Monstress Book Tour Manila: A Master Class Encounter with Marjorie Liu

The Art of Storytelling. Trese. Manix Abrera. Collaboration. Filial Obligation. Kindness to oneself. These are some of the juicy topics taken up during writer Marjorie Liu’s master class interaction and book signing at the Arete, Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, Philippines.

Though she is a licensed lawyer by trade, Marjorie Liu did not want practice as a lawyer. “The familial obligation of going to law school allowed me to be a writer,” she responded when asked why she went to law school even if she is not practicing.  And she has become one of the most heralded writers in graphic fiction with her creation, ‘Monstress’.  Winning the Eisner Award for best writer in 2018 made Marjorie the very first female writer to win the award in its history.

Upon arriving, Marjorie went straight to business in a very casual manner by beginning with her master class on writing comic books with the delighted audience.   She classifies comic books as a medium not a genre wherein you can write just about anything.  The use of sequential art provides you with a unique medium with a limited amount of space where every choice matters.  “In a novel, you have a lot more freedom to make mistakes.” she says. “When the comic book is drawn, you can’t go back and review.”

She describes a comic book as a hybrid of novels and film. Though it involves a collaboration with an artist and a letterer.  In this case, script writing is an important skill to master.  She says there is no right way to making the script.  All it takes is for the script to be clear and easy to read.  She does make a distinction between the script and the actual comic produced.

“The script is for the artist.  It’s a love letter between you and the artist.”  She explains.  Many readers never get to read the script, and so it is written with your collaborators in mind. She added that its important to have the artist love the work s/he is doing. She pointed out visual  inspiration, world, building, strong characters and most of all good storytelling as aspects of the comic production that artists love.  “It’s fantastic working with artists,” she shared.

Marjorie then continued by explaining the importance of splash panels and splash pages.  These aren’t placed at random and are reserved for special moments. She further explains that the first page of your comic is like the first line of your novel.  She says that these should be good enough to get your reader interested. “I like my first sentences to do a lot of work,” she explains when it comes to her novels.  She expects the first page of a comic book to give a similar effect.

To end her master class lecture, she highlighted the importance of the narrative.  In creating the narrative for the comic book, you need to consider three points: character, conflict and world.

On creating great characters, she had quite a few views to share. “Characters had lives before the book—there are layers of conflict.  Characters need friends. You can’t learn a lot of a character in isolation.” She shared with the audience.

When it comes to the conflict, she says that there are internal and external conflicts. “The conflict is the driving force in the comic,” she emphasized.

Lastly, we have the world.  She discussed that the world is essential to good storytelling.  What’s the world’s biggest problem? She stressed that if your world doesn’t have a problem then you have a problem.

She ended the master class lecture with the following important considerations.  “Size your story correctly. Don’t make a twenty page vignette into a six comic arc.”  She highlighted proper pacing and good storytelling as keys to a successfully produced comic book.

The many faces of Marjorie Lieu

The many faces of Marjorie Liu

The many faces of Marjorie Liu

The many faces of Marjorie Liu

The many faces of Marjorie Liu

After her master class lecture, the audience was allowed to ask her questions.  She was very animated and insightful in answering questions fielded her.  Here are some of her thoughts on topics raised by curious members of the audience.

On similarities and influences between X-23 (Laura Kinney) and Monstress (Maika), “There’s something about the traumatized young woman—that’s a thing for me.”

On editors,”We all need editors.  I know myself and know that it’s important to have several sets of eyes.”

On storytelling, “Ask yourself, is it boring? ”

On diversity in comics, “I thought there weren’t enough women in comics. I thought there weren’t enough people of color in comics.”

On being a writer, “It is insane to be a writer.  The passion that is required is intense.”

On publishing, “Being published does not solve all your problems.”

On the hardship of writing, “I love what I did. I was not prepared for the self-doubt, for the anxiety.  Be kind to yourself.  Be gentle to yourself.  Focus on what’s at hand.”

On geeks, “A geek is a beautiful thing—passionate about something in their life. I can be geeky for something I love.”

On reading comics, “The dumbest lie—women don’t read comics.”

On struggling writers, “Don’t listen to the bullshit. Keep doing your work.  Tell your own stories.”

On creating the narrative, “In the case of Monstress, characters came first.  It’s a very organic process. It’s all linked together.  There’s no particular order.”

Then we have this question on writer’s block and how to handle it.

Finally, we have a bit of an idea of her thought process for Monstress and writing in general in this video.

There’s a lot of great stuff in her interactions with the audience  that you can use not just in your writing.  Marjorie Liu provided an inside look into the mind that created one of the best-written graphic fiction stories of the past years.

As the questions ended, the audience was allowed to meet her face-to-face for book signings and photo opportunities.  She was as lively as she began, and hopefully her visit sparked a fire of creativity for those present.  Visit us again in the Philippines soon, Marjorie.  I for one greatly appreciate all the inspiring thoughts you imparted to us.  Thank you for sharing with us your wit and charm; and the beautiful creation that is ‘Monstress’.

Me with Marjorie Liu