How The Alice Journal Was Made, Part 1

Over the next few blog posts, I’d like to share my journey in creating my newest project - The Alice Journal, based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. (Actual title of the project is coming soon.)

I don’t remember the exact date when I started working on this project last year, but after checking my notebook, I found that my first Alice doodle appeared in August.

But long before that, I remember thinking about creating a comic book based on Alice in Wonderland. Just because Alice is my all-time favorite book. I started playing with the idea by doodling a few comic pages, and later, I used the concept to apply for a comic mentorship. But I didn’t have a clear vision and I didn’t get the mentorship to explore the idea. So I let it go.

But the idea came back clearly at the right time in a different form - a journal. No wonder I couldn’t create a comic with the idea.

It was another low point in my life. I was waiting for the responses to the 50 query letters I sent out for the gift book manuscript I just finished. I saw my high hopes and dreams deflating gradually as I received rejection letters one after another.

I didn’t know what to do next. I picked up Alice in Wonderland and started reading it again. Then I experienced something unexpected. This special book drew me into its magical world in a new way. I was inspired and encouraged by Alice’s story. I needed to capture the optimism I found in a journal format.

I wrote my ideas down and made some edits prompted by my life events. I was able to finish the writing relatively quickly and smoothly.

Reading Alice got me through my difficult time. So I’m excited to share what helped me with others who may be experiencing similar difficulties that I went through.

Next time, I will write more on creating the illustrations for The Alice Journal.