Ask the Author: Trevor Mueller
Answered Questions (9)
Trevor Mueller
I often tap into my own experiences for stories, and try to twist them and make them more interesting or adventurous. One thing that I used for ALBERT THE ALIEN vol 1 was what happened when things started going missing from kids lockers at my father's school. He was an administrator in a building that had unique architecture, and someone was stealing from lockers - but there were no indications of forced entry. How were they getting in? How did they target certain lockers? All of this was explored in the first ALBERT THE ALIEN book, and it was a fun mystery to explore.
Trevor Mueller
For Novels: I'm really enjoying the Reacher books right now.
For Manga: I'm digging the Kaiju No 8 series. Also, The Way of the HouseHusband makes me laugh every time!
For Comics: I've been collecting Savage Dragon since it started, and I've been wanting to go back and re-read the series from the beginning.
For Webtoons: Urban Animal, Nothing Special, and Let's Play are all favorites of mine. AND they have print editions out now, too!
For Nostalgia: I'm excited to start reading my classic Robotech novel series. Several years ago, I collected all of the books in the series, and I've been waiting for a great time to sit down and crack into it.
For Manga: I'm digging the Kaiju No 8 series. Also, The Way of the HouseHusband makes me laugh every time!
For Comics: I've been collecting Savage Dragon since it started, and I've been wanting to go back and re-read the series from the beginning.
For Webtoons: Urban Animal, Nothing Special, and Let's Play are all favorites of mine. AND they have print editions out now, too!
For Nostalgia: I'm excited to start reading my classic Robotech novel series. Several years ago, I collected all of the books in the series, and I've been waiting for a great time to sit down and crack into it.
Trevor Mueller
I like the worlds I create in my head, personally. A fantasy world I made for a series that hasn't come out yet combines a lot of elements of things I love, and builds in high adventure in a fantasy setting.
That said, I'm always a fan of scifi. Star Trek would be a great established world to visit - and I'd love to write some stories set in that world.
That said, I'm always a fan of scifi. Star Trek would be a great established world to visit - and I'd love to write some stories set in that world.
Trevor Mueller
I'm working on a number of self-published titles (Demon City, Los Ojos, Witches of E Wick BLVD, etc), and a few published titles that are not announced yet (but are planned to come out in 2026-28).
Trevor Mueller
I love the raw creativity that comes with writing. The fact that I can take anything I have in my head - a character, a location, a story - and transplant it onto the page for the world to see is amazing to me.
Since I primarily work in comics, there's a visual component to what I do - and also a partnership. And I enjoy that, too. Sometimes I don't know what I want a character to look like, but I know who they are and how they act. This gives freedom and fun to my artists to also create, and have a stake in the project we're working on together. They get to make the visual elements of the story, and I get to push the story forward and introduce danger and drama to the characters.
I love the freedom of writing, and the lack of constraints like a film budget, or having something look fake or out of place like bad CGI in a movie.
And I love the feeling of completing a project, and seeing it in someone's hands as they excitedly wait to buy a copy. There's no greater feeling than that.
Since I primarily work in comics, there's a visual component to what I do - and also a partnership. And I enjoy that, too. Sometimes I don't know what I want a character to look like, but I know who they are and how they act. This gives freedom and fun to my artists to also create, and have a stake in the project we're working on together. They get to make the visual elements of the story, and I get to push the story forward and introduce danger and drama to the characters.
I love the freedom of writing, and the lack of constraints like a film budget, or having something look fake or out of place like bad CGI in a movie.
And I love the feeling of completing a project, and seeing it in someone's hands as they excitedly wait to buy a copy. There's no greater feeling than that.
Trevor Mueller
I find a lot of inspiration in music. Not the lyrics, so much, but in the way a song makes me feel. The emotion of the song tends to spark an idea in my brain. Or the scene of a story, or a nugget of a theme. Something that gets me going.
Sometimes I start with scenes, sometimes with characters, but usually it's concepts I start with.
