This week I interview Jim Hardison, whose first comic THE HELM hits stands from Dark Horse tomorrow with art by Bart Sears. THE HELM may be Jim’s first foray into the comics medium, but he has a lot of experience in both story and characters and plenty of wisdom to share on the writing process.

It’s been said that to make writing a career you have to sell more than just a story: you have to sell yourself. Do you find this true, and do you have any insight to share on selling oneself?

I’ve found that selling a story is a lot easier if you’re passionate about it—maybe because people can get caught up in your passion and feel moved by the things that are moving you. In the event of a face to face pitch, it certainly helps to be excited about the characters, about the concept and about what the story means. Of course, it has to be a really good story and it has to be thought out from all the angles or that passion won’t take you very far.

What would you say is the #1 mistake you see aspiring writers making?

Writing about external conflicts rather than internal ones. External conflicts are interesting and engaging, but if that’s all you’ve got (people wrestling with other characters or the environment) it will be a lot more difficult to connect with the audience. It’s much easier for the audience to connect with a character that is flawed and vulnerable than with one that is perfect and aloof. If you’ve got a great internal conflict for your character, it will lead him into all kinds of external conflict, but if you’ve only got external conflict, your story isn’t likely to mean very much to people unless they’re experiencing that exact same situation.

Read the entire interview here >>

Posted under Making Good