What’s on Nelson’s Discover statement?
By Nelson – When Ian Feller asked me to do an article about things I’ve read that have had an effect on me, I really had to sit down and think about the things that really left a deep impression. If they say we’re a product of our environment, I guess everything must shape us in one way or another. Nowadays, with so many other forms of communicative media, like television, radio, and—God forbid—the Internet, reading seems to be almost obsolete in today’s “microwave” generation. Still, faster doesn’t mean better.
I never thought of the writing profession as something that would actually be a fun thing to do. That was until I read a book by Kurt Vonnegut. It was during my freshman year in high school, and I think it was a choice on a list of books that we were required to read. God knows that just about every literary treasure a student discovers was basically forced upon him or her. You know what I mean. It’s sort of like those vacations your parents would plan, the kind you would be dreading up until the very morning you left. But as always, upon returning home, you’d realize that you really did have fun after all.
Anyway, thank goodness for required reading, because I truly enjoyed that first Vonnegut book. I think it was Galápagos. It kinda made me realize, for the first time, that a respected writer could, and chose to, write these rather odd, but very intriguing stories. With a vivid imagination, tremendous writing skill, and a pretty darn good sense of humor, he brought us stories of weird things like ice-nine, nerds who have affairs with the store owner’s wife, and poor saps who accidentally kill pregnant women with one stray bullet (Deadeye Dick). This really got me thinking that writing could be a hell of a lot more fun than I thought.
Looking back on it now, I realize how these guys must really have a blast writing down what pops into their head. Take Stephen King, for example. Dreaming up those terrifying stories must be more fun than throwin’ watermelons off the Empire State Building.
Still, all I ever wanted to do was draw comics. To me, there’s nothing else on this planet that’s more satisfying (including throwing watermelons off of the Empire State Building).
When I began creating the Eudaemon back in ’92, I started out just designing the visuals of the character. My attentions soon turned from those visuals to the character’s name, then his background, and soon I found myself devising a plot. Next thing I knew, the artwork took a back seat to the story. I found myself actually doing something I thought I never would. I was writing fiction that would be read by a rather large audience. Was I becoming a legitimate fiction writer? Hmmmm. I don’t really consider myself a writer. I mean, although I script my own comic, that’s about it. I never could picture myself writing the “Great American Novel.” That really isn’t me.
When you think about it, writing a comic or two isn’t a big deal, but everything has its own humble beginnings—fiction writing included. Don’t forget that the engaging story of The Outsiders began as an English class assignment when S.E. Hinton was just 16. I wonder if she ever thought, just for a moment, that her story—which she probably figured was no big deal—would be read and loved by millions? Did she even in her wildest dreams think that Francis Ford Coppola would turn her homework into an endearing film?
I’ll never forget one day, about five or six years ago, I was sitting in my car with Carmine Infantino on the corner of Forty-Ninth Street and Second Avenue in New York City. He was nice enough to give me some background work. Boy, I really needed it at the time. He was going over some drawings with me, when lo and behold I saw this familiar fellow with shaggy hair and a beard walking down the street. I new in an instant that it was none other than Kurt Vonnegut! “Yeah, that’s Kurt,” Carmine calmly explained. “He’s a neighbor of mine.”
It’s pretty obvious his work has had an effect on me. If not [solely] as a writer, it’s at least as a fan. I’ll let you in on a little secret: Every time I went into Carmine’s building after that day, I kept an eye out to see if I could catch him in the lobby. I just wanted to thank him. He helped make passing freshman and sophomore English a lot more enjoyable.
I believe that all things, no matter how trivial, affect us. To me, it’s just a question of how they affect us that really counts.
