ll find the one thing needed to maintain that resolution &#8211; accountability. When someone else is actually relying on you there is a bit more motivation to follow through. I personally tutor high school students every Monday in logic, debate, mathematics, science, and exposition. Sure, it&#8217;s more work, but I guarantee it will change you. Investing in others is a growth plan, not only for those you help, but also your personal life.</p>
<h3>Be The Change Your World Needs</h3>
<p>Tired of the way things are in your life? Tired of consistently being dealt a bad hand? Then change it. Change your life. Tackle fate head on and ring his neck!  The Christian Bible has so many references towards adjusting your focus. &#8220;Running With Endurance&#8221;, &#8220;Looking Unto Jesus&#8221;, &#8220;Renew Your Mind&#8221;, etc. These ancient passages reflect the need for the human mind to stay focused &#8211; and also reflects on the mind&#8217;s natural tendency to forget. You are what you dwell on. Become the change you want your world to undergo.</p>
<h3>Always Look Forward</h3>
<p>With all that being said, I plan on stepping up the aggression level of MicahZak.com. No, we&#8217;re not going to be discussing politics and religion, but we are going to be in the business of teaching, tutoring, encouraging, and inspiring upcoming and veteran artists to be all they can be. This site is just as much an outlet for my creativity as it is a commitment to you, my viewers. Whether you are looking to learn more about digital art and illustration, or you are just curious as to how it all works, this website will be the place for you. With this as our new goal for 2011, I plan on aggressively tackling it.</p>
<p>MicahZak.com is the place to come to learn about <strong>Digital Illustration</strong>.</p>
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		<title>Merry Christmas 2010</title>
		<link>http://www.micahzak.com/blog/merry-christmas-2010/</link>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 25 Dec 2010 22:14:45 +0000</pubDate>
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				<category><![CDATA[The Zaks News]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Ho. Ho. Ho. There&#8217;s nothing quite like a Christmas with my wife&#8217;s family. They&#8217;re Greek. So this means, Greek = amazing food, loud fun, and lots of games. We&#8217;re winding down, now, but the aroma of turkey and honey glazed ham are still hanging wistfully in the air. There is a miniature tree in the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>Ho. Ho. Ho.</h2>
<p>There&#8217;s nothing quite like a Christmas with my wife&#8217;s family. They&#8217;re Greek. So this means, Greek = amazing food, loud fun, and lots of games. We&#8217;re winding down, now, but the aroma of turkey and honey glazed ham are still hanging wistfully in the air. There is a miniature tree in the corner of the room because a large tree would be too much of a target for the nieces and nephews running around in a crazed frenzy, and there are several large, heavy-duty pieces of machinery stash here and there in the living room, mostly used for entertaining babies, but also used as foot obstructions and obstacles conducive to hinder adult locomotion. But the excitement and entertainment that my beautiful, young baby girls receive from them are worth it. Alexis and Natalie are currently the &#8220;hot potatoes&#8221; in a very well-played game of &#8211; &#8220;Pass the Nieces.&#8221;</p>
<p>I&#8217;m recovering from a slight cold, enhanced by a drafty window that chilled my nearly bald head to the bone two nights ago. The standard shivers and soar throat lasted throughout Christmas Eve per a long and restless sleep just last night, the symptoms are reduced to just a stuffy nose. It&#8217;s lightly snowing and the dessert is being past around. Time for another round of Christmas cheer! Merry Christmas, everyone!!</p>
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		<title>Working Backwards &#8211; Digital Illustration</title>
		<link>http://www.micahzak.com/blog/working-backwords-digital-illustration/</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:18:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Digital Art Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Digital Art]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Starting with a Pencil Vs. a Stylus. I&#8217;ve come to the decision that working completely in the digital world when it comes to drawing is a HUGE mistake. I decided to try a bit of an experiment during a re-write for the 1st chapter, and should it have worked, carried it on into the 2nd [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>Starting with a Pencil Vs. a Stylus.</h2>
<p>I&#8217;ve come to the decision that working completely in the digital world when it comes to drawing is a HUGE mistake. I decided to try a bit of an experiment during a re-write for the 1st chapter, and should it have worked, carried it on into the 2nd chapter of BlueFire. I am glad to say, it doesn&#8217;t work. Nothing will be able to replace the pencil. Sure, a stylus can synthesize an Ink pen, but in reality, there really isn&#8217;t any &#8220;drawing&#8221; or creation during inking, just repetitious grindstone mathematical calculations. The creativity NEEDS a pencil — hand to paper interactivity that allows for the subtle nuances that make up true creative genius.</p>
