Like any typical night that I get exhausted from staying cooped up inside the house, I grabbed my car keys, started up the engine, and went out on a drive by myself. Tonight was a bit special because I had a mixed CD soundtrack of the arcade driving game, Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 2, with me and I was able to pretend that I was living in a real life racing game. The music beat kept making me want to drive ten miles above the speed, but my better judgement combined with the fact that I am way too cautious kept me within five miles of the speed limit at all times.

Here's the whole story:

I have been visualizing scenes in my head for a comic story that I have been trying to write for the first time in a long time. Whenever I get an interesting dialogue flowing, I open a notes document and jot down lines and a general description of a scene, a cover page, or the camera angles I wish I draw out eventually. All of this work ends up becoming the pre-planning stage in the creative process and it is very important for me to get a general sense of direction before dedicating more time making fleshed out pages. I used to be able to think about ideas and turn them into a comic page in a 24-hour window, but this new story is taking a lot more time because the characters in it are taking a lot more time showing me the facets of their personalities.


So this is how I found myself behind-the-wheel on a Sunday night listening to some techno music and pretending to be a speed racer. I feel that driving around is one place that I am able to zone out and clear my mind of any jumbled thoughts that might be in my head at any given time. My attention is mainly focused on the road, but I have driven along the same paths so many times that it allows me to brainstorm comic ideas as I am going through the motions. Solo driving has become one of my newly discovered cherished places to think.


.::.
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