Fifteen years ago I received a grant from the NEH to organize a symposium on comics, film, and literature. In many ways, I think of this event -- which introduced me to Don Simpson, Rich Veitch, Clive Barker, Steve Bissette, and Kevin Eastman -- as my first real step into the professional world of comic books ... even though it would be years until I had a comic book published. But from those humble days as a comic book philosopher, I seem to have come full circle. The philosopher is back, now as a professor.

This summer I will be teaching a 10-week course at UCLA Extension. The class: Writing Comics, Graphic Novels, and Manga.

Here's the course description: From big-budget mainstream superheroes to critically acclaimed graphic novels to the Japanese manga that's blazing up the sales charts, comics are hot. This workshop provides a comprehensive introduction to the craft of writing comics in all its forms. We begin our exploration by focusing on visual theory and critical thinking about sequential storytelling. Detailed exercises allow students to take a story from pitch to outline to breakdown to completed script, while along the way learning script formatting, pacing, and dialogue management. Various styles are discussed, both in structure (loose versus tight scripts) and content delivery (monthly serials versus long, single-volume work). Finally, we go over some tips for breaking into the business. All genres are welcome. The goal of the workshop is for each student complete a 22-page comics script. Includes special guest speakers.

The Writers' Program summer catalog came out this past weekend in time for the Festival of Books. Those folks living in the greater Los Angeles area can sign up for this class now. The Reg# is S2185W, and the course fee is $375.

As excited as I am about the several new writing projects I've got going, I'm particularly thrilled about this class.