From Sketch to Story

From Sketch to Story
A quiet, creative space for people who write and illustrate their own stories – whether that’s a manga page, a comic strip, an illustrated novel, or just a scene you’re sketching out.

Bring your own project – either analogue or digital. Work silently alongside others. At the end, we can briefly share our progress (if you want to – no pressure).

This is not a class – just a supportive place to make progress on your project.

If you only write or draw without any particular project, you’re still welcome.

Venue: Auckland Central City Library, 2nd floor, near the windows at a round table.
Time: Every Saturday, 10:00am – 12:00pm

Schedule:
10:00 – 10:10 – Late arrivals & Introductions (name + what you’re working on, perhaps)
10:10 – 11:40 – Silent work (feel free to take a break as you need)
11:40 – 12:00 – Optional sharing

How to find us: I’ll be carrying a handmade A4 table-top banner reading “From Sketch to Story” for visibility.

How we will proceed: We’ll wait for late arrivals, and then we’ll do brief introductions. Just your name is fine too!

Rules: Be mindful when interacting with people and refrain from making racist, discriminatory or sexist comments. Let me know in private if anything makes you uncomfortable, and we can try to sort that out together.

What I currently work on: A story about shamans (can be classified as fantasy, I guess) – a tale of twin siblings separated when they were babies.

A personal note on why I created this event:
To keep myself accountable and meet like-minded people.

I’ve always been dreamy since my childhood. I always enjoyed creating stories and drawing characters and scenes for them. It was sometimes to escape the misery of the world, sometimes to connect with people as a shy introvert, but mostly to express myself, though I rarely shared with anyone. My biggest dream as a child was to become a manga artist. Well, life happened. Though I was lucky to have spent many years in Japan – not as a manga artist but in academia – I ended up becoming a soulless and depressed adult who forgot about dreaming. I’m stuck in cycles and do nothing to break my misery.

But the child in me is sad, and I feel miserable to have disappointed her. I want to break the cycle and make the child in me content.

I also have stories that have been haunting me for years. I need to finish them because there is a me who is desperately trying to get separated from me in different stories with different endings for the possibilities that weren’t chosen or lived. They are half-completed, and half-completed tasks haunt you forever, suggests the Zeigarnik effect; I can’t agree more. I can't change the fact that some things weren’t chosen or lived, but at least I can write stories for alternative universes.