ALBERT THE ALIEN: "What if a kid in school was from another planet?"
THE FAN: "What if a bartender had to kill to live?"
JUNKYARD CHASE: "What if a security guard at a junkyard kept getting hurt while trying to save an animal from the dangers?"
Then I build characters and scenes around these ideas. Sometimes they sit in my mind (or in a file) for years at a time. But sometimes I jump right on the computer and start developing the story. It depends on how excited I get about the inspiration.
Inspiration is all around us - I have 1,000 ideas a second, some of which are good, some are decent, and some are terrible - so for creative people I feel like inspiration isn't the issue. It's finding the time and the discipline to sit down and do the work.
Sometimes I start with scenes, sometimes with characters, but usually it's concepts I start with.
ALBERT THE ALIEN: "What if a kid in school was from another planet?"
THE FAN: "What if a bartender had to kill to live?"
JUNKYARD CHASE: "What if a security guard at a junkyard kept getting hurt while trying to save an animal from the dangers?"
Then I build characters and scenes around these ideas. Sometimes they sit in my mind (or in a file) for years at a time. But sometimes I jump right on the computer and start developing the story. It depends on how excited I get about the inspiration.
Inspiration is all around us - I have 1,000 ideas a second, some of which are good, some are decent, and some are terrible - so for creative people I feel like inspiration isn't the issue. It's finding the time and the discipline to sit down and do the work.
Trevor Mueller
There are two things I typically tell writers who are starting out:
1) Write every day. Hone your craft. Like anything else you do, writing is something you get better at the more you do it. Research and studying technique only does so much for you - you are going to learn the most by doing. So go out and start writing.
2) Don't make your first project your epic magnum opus. Don't think Lord of the Rings should be your first project. Start short. Short stories are more challenging for a writer, but it also helps when trying to find artists (if writing comics).
An artist is less likely to commit the next 2 years of their life to drawing your 1,000 page graphic novel than they are spending the next week or two drawing your 10 page short story. Plus, it allows you to build a relationship with your artist. Like dating, you wouldn't ask a girl to marry you on your first date - instead, you'd ask for the second date. Same thing when courting an artist.
Short stories also give you a body of work from which to show off. You can complete more short stories (and get them published in anthologies, or self-publish them) in the time it takes you to do your Big American Novel. You can use those shorter stories to establish a fan base, build your audience, figure out what works for you.
And finally, short stories also give you a sense of accomplishment...and you're more likely to finish them. I can't tell you how many creators I run into who start their big huge story, get 10 pages in and then just stop. Or, heaven forbid, they go back and decide to change the first 10 pages over and over again - seeking perfection instead of completion.
1) Write every day. Hone your craft. Like anything else you do, writing is something you get better at the more you do it. Research and studying technique only does so much for you - you are going to learn the most by doing. So go out and start writing.
2) Don't make your first project your epic magnum opus. Don't think Lord of the Rings should be your first project. Start short. Short stories are more challenging for a writer, but it also helps when trying to find artists (if writing comics).
An artist is less likely to commit the next 2 years of their life to drawing your 1,000 page graphic novel than they are spending the next week or two drawing your 10 page short story. Plus, it allows you to build a relationship with your artist. Like dating, you wouldn't ask a girl to marry you on your first date - instead, you'd ask for the second date. Same thing when courting an artist.
Short stories also give you a body of work from which to show off. You can complete more short stories (and get them published in anthologies, or self-publish them) in the time it takes you to do your Big American Novel. You can use those shorter stories to establish a fan base, build your audience, figure out what works for you.
And finally, short stories also give you a sense of accomplishment...and you're more likely to finish them. I can't tell you how many creators I run into who start their big huge story, get 10 pages in and then just stop. Or, heaven forbid, they go back and decide to change the first 10 pages over and over again - seeking perfection instead of completion.