<p>Not that I don&#8217;t think you can do the same thing with digital, for this is only the impressions I myself have received after working with it directly for 6 months, but the speed at which I can create imagery with a pencil is at least three to four times faster than with a digital stylus. I think this is why the greats still use this method. If you value exceptional detail and quality, penciling has to be your first medium. Sure, if you need a quick in and out, the stylus will work faster, but if you&#8217;re like me and do a lot of back-end thinking before you lay down your pencil, the touch of graphite and a gum eraser on pencil will never out perform the digital stylus for pure creative invention.</p>
<p>Now, some people will argue that the new screen pads, like the Wacom Cintiq, are the perfect harmony between these two worlds. And they may be right. I promise as soon as I have the opportunity to do an extensive study between the two I will write an exhaustive post about them. Have any experience you&#8217;d like to share? Feel free to comment!</p>
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		<title>Texture Versus Perfection (Part 2) – Digital Illustration</title>
		<link>http://www.micahzak.com/blog/texture-versus-perfection-part-2-digital-illustration/</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Nov 2010 21:41:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Digital Art Tips]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[To Brush or Not To Brush. In part 1 I briefly touched on the the struggle to reach realism from the perfection that digital tools create. “How to we put the ‘dirty’ back into art that has been digitalized?” is the real question I find most digital artists struggling with. We put time and effort [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>To Brush or Not To Brush.</h2>
<p>In part 1 I briefly touched on the the struggle to reach realism from the perfection that digital tools create. “How to we put the ‘dirty’ back into art that has been digitalized?” is the real question I find most digital artists struggling with. We put time and effort into the development of perfection in our art, yet in the end we fight against the very digital tools we&#8217;ve flocked to due to their ability to create &#8220;perfect&#8221; instead of &#8220;real&#8221;. (Please Note: The term perfect or perfection in reference to the gradients and lines rendered by a digital art program, in contrast with a brush on canvas or a photograph.)</p>
<h3>Putting The &#8216;Dirty&#8217; Back Into Art.</h3>
<p>Deviant Art and some other digital art websites have available to download &#8211; at no charge &#8211; the greatest addition to the digital art age &#8211; texture brushes. For those of us that grew tired of manually composing texture with a Wacom stylus via the dodge and burn tool, the advent of the custom brush has been a dream come true. Now we can add a simple gradient for a sky, then use a texture brush to  very or corrupt the perfection of the gradient to add visual interest.</p>
<h3>Is This A Good Thing?</h3>
<p>The concepts of a texture brush, or brushes of any type may seem like a cop-out to many artists &#8211; especially the purists. I find myself riding the line, half of me wants to do it myself, and half of me is too lazy. In the end, after realizing the time it takes to create nature textures via one&#8217;s own hand, I default to using brushes. The trick is, to make them look like they belong in your digital art.</p>
<h3>Adding A Touch of Reality.</h3>
<p>Let&#8217;s be honest. High-quality grunge and texture brushes are usually adapted photos of real-life objects in nature. Thanks to the advent of the digital age, we can re-add reality back into the perfection of digital illustration through nature itself. When using programs like Adobe Photoshop, don&#8217;t forget to play with the ink effects &#8211; i.e. normal, overlay, lighten, darken, etc. Using these effects via the brushes will really add visual interest to your creations.</p>
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		<title>Texture Versus Perfection (Part 1) &#8211; Digital Illustration</title>
		<link>http://www.micahzak.com/blog/texture-versus-perfection-digital-illustration/</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Oct 2010 06:17:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Digital Art Tips]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Put The &#8216;Dirty&#8217; Back In Art. Imagine historical painters spending hundreds of hours perfecting their painting skills in order to create seamless shadows and gradients in their paintings and ceiling murals. Now imagine a 13-year-old kid with photoshop and the gradient tool. With one tool and a $600+ dollar program, we have destroyed the coveted [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>Put The &#8216;Dirty&#8217; Back In Art.</h2>
