# Writing for Comics



## Tolgron (Apr 15, 2010)

There's recently been a callout by an artist I'm watching for a writer; the artist is planning to start a webcomic and needs someone to do all the things that don't require a good understanding of anatomy, a 2B pencil, inks and Photoshop.

I've applied myself and whilst I'm not especially optimistic about my chances* , I still think it'd be useful to know just how webcomics are usually written and whether people more experienced with it have any hints or tricks they use to help them along. Even if I don't make the grade, this would probably be useful for those who do or are planning to write for comics themselves.

*If we apply the "Bigger Fish" philosophy, I'd see myself as barely being better than tuna.


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## sunandshadow (Apr 15, 2010)

There are a few different webcomic formats: 1 panel, 3 panel, 4 panel, 8 panel, and comic page.  4 panel is probably the most common, but really you need to find out if the artist has one of these formats in mind in order to know what type of script is appropriate.


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## Atrak (Apr 15, 2010)

Heh.

You use footnotes.

The best thing would probably be to study other comics.

Ones that are successful.

You already know about LFG, but have you read LICD?

It's a four-panel comic.


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## foozzzball (Apr 15, 2010)

I should write a Srsly or some other guide on this.

Hint 1: Read Scott McCloud's books, mainly Understanding Comics. (Making Comics is also great - haven't read Reinventing Comics)

Hint 2: There is no standard format. If you want to see the one I use, go here -> http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2166727 <-. Do be damn, DAMN sure you come up with a format that communicates whatever the artist needs to know.

Hint 3: Don't work with primadonnas. Writers who want everything OH SO ZOMG PERFECT are a pain in the ass, artists who want huge amounts of control over everything are usually better off writing for themselves. You want to work with humble people, who you can communicate with, who you can collaborate with, and who you can negotiate with amicably, because conflicts will come up about what is and isn't possible.

Hint 4: Understand that the pacing in comics is very, very, incredibly fucking different to anything in prose writing. In fact, in general, it's just incredibly different from prose writing. It's an entirely different thing. Don't assume you know how to do it. (Also, once it's drawn, the artist will have made it a whole new thing. Learning how to script something so it passes through the 'artist blender' and still conveys all the essentials you want it to is a trick in itself. You're playing broken telephones, in a sense, on the way to the audience. Good artists will tend to minimize the misery.)


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## Tanzenlicht (Apr 15, 2010)

Here are a couple of things I ran across the other day that you might find useful.  I did not show them to foozzzball because he's already doing what I want him to do.

http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/eng/introtocomicbooks and http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/eng/howtovformatcomicbooks

That Understanding Comics book is much better and if you can lay hands on a copy you definitely should.


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## jinxtigr (Apr 15, 2010)

It's screenwriting, basically. The comic's like a storyboard. Totally different types of things matter. I can't draw but I drew over 400 updates for the comic version of Tally Road (still canon!) and ended up learning some things, even though the art always broke my heart. I had about 300 daily readers at the peak of it.

No literary writing is any preparation for it. It takes practice, and eventually storylines evolve which are more COMIC storylines, rather than literary storylines.

I've just bought 'Watchmen' partly because a little google research suggested it really WAS a sort of ultimate in comic writing. It really is pretty fascinating, that medium. Daunting, but amazing...


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## Tanzenlicht (Apr 16, 2010)

jinxtigr said:


> It's screenwriting, basically.



Do NOT hand your artist a screenplay and expect good results or a happy artist.  I know you just meant that the format is similar and it is, but the little differences are vital.

Translating the one to the other is a lot of hard work.  I've done it, and I never will again.


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## Browder (Apr 16, 2010)

Who is this artist?


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## Tolgron (Apr 18, 2010)

Tojo-the-Thief was the artist, Browder. I didn't make the grade anyway, which was expected, but meh. I tried, at least.


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## Toonces (Apr 18, 2010)

Tuna are pretty big.


