Catching a Vision 022
Writing V: Telling the Story
Catching a Vision, the (look out here we are again) weekly column on Comic Related from C. Edward Sellner, Founder and Creative Director of Visionary Comics Studio. CAV provides practical guidance on how to break into the comics industry, as well as insights into this medium we all love. With resources you can order online, interviews and debates with comic professionals, and online workshops, this is your best introduction into the wonders of creating comics!
Welcome back as we wrap this round on writing. Remember, this column looks at the entire process of creating and selling comics. So, I focus on one arena for a series and then move into another. Writers, you're going to want to stay tuned to future editions, simply because the more you know about creating and selling comics, the more skills you bring to any negotiating table you may sit at. Not to mention after the penciling series, I'll be focusing on collaboration, then not too long and another writing arc. Ok?
So, as we bow out on the art of stringing words together, let's look at...
Telling the Story
There are tons of resources out there that can help you learn the basics of storytelling in general, from character development, to plot, pacing, etc. I've listed good resources before in this column and will include a number of solid books on writing at the end of this edition as well. Any of those listed would be great resources for aspiring writers to check out.
Let's focus a little on the specifics of telling a good comic book story and some of the general principles you need to be aware of.
Beyond the Panel and Page
In previous columns I focused a lot on the comic book panel and page. I talked about how each of those represented ';beats' in a story and the potential and limitations for each of them from a mechanics perspective. However, once you start linking those small beats of panels into pages, then those larger beats of pages into something more, then you're getting into storytelling.
There are several general factors a writer should be aware of when working in the comics' medium, in order to make their comic writing as effective as possible. Let's take a look at each.
First, Let the Art Tell the Story
A common mistake among aspiring and neophyte comic writers is when they feel the need to describe the action in captions or dialogue that is already or could much more easily just be shown in the art. If Dooperman is being pictured leaping a tall building, don't then go and tell me he is, let the art carry the story where it can. This includes settings, actions, even emotions. It's true, a picture is worth a thousand words, so, when you can, let it be.
Second, Make Sure the Art IS Telling the Story
The flip side of the above coin is when the writer passes up great opportunities to let the art carry more details of the story by failing to give proper direction to the artist. I can't tell you how many scripts I've read that fail to include any body language or facial expression emotional cues to the artist that can add depth to the story. The majority of scripts I read in submissions and from new writers mentions WHO is in the panel, but only in the rarest circumstances mentions anything to give insight into those characters.
Telling us Captain Marvelous is in the panel is fine, but pointing out "Captain Marvelous should be standing heroically with a broad smile on his face" helps carry the emotion, mood and depth of the story.
Now, if you're working with a great artist who picks up on subtleties (So Captain Marvelous is sure he will beat the bad guys huh? Okay, let's make him smiling and heroic) then this sort of thing might happen. But if you fail to give this kind of direction and your artist just has listless, lifeless people standing around, then that's partly on you.
This can happen on a lot of levels. For example, if you're writing a mystery, it may be important to make sure certain props or features are clear in the art, so that they can be revealed later as the clues that lead to the solution. Use of powerful iconic visuals, as mentioned previously in Watchmen also adds elements to a story. Incorporate these things to add depth and detail to your work.
Third, Use an Economy of Words
Because comics are a visual medium, you want to strike a fine balance of text and art. Make sure you aren't overwhelming your story with narrative. Lots of words on a page make it look cluttered, detract from the art, slows the pace and tends to drag for the reader, increasing the chance they will get bored or frustrated.
Of course there are going to be exceptions. There are times when there may be a need for heavier narrative. It may be an expositional scene to give necessary back-story, or an important dialogue between two characters that explores their relationship, but these should be exceptions, not the rule.
Fourth, Comics Are a Visual Medium So Make It Visually Dynamic
This is obviously something we will explore more in the art end of things, but it's an important concept for writers as well. There is a reason the abundance of comics have over the top storylines that include lots of action, fantasy and other visually dynamic plots. Simply put, dynamic, exciting visuals grab reader's attentions and interest MUCH faster than pictures of people sitting around talking.
Yes, there can be perfectly good comics that do not include world saving battles requiring two page spreads for all the explosions. However, whether it is a use of setting, a purposeful focus on mood and tone to add dramatic tension, or any other tool, the more visually dynamic you can make a scene, the better it will play in an illustrated book.
For example, say you're writing a scene where Dooperman is talking with his lady love about their relationship. It's an important story element. It has emotional drama, people love the characters so they will be invested in it, but can you help make sure it plays out better? Sure. Do they decide to chat in her apartment? Or maybe he flies her to a mountain top at sunset? Think about what direction you can give to ensure the art stays as dramatic and dynamic as possible, no matter what the content of the scene itself.
Fifth, Comics Are a Visual Medium, Play to That Strength
As a writer, keep in mind you have multiple levels you can tell a story on. There is the narrative caption, the actual dialogue, the monologue and the actual portrayed events. Those portrayed events give you a whole level of storytelling you don't have in prose so exploit it where and when you can.
For example, the prose novella I wrote Legend of Fire-Mane, that was published in Visions #1 is now being adapted for a proposed OGN. The opening scene in that story is a prophetic nightmare of the aged Dwarven-Lord in the story. In the prose edition I had to focus on ';painting' the dramatic scene of crows feasting on mounds of dwarven corpses and the two elemental giants that then appear and fight. But, once the artist, Revin Denisya A Putra, illustrated those pages and brought that scene to life, I didn't need to use words to do it. So, I added the haunting words of a Dwarven funeral dirge that anchors the images, alludes to them, but adds more to the story.
