I’ve reached a bit of a stalemate in my progress. So far I have made a bulletpoint list of diary entries from my uni days and have a bit of a feel for the themes and content. After chatting to Peter Moyes today, he suggested just getting into the writing- stream of consciousness style. This would then give me something to start with and get advice on. Mariana Shek suggested breaking it down into smaller vignettes. Also a good idea. I will now go back over the dot points and identify smaller stories/chapters.
One of the main things that terrifies me about this is how to weave the different timelines together. There are heaps of different ways in which this is ordinarily achieved, and I just recently read a cracker of a graphic novel, The Goon in Chinatown by Eric Powell. It is composed of three different timelines, the Goon as a child, as a younger man and the present day. These different timelines are signified visually.
The scenes from his childhood are represented using grayscale ink washes, giving an ephemeral, dreamlike quality. Inked line-work is subdued and works with the ink washes.
Scenes from the recent past use a rose tinted colour scheme, still employing the loose ink wash technique. Line-work is still inked in the same soft subdued way, however it stands out a little more due to its contrast with the colour-tinted fill.
Scenes from the present use a traditional comic technique of the black key-line around characters, solid blacks and a wide colour palette.
Transitions between timelines are handle seamlessly, often using a symbol or element within the story to move back and forwards in time. Another device is the appearance of the Goon, in the present day he bears pronounced facial scars, in the scenes from the past he does not have them. Some transitions are navigated by the turn of the page, and others move within the page, as below.
How I approach this navigation of time periods in my own works remains to be seen.
There are a few visual styles I can bring to bear that I can choose from; I’ll have to make a decision soon.