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## jinxtigr (Apr 18, 2010)

Tanzenlicht said:


> Do NOT hand your artist a screenplay and expect good results or a happy artist.  I know you just meant that the format is similar and it is, but the little differences are vital.
> 
> Translating the one to the other is a lot of hard work.  I've done it, and I never will again.



Oh, I agree, but now I'm curious which little differences you're thinking of, and if there are any specific ones you have immediately in mind. Share?


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## Tanzenlicht (Apr 18, 2010)

Well the big one is that the smallest breakdown of a screenplay is by scene.  Whereas a comic script needs to be (not always, some artists like more give) page by page, panel by panel.

Dialogue has to be written differently.  An actor can make a fairly long speech without boring the crap out of the audience.  In a comic that will just be a big wall of text obscuring the artwork.

A screen play can describe a list of actions.  A comic panel must describe a single moment exactly as it is going to be shown.

You can't rely on sound. You can go wild with special effects.  

When you write the words 'scroll rack' somebody has to draw that, you can't just pull one out of props.  (This is sort of an in joke, but you may find you have to keep in mind the limitations of the artist you're working with).


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## jinxtigr (Apr 18, 2010)

Ah, I see. On the one hand, you need to think in terms of panels (individual shots) as if you're part director (or entirely the director) and it's a shooting script, and on the other hand, you MUST go by Harlan Ellison's advice...

In a book I have, he describes bringing a first screenplay to a Hollywood guy who riffled through it without reading a word and said 'It sucks'. Ellison flipped out, but the guy didn't blink, he just drew on a sheet of paper what he meant.

He drew sluglines and then a bunch of lines (like you're talking about- long speeches) and explained this sucked, and then drew sluglines with single or double lines after them and explained how this was more conversational, less like long speeches, and this was how he could tell the screenplay sucked without reading it. The dialogue went into long speeches, he didn't have to read what it said to know it wouldn't play as a movie.

You're saying (and I agree) that comics are quite the same- that dialogue had better be more terse. That's a very good point


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## Tanzenlicht (Apr 19, 2010)

jinxtigr said:


> You're saying (and I agree) that comics are quite the same- that dialogue had better be more terse. That's a very good point



Even more so in a comic.  Even a long conversation which would be made interesting by, well, acting (hopefully) can be tedious over static panels (however well made).  So it has to be cut or placed over interesting panels possibly having nothing (immediately obvious) to do with the dialogue.  And still make it clear who is saying what without John said, Jane said, or audio.  Different fonts and colored text are cheating, if you ask me.  With the exception of like monster voice, or robot voice.  But just giving every character their own font/color so you don't have to worry about speech bubble tails is totally cheating.

You probably won't micromanage to the point where you lay out the page, but you still have to think about it.  foozzzball, for instance, will give me focal panel indicators so I know which panels he thinks are extra important.  You have to make sure that each page makes sense as a collection of panels to some degree, but still make sure you keep it down to a number of panels that will hold the sort of detail you're asking for.

It's a visual medium like film and some of the same tricks work, but it's not the same.


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## Hauke (Apr 19, 2010)

"Understanding Comics" is definitely a good read...Scott McCloud echoed and then built upon things said by some of the guys who did underground comics in the 70's and 80's who I admire (Griffith, Pekar--still working on comics even to this day).  Pekar might be especially relevant to a writer who wants to have their stories turned into comics.


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## Murphy Z (Apr 21, 2010)

If you're going to write for someone else, know what you're going to do. How big is the project? Are you going to write about established characters? How much creative control do you have? What kind of instructions does the artist want?

As someone that wrote a couple of comics and had paid commissions, I've given instructions that are very hard or impossible to do. I don't know how to prevent this, but I usually have an "alternate plan." 

Even though you're the writer, it's probably a good idea to "draw out" what you have in mind. Stick figures usually work. That way you're not trying to have a 20 page monologue crammed into a skinny panel or maybe that action scene won't work.

Usually the person on the left speaks first.


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