<p>Imagine historical painters spending hundreds of hours perfecting their painting skills in order to create seamless shadows and gradients in their paintings and ceiling murals. Now imagine a 13-year-old kid with photoshop and the gradient tool. With one tool and a $600+ dollar program, we have destroyed the coveted skill sets required to create amazing and beautiful art. Ironically, in our day and age, the question we find ourselves actually fighting over is &#8211; &#8220;It looks TOO perfect.&#8221;</p>
<p>Naturally, this is because nature itself, though perfect at creation, is organic and constantly growing. The perfection that 16th century painters tried to achieve was due only because the camera wasn&#8217;t invented, an inevitable step in the course of artistic &#8220;evolution&#8221;. Now, we find ourselves confronted with the question &#8211; &#8220;How do we make it look &#8216;real&#8217;, instead of perfect.&#8221; Enter the grunge and paint textured brushes programs like Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter are so well known for. How do we add the chaos back into our digital paintings, to give alleviation to the mind&#8217;s eye?</p>
<p>A glance through DeviantArt.com will show you a plethora of images and digital paints (some good, some horrible) that expound on just that concept. &#8220;How to we put the &#8216;dirty&#8217; back into art that has been digitalized?&#8221; I myself often cringe at the completion of my most recent comic or graphic novel panel &#8211; as the perfection of digital color slaps me in the face. Thankfully, those textured brushes come to the rescue and add a little visual detail where the perfect gradient once rested.</p>
<p>In the end, it&#8217;s your choice. Before digital color, I struggled to reach perfection. Now that I have it, I struggle to reach &#8220;realism&#8221;. I personally recommend finding the style that not only fits your own artistic eye, but also the eyes of your critiques. ASK others. Sure, this doesn&#8217;t promote individuality (a quality all artists strive for but most fail to achieve), but in the end it makes your art &#8220;smart&#8221;. And Smart Art will stand the test of time and critique far better than art that has only one critic &#8211; YOU.</p>
<p>Read &#8211; <a href="http://www.micahzak.com/blog/texture-versus-perfection-part-2-digital-illustration/">Texture Versus Perfection (Part 2)</a></p>
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		<title>Final Draft Outline Complete &#8211; LOTP: Part 1</title>
		<link>http://www.micahzak.com/blog/final-draft-outlined-complete-lotp-awakening-in-the-deep/</link>
		<comments>http://www.micahzak.com/blog/final-draft-outlined-complete-lotp-awakening-in-the-deep/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Sep 2010 22:14:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[MicahZak.com News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Awakening in the Deep]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ember of Twilight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Light of the Protector]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Micah Zak]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.micahzak.com/blog/?p=217</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[15 Years In The Making. Yes. It&#8217;s finally ready to be written. Okay, well actually most of it is written, but I&#8217;ve finally pieced together the pieces that tie in the two sequels perfectly. Took me two years. Yes, I&#8217;m that slow. I actually started writing Light of the Protector when I was 14. It&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>15 Years In The Making.</h2>
<p>Yes. It&#8217;s finally ready to be written. Okay, well actually most of it is written, but I&#8217;ve finally pieced together the pieces that tie in the two sequels perfectly. Took me two years. Yes, I&#8217;m that slow. I actually started writing <a href="http://www.micahzak.com/light-of-the-protector.php">Light of the Protector</a> when I was 14. It&#8217;s been fifteen years since the first draft danced off my fingers. Sure, there&#8217;s been about 20 revisions and overhauls since then, but in the end it was definitely worth it. Not that I don&#8217;t like any of the previous drafts, but as soon as I completed one, another brilliant idea would pop up and force my hand.</p>
<p>The bad part about LOTP&#8217;s numerous revisions is that I really have no relevant artwork, save for a handful of various illustrations of the main characters. Unfortunately, until I&#8217;ve compiled the story in it&#8217;s entirety, I&#8217;m going to have to save the art work for <a href="http://www.micahzak.com/bluefire-graphic-novel.php">Bluefire</a> and <a href="http://www.micahzak.com/ember-of-twilight.php">Ember</a>.</p>
<p>So here&#8217;s to the next few months of writing and re-writing the first installment of Light of the Protector &#8211; Awakening in the Deep!</p>
<div id="_mcePaste" style="position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow: hidden;">Xtrememma</div>
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