Regular visitors of Skottie Young's blog have had a treat lately. Young has announced that's he's working on his own graphic novel (in addition to his other, current commitments) and he's updating his progress in a series of extremely honest, self-reflective posts. There are a couple of things that make this different from other production blogs, a big one being that Young is already a beloved artist with a strong career and plenty of fans who follow it. Most production blogs - and I don't mean anything negative by this, I promise - are publicity tools as much as anything else. Not that Young's necessarily above wanting publicity, but the tone of his posts aren't hyperbolic promotion. They're educational, as much for Young as for any of his readers. Probably more so.

In his first post, he talked about motivation: Why he wants to create his own graphic novel and why he's failed in previous attempts. The second post - the one that really got my attention - was more process-related. He wrote about his experience at Trickster in San Diego this year and how it gave him an idea for his next attempt. It's not just a process-post though, it's a beautifully told story with a twist ending that made my heart skip a beat when I finished it. He left Trickster with an idea for a cute, very Skottie Young-esque story about an apocalyptic rabbit. I would have bought it for the art and the hopes of some chuckles, but after playing with it for a while Young found the story turning into something else - something deeper -  that I can't wait to read now.

His most recent post is about the writing process: a topic I find especially fascinating when discussed by people who are drawing their own material. Is it best to write a full script first? Just make it up as you go along? Or something in between? Young doesn't suggest that there's a one-size-fits-all answer for everyone, but the way he applies the question to himself - and particularly to his previous failures - is heart-warming and enlightening.