Some might be masters at painted colors, or digital colors. Some might be great with layouts and sequential images, but not so good with inks or colors. One note: Artists for comic books rarely fulfill all the visual roles. In order to create a good collaboration, though, you need to have clear expectations for what the artist will do (pencils, inks, colors, letters?), and you need to know what sort of art you’re looking for (hand drawn, painted, digital, collage, realistic, abstract, other?).ĭeviant Art is a great site to join to discover artists and get a sense of their work. Writing is a lonely enough business as it is, and a good collaboration can bring unanticipated synergy to a project. You’ll have an easier time finding hippies at a Donald Trump rally than publishers looking for unsolicited scripts from writers, so save yourself some time and either create the art yourself, or find an artist interested in a collaboration. Step 7: No one wants to read your script, so find an artist or draw it yourself. Chances are, when you see the visual story, you’ll want to go back and make changes in the script. Ask the artist to share layouts, pencils, and inks with you, and look over every panel careful as things are developing. Finding a writing group can help you with this.Įven with a lot of script revision, revision will also need to happen during the production phase, so make sure you find an artist who’s willing to revise (see Step 7). In comics, you can imply a lot more through the art than you might think (and the audiences demands for the pace of the story are faster than you might think), so it’s best to start with a longer script, and make the writing minimal. Then I’d cut it down relentlessly, removing every word, scene, or moment that wasn’t adding something good, or that was getting in the way of the art, until I arrived at that magical 22 page. So, to come up with a good 22 page issue ( like this one), I’d start by writing at least 40-50 pages for the script. Some publishers are stricter than other ones on this, but with publishers I’ve worked with, 22 pages on the nose was demanded. Things might change a lot during the layout stage.įor instance, with traditional trade paperback comics, a typical issue will be 22 pages. Two things to keep in mind here: 1) Less is more and 2) it’s much easier to revise things in the script than in later stages. And remember, panel descriptions are also part of the script (just don’t go crazy with them like certain famous writers have been known to do). Read and follow these guidelines carefully. There is no industry standard right now on how to format a script, but Dark Horse’s handy Script Format is good for most publishers. Try to vary backgrounds and settings, and keep things active and visual. Try to pace scenes out so they happen on one page, and so moments of tension happen on the page turn. Less is better though, and variety is good.Īlso, as you’re writing the script, think about what will be on the left or right hand page (depending on the format), and try to get opposing pages to either complement or contrast with each other. For instance, with a typical trade paperback comic book format, 9 panels per page should be considered the max. Note: with different formats, you’ll have different numbers of panels per page. ![]() Artists usually like to work with larger panels that can show more rather than a bunch of small panels. And try not to crowd your pages with too many words or panels. Also try to advance the story as much as possible through dialogue (rather than text blocks). The most important thing to remember in writing the script is that the images must tell part most of the story (that’s why it helps to think visually first). ![]() What the script for the above inked page looks like. Then find the form that best fits those needs and the needs of the audiences you want to reach (reading other books that are reaching that audience is a good way to do this). ![]() And what effect you want the format to have on the reader. What colors and styles the story demands. So ask yourself early on, “What do I want this story to look like, and where do I want it to end up?”Īre you going for a traditional trade paperback comic format? A graphic novel? American manga? An online, digital comic? A black & white graphic memoir? A collaboration or writer/artist work? An art book or short letter press book? And are you looking for a commercial publication, to self-publish, a small independent press, online publishing, or something else?Ĭonsider what the size and shape of the pages will be. It’s going to determine how the story is structured and paced, and what the style of the story might be. Some folks might suggest doing this after you’ve written a script, but I think it’s best to do it before, because the format is more than just a publishing platform or the shape of the page. Inks for Broken Saviors Issue #2 (without letters).
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