We here at Multiversity are fascinated by everything comics, and that includes finding out all about the people that make the books that we love. With that in mind, welcome to WorkSpace! This is where creators let us into their homes and, by getting a glimpse into their surroundings, we uncover a little about their process and their inspirations.
This week: Dan Watters
Dan is the writer of “Deep Roots” for Vault Comics, the former writer of “Limbo” from Image Comics and the upcoming writer on “Lucifer” for Vertigo’s ‘Sandman Universe’ line.
Welcome, Dan! What can you tell us about your workspace? Are you very particular about your environment?
Dan Watters: This is my desk at home, which is admittedly pretty sparse. It’s definitely not always this tidy, but it is when I’m using it for writing, otherwise, I find things get claustrophobic pretty fast. It turns out that though I’m not the kind of person who’s able to keep their desk clear in general, I am the kind of person who clears it when taking photos for an interview- I’d be willing to guess that may put me in the majority. It’s (in theory) basically just books, notebooks, and my laptop. And, when the occasion demands, copious volumes of coffee.
I try and keep my old notebooks to hand as much as possible, as they can be handy when working on new things. A lot of them are filled with vague musings, visual ideas and snatches of dialogue- jottings that have occurred while out and about, most of which never find a place in anything at the time, but sometimes find themselves slotting into something more suitable way further down the line.
I also keep my Kindle nearby, since it’s pretty well sized for reading comics on and hey, sometimes I get to do that for work.
The truth is, though, that I don’t use this workspace as much as I should. I generally go out to work- I’m pretty well acquainted with all the cafes within a three-mile radius of my flat, and which have the fastest wi-fi and most power outlets. When I’m writing in the evenings I’ll sometimes do so vegged out on the couch, too, and then spend the next morning shuffling around like some beast out of a Universal Pictures film, having given myself a savagely stiff neck and shoulders. (I am currently writing this sprawled on the couch. I do not seem to learn.)
Do you have anything around you that inspires you and your work?
DW: The books, pretty much. The books in here are spill-over from my bookcases next door, and I try to keep the stuff in here as things that are kind of generally inspirational for whatever I’m currently working on. This means there’s quite a disbalance towards non-fiction and theory. At the moment there’s a fair amount of Christian and devilish stuff in here, whereas a few months ago there was a fair bit more ecology and ontology as I worked on “Deep Roots.”
The true crime stuff is more of a permanent fixture – as are books about the human body. These are elements that are pretty much inevitably going to sneak into anything I work on, so it makes sense to me to keep references to hand. Most of these texts are pretty vignette heavy, letting me dip in and out.
I really don’t like writing guides and am endlessly skeptical of books that tell one how to write, particularly to formula. That said, Jeff Vandermeer’s “Wonderbook” is wonderful, and a stellar piece of work to reach into for inspiration. The section that really sold me on it is the chapter on structure, in which we are presented with a dozen different cross-sections of bizarre aquatic life and invited to use their shapes as inspiration for story structures.
When I’m writing elsewhere, I generally end up carrying two or three books with me, far more than I could ever actually expect to get through or reference in a single writing session- they quite often end up scattered, closed, on the table in front of me as I type, anyway.
I really don’t go in so much for desk trinkets and the like, but I do have the two gargoyles, which are admittedly tourist tatt picked up on different trips to Notre-Dame.
Continued below
What’s a usual ‘Day in the Life’ like for you, do you have a set routine?
DW: I try and get out of the flat as early as possible, but where I head pretty much depends on the day. If I’m exercising I’ll stay nearby since the gym is around the corner. I’ll generally try and read a chapter or so of whatever I’m reading at the time before I start writing. I find that doing so helps me get into the right mode- out of 21st Century Twitter/messenger/SMS skimming-across-the-surface-of-everything, and into something a little deeper, a little slower and stiller.
Then I’ll write and try not to get distracted by emails- though since I’m in London and most of my editors and publishers at the moment are US based, I don’t tend to get too many until 3 or 4 pm anyway. When I get bored or stuck or frustrated with what I’m working on, I tend to simply up and move somewhere else. A change of location generally works wonders to loosen things up, mentally. I know a lot of people find writing in public to be distracting, but something about the white noise of human interaction lets me totally zone out and get on with things.
On other days I’ll try to go a little further afield- I think I’m trying to trick my brain into believing that I don’t have a routine, even though each day’s pretty much the same, structurally. I’ve been recently working out of the Tate every so often, which is perfect if you want somewhere that’s not too busy at 11 am on a Tuesday, and where you can be surrounded by beautiful (if not intimidating, to say the least), inspirational things.
I’ll usually head back home in the early evening, do the whole email and admin thing, write some more (depending on how much I’ve got to deal with, and how spent I’m feeling) and cook. If I’ve got time, I like to cook things from scratch. It’s pretty cliché to say that it’s therapeutic, but it is. It feels good to do something creative that allows me to switch off from the world a bit more than writing does.
Thank you for your time, Dan!
