Alec Worley's Blog, page 5

Submit or Surrender? Why Can't I Take My Own Writing Advice?

Paisley Abbey gargoyle © User: Colin, Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.)

“I give myself very good advice,” sobs a despondent Alice in Disney’s 1951 Alice in Wonderland. “But I very seldom follow it.”

In a recent essay, the second chapter of My Future Shock Hell!, I gave you, gentle reader, some very good advice on the business of ‘rejection-proofing your soul’ when it comes to submitting a project ‘cold’ - that is, surrendering your hard-won comic script, screenplay, or novel to someone under no obl...

Submit or Surrender?

Paisley Abbey gargoyle © User: Colin, Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.)

“I give myself very good advice,” sobs a despondent Alice in Disney’s 1951 Alice in Wonderland. “But I very seldom follow it.”

In a recent essay, the second chapter of My Future Shock Hell!, I gave you, gentle reader, some very good advice on the business of ‘rejection-proofing your soul’ when it comes to submitting a project ‘cold’ - that is, surrendering your hard-won comic script, screenplay, or novel to someone under no obl...

How We Built Black Beth

Art by Blas Gallego

How do you know when you’ve written a character well? When the reviews tell you? When the fans are satisfied that you’ve correctly honoured the obscure rituals of continuity? When the bank informs you your invoice has gone through?

Artist Dani and I have got another Black Beth story out this week, a wintery sword and sorcery tale entitled Death Carries Roses, anthologised in the hardcover Treasury of British Comics Annual 2024.

Our vengeful sword-maiden and her blind sidekick Qu...

My Future Shock Hell! (Chapter 4 of 4)

Art by Liam Sharp

READ: My Future Shock Hell! (Chapter 1 of 4) How I broke into comics and why there's no such thing

READ: My Future Shock Hell! (Chapter 2 of 4) How surviving submissions means rejection-proofing your soul

READ: My Future Shock Hell! (Chapter 3 of 4) Why on Earth would you want to write comic books?

Everything I’ve gone over in these previous three chapters about surviving the submissions process - regardless of whether you’re submitting a short story or pitching a series - can be d...

My Future Shock Hell! (Chapter 3 of 4)

Art by Cliff Robinson

In the previous two chapters of My Future Shock Hell! I recalled how I learned that there really is no such thing as ‘breaking in’, as well as how accepting the certainty of rejection can profoundly enable your creativity.

READ: My Future Shock Hell! (Chapter 1 of 4) How I broke into comics and why there's no such thing

READ: My Future Shock Hell! (Chapter 2 of 4) How surviving submissions means rejection-proofing your soul

Those first Future Shock submissions to 2000 AD taught...

My Future Shock Hell! (Chapter 2 of 4)

Art by Rob Davis

In Chapter One of My Future Shock Hell! I revealed how the legendary British sci-fi anthology 2000 AD became my first port of call when I decided that I wanted to ‘break in’ to comics.

READ: My Future Shock Hell! (Chapter 1 of 4) How I broke into comics and why there's no such thing

Almost twenty years on and still making cold submissions or pitches to various other outlets in various other media, I’ve realised that my experience of submitting those first Future Shocks has taught m...

Beyond the Veil: Q&A with Man o' Ghosts

Hey, Thom! I’ve been following your multimedia ghost stories for several years now and had to reach out for an interview. You’ve received plaudits from several members of horror royalty, including Andy Nyman, Reece Shearsmith and horror director Corin Hardy. But, for me, it was Junji Ito who summed up the distinct creepiness of your work when he said that you understand very well, “that the most frightening tales are those told in whispers.”

I’ve just read your latest book, Mister Howl , and it’s ...

My Future Shock Hell! (Chapter 1 of 4)

Art by Brett Ewins

This four-part essay is an updated and extended version of a piece first published on my blog back in 2014, itself prompted by a popular talk I gave at Bristol Comic Expo the same year.

I submitted my first script to 2000 AD knocking on twenty years ago. Back then the legendary British sci-fi anthology was your most viable option if you were unfortunate enough to be living in Britain and deluded enough to want to work in newsstand comics. The venerable war title Commando took op...

Why the Greatest Character in 2000 AD Is NOT Judge Dredd

Art by Brett Ewins

I first met her in 1991 within the pages of the Judge Dredd/Batman crossover Judgement on Gotham. It was love at first sight. Her first scene had her answer the phone before it rang. What a perfect introduction to Mega-City One’s premier psychic. It was the promise of a bust-up between Dredd and the Dark Knight that got me to buy the book, but it was the supporting character of Judge Cassandra Anderson that got me hooked.

Written by her co-creator John Wagner and her long-time c...

Full Throttle Fiction: Q&A with Comic Writer Rob Williams

Art by Pye Parr

Mr Williams! You’re a veteran comic-book writer and you’re Welsh. What else do we need to know?

‘Veteran’ makes me sound decrepit and Welsh makes me sound… well, Welsh. I can’t deny the second one at least. I’m a writer, mainly of comics but also of TV and film screenplays these days. I’ve worked for 2000AD, DC Comics, Marvel, Hellboy, Kingsman, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Indiana Jones. I’ve been about a bit, comics-wise, I can’t deny.

Your writing on Petrol Head is as tight, witty, and...