Welcome to our newest column, The Garcia Method: Or How To Write A Digital Comic. You’ve all heard of the Marvel Method for writing print comics, but what about the brave new world of digital comics?  Let us introduce to Ryan Garcia, an aspiring digital comic book author who is on a journey to share his experience with the world. And he’s going to start by sharing it with our readers.

Why am I here?  Wow, that’s a profound question for just meeting!  I’m here because I’m a comic book writer and I wanted to share my journey from writing to publication.  Granted, it may be jumping the gun to call me a writer since my comic book is coming out in October.  But soon-to-be-published-comic-book-writer has far too many hyphens.  We’ll stick with the simple.

As a comic book writer, I’ve longed to tell stories that only comic books can tell.  We’re comic book fans here – I saw the sign on the door – I think you know deep down what I’m talking about.  Comic books let us explore worlds even more fantastical than movies; themes even more complex than television series.  Novels get close yet they lack the shared experiences we all receive from reading a comic and talking about it with other readers.  There is something about the marriage of image and words that makes the story more than just prose.  And there is something about a comic not showing every action like a movie does – it engages more of our imagination.  We connect with comics in a way unlike any other medium.

I’ve wanted to tell stories in comic books for years but I didn’t have the time to pursue a publisher.  When Comixology announced their Submit platform everything clicked for me.  I knew there was now a chance for me to tell the stories I wanted to tell.  However, as a writer without a ounce of artistic talent, I needed to approach the project differently.  There are plenty of blogs and articles and books about self-publishing comic books but virtually all of them take the artist’s side.  Which is fantastic since there are great artist-created books out there.

What about the writer who can’t draw?  There is a path to creating comics.  I was eager to learn it and to share what I’ve learned along the way.  That’s why I’m here.

My comic is expected to launch in October.  I’m hopeful to share what I’ve learned along the way.  I’ll be writing a weekly column here and posting additional content over at brisketcomics.tumblr.com.  For example, I already have columns over there about “Why write a comic book,” ”What does creating comic books from the writer’s perspective mean,” and “The best way to learn how to write comic books.”  So come over there or just sit down here and stay a while.  We’ll talk every week on this adventure.

Feel free to leave any comments.  I’ll do my best to respond to everyone. As long as you stop looking at me that way.

By day Ryan is a lawyer for Dell where he focuses on retail sales, gaming (Alienware), and social media. He’s also a professor at the University of Texas School of Law where he teaches Social Media Law, a subject he frequently speaks on and blogs on as well. He’s also the father of two energetic boys, 8 and 4, so he stays busy.