Author Glyn Dillon chose the name “Nao” for his main character because he enjoyed the double meaning implied by the connotation of the English word ‘now.’
When creating a story, artists and writers seek inspiration in a variety of locations. In making his new graphic novel The Nao of Brown — the story of a woman named Nao Brown who overcomes the challenges of living with a violent form of obsessive-compulsive disorder — artist-writer Glyn Dillon was inspired by washing machines, specifically his young son’s fear of them.
“My little boy used to be scared of the washing machine, when it was just open, the door was open…he wouldn’t want to come near it,” he said. “I just thought it’d be interesting to see if he knows something about washing machines that we don’t.”
From this idea, Dillon spawned a full-length, beautifully illustrated graphic novel that, though fanciful in nature, touches on some deeply human themes exploring love and the nature of self.
Though Dillon has extensive experience with comics, this is his first foray into writing. His father was an artist, and his older brother Steve Dillon started working on comics at age 16, now known in the comic world for his mainstream work on series such as The Punisher and The Preacher.
Dillon himself began working on comics at age 17 at Deadline Magazine, then moved onto DC Comics’ Vertigo during a “comics boom.” Dillon said that he gained a lot of experience “learning in public”: While studying at an art college, he was also getting paid for his work. He later moved to London when he decided to focus his energy on pursuing a career in film. There, Dillon worked on storyboarding, which he said helped his confidence in drawing because “only a few people are going to see it… there’s no preciousness to it.”
Dillon started a blog, also entitled The Nao of Brown in late 2008 to track his progress on the graphic novel, though the rough idea for Nao came before then.
“Writing was really difficult because I’d never written anything before. I loved it, but it was difficult,” he said. “I don’t think of myself as a writer; I think of myself as an artist who had to kind of write something in order to draw it.”
The initial idea for his graphic novel differed greatly from the finished product. Dillon’s initial focus was on washing machines and washing machine repairman Gregory Pope, but in creating a love interest for him, picked the name Nao from a friend’s Japanese girlfriend. In developing Nao as a character, Dillon completely shifted the focus of the story, relegating Gregory to a minor role.
One of the more captivating elements of Nao’s personality is her OCD. Dillon developed the idea after watching a TV show on OCD and learning that his wife had previously had OCD as a teenager. After seeing several other types of OCD depicted on a TV show, Dillon researched the disorder and went to support groups to better understand the disease. As an artist, he decided that visually, the best way to portray the disease was through a form of OCD that manifests as “morbid, violent thoughts” because this kind of violence “would translate well into a graphic novel.” Dillon noted that some readers had difficulty discerning the reality in the novel from Nao’s violent ruminations.
While learning about OCD, Dillon started taking lessons in Buddhist meditation at the West London Buddhist Center. He made connections between the other students’ often-futile attempts to forcibly empty one’s mind in meditations to Nao’s difficulty finding inner peace with her OCD.
“Those kind of things started to slide into place,” he said. “In my mind it was just all these things firing off at the same time. They help you kind of come up with the story stands and stuff.”
Another salient element of the novel is the influence of Japanese culture. Dillon is a fan of Hayao Miyazaki’s films, such as Spirited Away, and included eastern influences in his art and in the story.
“I think, art and design-wise, there’s such a nice sensibility to Japanese art and design,” he said.
Nao herself is a “hafu,” a child with a Japanese father and an English mother. Though Nao shares Dillon’s love of Japanese culture in many ways, Dillon tried to make Nao “as British as possible” in order to make her an authentic character drawn from his own experiences.
Dillon’s labor of love may possibly be his last for a while. Until inspiration strikes again, he’ll settle for giving advice to aspiring graphic novelists.
“Don’t try to imagine an audience; just try to write for one person, so you’re not trying to please across the board,” Dillon said. “Writing-wise, always write, and drawing-wise, keep on drawing. You get better by keeping on doing it.”