Trevor Mueller
I don't actually believe in writer's block, and I'll tell you why:
"Writer's block" typically occurs when a writer has an idea on how a story is going to unfold (call this A event, or "beginning," leads to B event "middle, leads to C event "end"). It's when A leads to B leads to Z that things go awry, and a writer tries to pull back - OR it's when A leads to B and then the writer doesn't know where to go next.
I overcome this process through writing in stages.
My first stage is a beat sheet: a series of sentences that summarize the major plot beats in my story.
I use this to build an outline (second stage), which is a page by page breakout of my events. Since I mainly write comics, this works out well for me - but for novelists, you could do this chapter by chapter. Or some other method that works for you. This is where "writer's block" typically sets in, and I can easily reorganize events, change things around, and there's little commitment on my end to these changes since I haven't written more than a few sentences.
Lastly, I use the outline to build my final script. This is where the meat of the work comes in, because I'm filling in the gaps of the outline and pacing out the pages. It's the bulk of the time commitment, but the bulk of the work has already been accomplished in the first few steps.
Now, I know this method isn't for everyone. Heck, it's probably not even common in the comic writing world. But, that said, it's worked well for me - both on self-published work, as well as WFH and licensed work. Especially when a publisher wants to see an outline before they approve a story.
"Writer's block" typically occurs when a writer has an idea on how a story is going to unfold (call this A event, or "beginning," leads to B event "middle, leads to C event "end"). It's when A leads to B leads to Z that things go awry, and a writer tries to pull back - OR it's when A leads to B and then the writer doesn't know where to go next.
I overcome this process through writing in stages.
My first stage is a beat sheet: a series of sentences that summarize the major plot beats in my story.
I use this to build an outline (second stage), which is a page by page breakout of my events. Since I mainly write comics, this works out well for me - but for novelists, you could do this chapter by chapter. Or some other method that works for you. This is where "writer's block" typically sets in, and I can easily reorganize events, change things around, and there's little commitment on my end to these changes since I haven't written more than a few sentences.
Lastly, I use the outline to build my final script. This is where the meat of the work comes in, because I'm filling in the gaps of the outline and pacing out the pages. It's the bulk of the time commitment, but the bulk of the work has already been accomplished in the first few steps.
Now, I know this method isn't for everyone. Heck, it's probably not even common in the comic writing world. But, that said, it's worked well for me - both on self-published work, as well as WFH and licensed work. Especially when a publisher wants to see an outline before they approve a story.
Trevor Mueller
Albert the Alien stems from two areas:
1) My love of Saturday morning cartoons growing up, and wanting to capture that feeling of fun and excitement as you ran downstairs in your PJs with a bowl of sugary cereal in hand, ready to binge watch hours upon hours of 30+ minute toy commercials.
2) The feeling I had growing up that I was different. I was a nerdy kid in a time when nerd culture wasn't popular. Where video game systems weren't in every house. Where anime wasn't a block on a cable TV channel (or heck, didn't have it's own channels). Where comic books didn't have major blockbuster movies, and liking the X-Men (and not liking sports) got you socially ostracized by your peers.
I wanted to combine these two things to create a character who had a sense of wonder and adventure in him, but who also didn't understand the social and societal norms we all grow up with (and that, let's be honest, don't always make a ton of sense to young kids).
1) My love of Saturday morning cartoons growing up, and wanting to capture that feeling of fun and excitement as you ran downstairs in your PJs with a bowl of sugary cereal in hand, ready to binge watch hours upon hours of 30+ minute toy commercials.
2) The feeling I had growing up that I was different. I was a nerdy kid in a time when nerd culture wasn't popular. Where video game systems weren't in every house. Where anime wasn't a block on a cable TV channel (or heck, didn't have it's own channels). Where comic books didn't have major blockbuster movies, and liking the X-Men (and not liking sports) got you socially ostracized by your peers.
I wanted to combine these two things to create a character who had a sense of wonder and adventure in him, but who also didn't understand the social and societal norms we all grow up with (and that, let's be honest, don't always make a ton of sense to young kids).
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