Work on ways to maximize the story being told in the comic. Don't include tricks for the sake of including tricks, but ask yourself how you can enrich or deepen the story by playing to the unique strengths of comics.
Sixth, Write to the Format and Know the Limits
As I started this series I pointed out that one of the things that make writing for comics unique is the need for the writer to continually visualize the finished product. I kept a tight focus on that as I discussed the panel, the page, composition, etc. This also applies on a larger level in terms of the issue, the arc, and the series itself.
Most comics, if they are a monthly, or standard sized issue, have certain set page limitations that are a mix of printer and publisher rules. You often see 22/24 pages as the standard length comic, with 32 and 48 page books popping up periodically. You don't often find off page counts because printing some off standard might mean a hike in printing costs, or a loss of ad space for the publisher, etc.
Likewise, most comics are serial in nature: a mini-series, or ongoing monthly series, a limited or ongoing web series. Meaning, there has to be that balance in the writing that advances the story, but ensures there is more story to tell, between resolution and continuation.
The point here though is that you need to know WHAT format you are writing a project for and write it accordingly. If you have to write a monthly comic at 24 pages, then the publisher will want each issue to be 24 pages. You can't decide page 16 is a good break point, or decide you really need to cram in three extra pages this issue.
Of course, for all that, there are also the OGN's (original graphic novels) of the world that stand alone and can vary wildly in page count.
A special, stand-alone, or OGN should be a complete story, beginning, middle and end, with a definitive enough resolution that the reader feels they got the important questions answered, the important events resolved and the story done. Sure it can hint at more, setup a sequel if desired, but by and large, THIS story needs to end.
Any given issue of a series, mini or ongoing, should advance the story, bring some answers or resolutions, even if to subordinate or ';B' storylines, and have some conclusion to them that gives the reader a feeling of satisfaction for that issue. For example, one issue could focus on the hero trying to learn the identity of the villain, only for the big reveal at the end of the issue, just as the villain turns their death ray on the hero. The mystery ';story' is wrapped, we now know the bad guy. The next ';story' or beat of the story, is the hero escaping the death ray, which hits as a cliffhanger and resolves in the next issue.
When talking multiple issue series, finite or ongoing, you do indeed have to strike a fine balance. You want people to feel they are getting their money's worth for that chapter, and be intrigued enough for them to make sure they won't miss the next one.
Generally, any finite series has at least one overarching storyline, the ';A' storyline that develops and stretches through the series, even if various B storylines wrap in each issue.
Any ongoing series, you have to add the element of creating various storylines that move from A to B as the story demands, dovetail into other storylines that then expand out, etc. In other words, you have to create a ';continuity' that provides a consistency and continuation of the series while again, giving the reader a satisfying beat every time they lay down money for an issue. The additional trick here is not to make a continuity that is overly complex, confusing or dependant on previous material. You want every issue to be someone's first, which means you need to make every issue inviting to someone new.
These elements are often a constant tug of war to a writer. I've seen writers who can come up will brilliant ideas and concepts, but cannot plot out and hit a standard 24 page story if their life depended on it. I've also seen writers that are torn between writing single issue stand alone stories, or feeling the need to constantly play to the trade market and write 4-6 issue arcs. Writers working for Marvel and DC routinely face the challenge of needing to write stories that may stand on their own, yet tie into a larger continuity. The companies themselves go back and forth between a focus on good, single issue stories, and major company wide crossovers.
Be aware of this. Whatever you are writing as a comic, give some thought to how it will appear, what format, what run, etc. Make sure you are writing to play to that format and your work will have one more level of polish on it that will help it to shine.
There are two sets of pages featured in this edition. First, the inked pages are from Ale Aragon, for a series we're pitching entitled The Knight. Notice how we play up the environs, the lighting and the camera angles to make even a simple dialogue scene more visually dynamic and dramatic. The penciled pages are the submission pages for Legend of Fire-Mane, mentioned above. Here the visuals are their own narrative. The eventual captions that will be placed do not describe the scene at all, there is no dialogue, merely a funeral dirge that will re-enforce the mood and tone. Without them you can see how the story plays out with no text whatsoever.
Some Good Books on Writing
Here are some solid how-to guides to help with writing comics in particular.
And since I know everyone now wants to read The Legend of Fire-Mane...
You can even now get a collectible, signed edition.
THE INDUSTRY ROUND-UP
will be back next time. In the meantime, look for VCS' own
press blitz that will start hitting this week.
(No, we did not get bought by Disney, nor am I stepping down
but lots of good news anyway!)
Next...
We start our first series on the art of penciling comics!
Join the discussion and add your thoughts on this edition, or the column in general. If you have any questions or suggestions for resources, post them or email them to Sellner so they can be included in future columns. Are you an aspiring or up and coming creator and would like to share your story? Email Sellner and let him know who you are and what you've done.
C. Edward Sellner is the co-founder and Creative Director of Visionary Comics Studio, a studio that within its first three years has drawn high praise from the media and attracted the attention of legendary creators in the comics industry. They have been digitally and print published in the mainstream market and their creators currently work with over a dozen different publishers. Their work has been featured on television news shows, radio programs and internet podcasts as well as featured in every major comics news site online.
Contact him directly at cedwardsellner@aol.com
You can find him at...
Comic Related Forums
Facebook
Deviant Art
MySpace
ComicSpace
Twitter
Visionary Comics Studio
The official site of the Studio where Sellner serves as Creative Director.
Visionary's Networking Sites:
VCS' Facebook Group
VCS' MySpace Page
VCS' ComicSpace Page
blog comments powered by Disqus