A Few Tangential Remarks On The Lakes International Comic Art Festival

John Freeman's experience as editor and writer enabled him to ask the right questions of Andy Diggle who then spoke informatively about the relationship between editing and writing:

a writer who wants to be noticed by the industry needs to perfect his ability to write 5 page short stories, submitting them wherever possible, like to 2000 AD, or putting them a blog;

the 2000 AD tray of unsolicited manuscripts contained rubbish, a few submissions from writers who needed editorial advice about writing techniques, structure, pacing etc and Mike Carey!;

Andy likes action panels to be silent except for SFX but some 2000 AD writers included unnecessary balloons saying, e. g., "I am about to fall off a building!";

technique can be taught whereas imagination can only be encouraged;

Andy started writing with a non-Dredd short story set in Megacity One (neat);

many writers want to write their favorite characters from childhood whereas others want to create new characters;

Max, the villain in The Losers, is "Rumsfeld meets Blofeld," a neat description, certainly a Blofeld-like figure with "New American Century" politics - and a name beginning with "M."