Writing Comic Books Scott Bachmann
Page 1 Panel 1
Overview
You can’t teach writing in 90 minutes! So what’s going to happen?• About Me • The Wri.ng Lies! • How to write. • What a comic is not. • What’s special about comic book stories? • How to Script. • What are the don’ts? • How to talk to ar.sts and find them. • How can I afford this? • More to read…
Who are you and why are you talking to me?
My works
• Our Super Mom • Raymond Hardcase • Several Shorts
• Couple of Novels • Short Stories • Illustrated books
All the questions people ask writers
• How long have you been wri.ng? • When did you know you wanted to be a writer? • How do you know you are a writer? (am I writer?) • How do you find .me to write? • Where do you get your ideas?
The Writing Lies. �Let’s get them out of the way.
The Writing Lies. �Let’s get them out of the way.
• I have no ideas for a story.
• I have writers block.
• I have no time.
• My writing is great!
• My [BLANK] likes it, so I know it’s good.
• I don’t read [BLANK] but I have a good idea for [BLANK] • Someone is going to steal my idea!
• Graphic novels are respected, I don’t write comic books
How to write
READ
WRITEFINISH
No Seriously. How do I write comics?
Read. Write. Finish. There is no shortcut. Next Steps:
• Re-‐Write. Re-‐Write again. • Give it to a stranger without explaining it. • Ask money for your work. • Listen to your editor. • *Realize the Ar-st is more important than you, so work with them!
*Unless you are also the ar.st. Then we hate you. It’s a respecSul hate.
What a comic is NOT.
• Novel • We can change loca.ons at will, external – not internal, we have art
• Short Story • We can have history, We can share worlds, We can stand alone/We can con.nue
• Play • No budget limit, We don’t have actors (we do have ac.ng), We can have non-‐people people
• Movie • We don’t move, We don’t make noise – This should be obvious, but it isn’t.
• TV Show • We are a lot like a TV show with ra.ngs, commercials, soap operas, history, .me limit • We can also make formulaic three act stories you would do in a TV show • BUT – We can break formulae and the fourth wall, We can have inner monologs, We aren’t limited by a TV show budget
• For Kids Only • Duh.
• A way to get rich • Nobody making comics is RICH. No creator is RICH from their comic ideas. The 90s were a bubble.
What’s special about comics then?
THEY HAVE PICTURES• Adults don’t like illustrated stories – that’s baby stuff • Adults do like figh.ng, porn, exo.c loca.ons, colors – All beYer with pictures • A picture tells a thousand words
MOST ARE SERIALIZED• CliZangers, reveals, soap operas – all that stuff that makes pulp squishy • Dickens, Tolstoy
THEY ARE METAPHORS• If I have to explain this part, go back and read some more comics
THEY ARE SHORT • Unless you are independent and hate making a living. • See Bone, Cerebrus, ScoY Pilgrim
Types of scripts
Marvel Way
• Big descrip.ons • Leave panels to the ar.sts • Dialog later • Let the ar.st share the story (pacing, ac.on, ac.ng) • Shared royal.es
Full Script • PEN MONKEY! DO THIS AND
ONLY THIS. EXACTLY. …Er… Please? • Control over what’s happening • Describe reac.ons • Perfect pacing • Work for Hire
Failed other project made into a comic
• Did you sleep through the last two slides? • This is not a type of comic script. • But they exist.
I paid for this class, tell me something useful! Like… Formatting.
• No set way to make a script. Just isn’t • Lots of free examples out there • Screenwri.ng so`ware is helpful compared to word processors • Make dialog separate from scene • 5-‐6 panels (except when not) – i.e. Pacing • PAGE TURNS • Cheats from other script media • Thumbnails
• Make it CLEAR who’s saying what • Make it CLEAR who’s doing what • Make it CLEAR who else is there and what’s up with them even though they don’t get a balloon • NOBODY IS MOVING. But there is lots of ac.on. • IT’S A WORLD. We see all of it. Tell us about it so the ar.st knows to include it. • Talk, or do not, there is only a page to fill…
The Don’ts in comics
Don’t tug on Superman’s cape. Don’t spit into the wind. Don’t pull the mask off that old Loan Ranger. Unless you’re Warren Ellis. • Don’t waste our Hme. Clichés and tropes are common, there are dollar bins and publishing companies full of them. Original ideas are not common. Go where no one has gone before. • Don’t write Spider-‐Man. Don’t write Batman. • Don’t follow any rules. There are no rules in comics. There are rules in PUBLISHING, but not in comics. • Don’t write about Sexy Lamps. • Don’t write about zombies
• Unless you REEEEAAALLY love the dead. • Or you have a new take (See iZombie)
How to talk to artists and find them
• ArHsts are introverts • They live in caves and comic conven.ons. Some.mes they gather in studios. • They are also all over the world (Pencil jack, deviant art, tumblr) • They like to be paid. So when you talk to them, tell them they will get paid. Exposure is not payment. Promises
are not payment. Royal.es of a book not published is not payment. • They don’t understand economics or marke.ng. Unless they are designers, in which case they know more
than you. • Illustrators are not serial story tellers. Do not confuse them. • Colorists are arHsts. Inkers can save your life. Do not forget to talk to them too. • ArHsts are humans that want to be loved and paid to draw monsters. Treat them as humans.
• Find out what kind of monsters they like and adjust your story to include them. • Find out what they hate and remove them. • Your ar.s.c integrity and stories brilliance will pale far behind an ar.st who’s enjoying what they are making.
• ArHsts are not mind readers. Put it in the script. • Take your ar.st out to dinner and feed them. They are starving. Talk about everything.
• Praise. ArHst crave feedback. • Being cri.cal can maYer to the story, but praising means the story will get beYer. • Happy ar.sts are more important than your brilliant story.
How can I afford this? You can’t. If you love it, you will do it anyways.• Art, prinHng, distribuHng, promoHng, markeHng – I just want to write!
• Go write a novel. • Kickstarter! Indiegogo!
• Insane amount of work. • You will lose money or break even • You need an audience first. They will not find you
• Webcomics are free! • Nothing in life is free. All you did is take away the paper. Add in new headaches like IT support, web site
design…
• I’ll sell them to stores and convenHons! • Nobody knows you, they know Batman. The guy next to you draws Batman. • Floppies have no profit margin • Ashcans are properly named
• I’ll sell my art, make prints! • You are an ar.st and a writer. This is why we hate you.
Boy you are cranky! I want a second opinion.• How to read comics – ScoY McCloud • Words for Pictures: The art and Business of WriHng Comics and Graphic Novels -‐ Brian Bendis • Allan Moore’s WriHng for comics – Allan Moore and Peter David • WriHng for Comics -‐ Peter David • TwiAer stalking ~ Gail Simone • Podcasts ~ Word Balloon • Pixar’s 22 rules of storytelling
The End