Work in progress: SECRET PROJECT PART II

No, I won't tell you what this is about just yet. This is just a teaser page for a project I'm doing with Brooklyn-based writer Chris Miskiewicz. We previously did a story on Activate with a lot of fish in it. This one has ghosts and dumplings.

Subscribe to my newsletter, I'll be sure to let you know when this thing hits.

Breaking News: SHORT STORY ON POPCORN FICTION

I've really looked forward to posting this:

My first English language short story has been accepted for Popcorn Fiction! So while still unpublished in Denmark, I am now part of the Scandinavian crime fiction wave. Seems my taste in noir fits the American audience. Let's hope the trend continues!

For my story Black Heart and more crime noir stories than you can shake a stick at, hurry up and go to Popcorn Fiction.

Working Methods: OPPOSING WILLS

A wants B. B wants C. Drama ensues. This is page 1 in the book. But just because it’s bleeding obvious, doesn’t mean you can’t miss it. I almost did, in teen crime book I wrote recently.

The idea had been simmering for a long time. It had taken on different forms through the years, different protagonists, different locations. Different times of the year. At one point it took place during a heat wave, in the latest version it took place on New Year’s Eve while the snow was coming down. Then an editor I was working with as an illustrator urged me to write a teen novel. I didn’t really have any ideas at the time, let alone ever had the ambition to write a teen novel. But not thinking about it for half a day, brought half a dozen ideas to the surface, including the New Year’s story. I shaved ten years off the character’s ages and pitched the thing to the editor who encouraged me to write the whole thing. I guess the term would be “on spec”.

I had enlisted for a course in power writing, a three-day seminar, where we would be working on our own projects the majority of the time. I brought my teen crime novel and a few other things and almost managed to get the book done during the course. I had the structure, the setting and the themes, the main characters. What I didn’t have, was opposing wills.

So about halfway through, I got stuck.

I had put my two main characters in an abandoned house, and the plot was unfolding nicely. But something was missing, I needed something for them to do while they were holed up, something to argue about. I started to question the entire story. Luckily, a smart young lady at the course was able to light a beacon and get me out of the bog. A wants to leave, B wants to stay. Simple, and brilliant. And bleeding obvious.

Never underestimate the power of opposing wills. There is a post-it note for your wall above your computer.

By the way, the editor bought the finished the story, and is published by Gyldendal early 2012.

The Devil's Concubine: TWO NEW REVIEWS!

Noir Journal has just posted a review of my book The Devil's Concubine by award-winning crime novelist Sam Millar:

"The art is beautifully rendered and a delicious feast for the eyes, slicing and dicing so quickly we barely have time to blink away the blood from beneath our lids. The two hitmen–the manic and impulsive Linda and the almost saliently silent Jean-Luc–are a marriage made in hell. Perfect noir dwellers down to their last pocket of luck, with holes aplenty for what little of that remaining luck to fall through. The story is told at a breakneck pace with sardonic and ultra-readable dialogue kicked in for good measure".

Read the rest of the review here


Joyhog silmultaniously put up a review, giving the book a 5/5 rating:

"Originally released in Denmark, The Devil’s Concubine incorporates a healthy amount of American crime pulp in the vain of 100 Bullets and the witty banter of Get Shorty. What’s more impressive than the story itself are the moments of absolute brilliant comedic timing which really sets this crime story apart. Humor is not easy to write and even more challenging to draw, but Schmidt peppers these moments in like a seasoned chef. He expertly weaves in a healthy mixture of non-fiction and fictional crime elements that demonstrate a keen eye to detail that every great crime writer possesses".


Read the rest of the review here


A good day for this old cartoonist.

Film School Confidential: CHARACTER DEVELOPEMENT

I'm attending The National Film School of Denmark these days, studying screenwriting in a 1-year Master Class. This new topic "Film School Confidential" is my idea of taking notes; sharing what I learn with you!

The structure of movies has seeped in to a lot of other genres, books, comics, computer games. So I recommend any storyteller to read some books on screenwriting. Here are some good ones.

This week we have been discussing character with a pro: Danish screenwriter Nikolaj Scherfig. We were shown episode 1 of "Breaking Bad" and Scherfig's own "Broen" (The Bridge), about a string of murders in Copenhagen and Malmö.

Here is some of what we learnt this week:

Plot, Theme and Character form a unity, in which the story unfolds. When you come up with a story, try to think of the most interesting (or unlikely!) character this could happen to, and how it can express the theme. The story should always be about the single most important thing (or series of events) in the main character's life. The whole movie is a turning point for the protagonist, with a clear before and after.

We talked about "want" and "need", what the character's main ambition and what they really need, the latter often a subconscious, more profound existential thing. The protagonist clearly wants a sportscar, but what he really needs is to come to terms with his father. Stuff like that. Want and need are often opposites, and the theme is created somewhere between the two.

Discussing scenes, we touched upon the topic of status. Who "wins" the scene? Does the status shift, so the underdog comes out on top or the other way around? We talked about creating sympathy for our protagonist through the use of status (i.e. lack hereof) or a great unjustice laid upon them, that makes us root for them. We like identifying with the underdog, but we also need to equip our characters with some sort of talent. Because we like watching people with both flaws and talents. Another thing that connects us to the story is the mundane, the thing that we can all relate to. This is what drama teacher Mogens Rukov, the Yoda of Danish screenwriting, calls "The Natural Story".

We began the week by writing a confrontational "moment of truth" scene, from our story but out of context. We were also encouraged to write little conceptual scenes where we let our characters react to different things as a way of getting to know them. A scene where they propose, a scene where they break up, where they are praised, bullied, where they lie. We end the week by creating little biographies of our main characters, another way of looking at who they are, in a more traditional way.

I am thrilled to be here. Hope my notes are useful to you too.