My Former Life as a Pregnant Cartoonist: Using Comics to Tell Stories

Info ... what?

Over on my other blog Notes from the Slushpile, we've started a new series called the Geek List - geeky tools that can make the job of being an all-writing, all-marketing author much easier.

My first piece is about using Powerpoint to easily create infographics. I got so caught up in it that when I remembered that it was my turn to blog over at my publisher's  StoryBlog (yes ANOTHER blog) I made a comic using Powerpoint!


My StoryBlog comic. Click on the cartoon to see the rest or go here

Comics in Another Life

I had so much fun, it reminded me of the time I used to have a weekly comic strip in a woman's magazine in the Philippines (sadly I didn't bring any with me when I moved to England).

Back in 1991-1998 when I seemed to be continuously pregnant, I made a cartoon about pregnancy that I shopped around for a while. Nobody wanted to publish them. Maybe it was because there isn't really a tradition of strip cartoons in the UK.  Or maybe they weren't any good ... but here are some examples:

Now Mrs Jones, slowly let go of my hair ... and push.
It's turning BLUE! It's turning blue!
Early learning.


These comics are All Rights Reserved, © Candy Gourlay

This got me thinking. I wondered if there were other easy ways for non-drawing people to make comics. It's such a nice medium for telling stories - especially the three frame strip which hones your ability to create a set up and lead to a pay-off ... which is a great way to prepare to write longer pieces like short stories or novels.

Online Comics Generators as Teaching Tools

Turns out there are plenty of online comics generators ... and that lots of imaginative teachers have already started using comics to get their students telling stories!

There are some great links to free comics generators in that article, but I will post them below to make things easier for any kids or teachers who want to have a go.