Die By the Pen: Let’s Just Settle This
In Die By the Pen, Jared Gniewek discusses what feeds his fires as an author of comics, screenplays and radio dramas.
I’ve been contributing to the Sequential Art Collective blog for some time now and thought it appropriate to write about what it is I hope to achieve through these essays and through our organization. If it hasn’t become apparent through the text or if you are a new reader this will give you a chance to see what I represent towards this collective.
This blog (an ugly word if ever there was one) is a place where I have been asked to share my experiences as a writer, creator, and enthusiast. I think I’ve delivered on this for the most part. I’ve shared some of my techniques for slogging my way through written works as well as some of my social opinions regarding the state of comics. I fully intend to continue this way. Choosing whatever “feeds my fire” to discuss.
Some folks have said that my work here is unfocused, long-winded, and rambling. Some folks have said that this blog isn’t “about” anything and needs to have more of a viewpoint from which to emerge. They believe it isn’t consistently pointed, funny, or exciting. I aim to spin those talking heads like the pea soup puker in The Exorcist!
I hope in time, to become better at writing these types of things. To reach further and bring back more would be a good goal. I am aware that the desire to read this type of thing is limited but I am committed to staying the course.
It will take time, but I know I’m up to the task. Through these pieces I feel I have learned about myself as an artist and grown from what I have written.
My place within the Sequential Art Collective is largely a social one. I have always prided myself as someone who can get people to open up about their passions. Many times I have shared long conversations with practical strangers regarding popular culture of which I am barely cognizant.
I have kept Furries gushing about their animation projects. Have gotten to hear a Transformers obsessed fellow go on and on about Optimus Prime (to his girlfriend’s chagrin) for well over an hour. I have chatted up folks regarding Doctor Who, The Monkees, Tranzor Z, and of course… comics. Lots of comics. That is why we’re here isn’t it?
I view my work here as a part of a larger conversation I have been having my entire life. My creative endeavors are one facet of this conversation. This blog is another. I hope anyone who stumbles across these words will understand that I am writing to keep writing. Eventually truths will emerge but they won’t be quick and easy sound bytes. The world doesn’t work that way and I would never try to write that way.
The idea of a collective is a sharing of viewpoints. It is meant to be a grouping of diverse opinions, writing styles, and corners from which to grumble our arcane knowledge. I think our collective thus far has shown us to be a broad bunch of contributors who have sounded off in very different ways regarding many different topics. I think we are vital and I think we are distinct.
My ultimate hope is to see comics accepted as a potentially artful medium of self expression as well as a commercially viable entertainment option in the main stream (beyond simply being a launch point for films of licensed properties). My way of furthering this is to stay communicative about my personal processes for creation and enjoyment of media. Through viewing one man’s creative process and running commentary we can view the medium as it is to so many of us struggling in the sidelines.
This won’t change the world but I feel that it is my duty to stay loud and proud as a cheerleader and as a voice. One voice screaming from a void of darkness and mysticism that is the creative process. That is my focus.
Jared Gniewek has worked in the music industry as a back line technician, performer, and promoter. He is also a freelance writer whose work can be seen in the recent re-launch of Tales from the Crypt and heard on The Dark Sense, an audio anthology of the macabre for which he is also the story editor — http://www.earstage.com/darksense.htm.
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