#30: Ready to Script
"Hey, Tyler. This month, I'll be working on drafting a script for the first issue of my comic. Do you have any suggestions that would help, as this is my first crack at a comic script? I have plenty of pages of materials (e.g. characters, story ideas, etc.) But now I need to synthesize those ideas into a script."
-JM from CA
This question came from a friend of mine on Facebook. It's such a great question, I decided to turn my response into an entire column. Last year, I spent a lot of time walking readers through my writing process. From the feedback I've received, sharing a holistic, step-by-step approach to writing comics was very helpful to people. I provided tips on nearly every facet of the writing process, including, harnessing your great idea, conducting research, crafting a pitch, developing great characters, structuring a beginning, middle, and end, plotting out your beats, crafting strong scenes, sharpening your dialogue, and re-writing.
But, as JM's question pointed out, I left out a crucial step. When the research is done and the characters are developed and the story is ready to be told, how exactly do you go about scripting the damn thing in comic form? While no two writers will approach this task the same, I can give some suggestions for getting off on the right foot.
But first...Are you sure you're ready to script?
I know, I know. You're pumped to dive into that script. You've already been drooling over artists you want to approach to draw your comic, or you are thinking about diving right into the layouts (because drawing is so much more fun than typing.) Either way, you want to knock that script out and get on to the business of making comics.
Hold your horses, cowboy. Before you start working out the scripting details of panels per page and scene descriptions, I recommend you first double check that you are, in fact, ready to script. To be ready, your synopsis should be solid. You should have a beginning, a middle, and an end to the story you're going to tell, whether it's a 22 page issue or a full length graphic novel.
Here's a quick way to test if you're ready to script. Grab a friend and over a cup of coffee or a beer, tell him your story. Yup, verbalize it. Listen, as an aspiring comic book writer, you're selling yourself as a storyteller first and foremost. So tell your story. After all, when it's a big success, and you're doing interviews on Newsarama and sitting down to talk to Chuck Moore on his Related Recap Podcast, you're going to have to talk about your story verbally. What I'm telling you to do is to tell your story before you write it. Take 10-15 minutes and lay out your story to a friend. Can you do it? Do you get caught up at one part or another? Is he or she confused? Are they interested? Do the "Oh, wow!" moments in your story resonate with your pal? (You do have "Oh, wow!" moments, don't you?")
If you can tell your story coherently and it provokes a reaction in your friend that you are happy with, well, you're probably ready to start scripting. If not, then get feedback on what's not working or confusing, and go back and fill in those potholes.
Now, assuming you're actually, positively, ready to script that comic, here are some things to do to get you moving in that direction.
How Many Scenes?
Here's a little exercise. Go grab 10 of your favorite single issue comics and count the number of scenes in each. I'm not talking about pages (most comics have 22), I'm talking about scenes. Note a scene changes when the time and location changes. What I bet you'll find is that most comics have around 5-7 distinct scenes to fill those 22 pages. Guess what? So, should yours. So, when tackling that first issue, consider all of the material you have to work with and figure out which 5 to 7 scenes will make the cut.
Twelve Things
Here's a trick I picked up from A. David Lewis (Mortal Coils, Lone and Level Sands.) Write down 12 important things that are going to happen in your first issue.
For example from Invincible #14:
- Invincible and the Guardians of the Globe battle and defeat a horde of alien invaders.
- The Immortal tells Invincible he doesn't trust him and will be watching him.
- Cecil tells Invincible that his identity is still safe, but he's concerned about his mother.
- Art stops by to see Mark's mom and brings booze.
- Derek gets into a fight with bullies.
- Mark finds out William is dating Eve.
- The Principal gives Mark time to make up work after his father's "death."
- Mark and William patch things up over burgers.
- Mark's old boss antagonizes him and William stands up to him.
- The Guardians get a new member, Bulletproof.
- The Immortal becomes a "consultant" to the Guardians.
- Mark finds his mother crying on the floor and she blames him for his father leaving.
Now, it's your turn to write your 12 things. If you don't have 12, you don't have enough story to fill 22 pages. If you have way more than 12 things, you're going to be cramming in too much. Why 12 things? Who knows, it's arbitrary...But little short hand rules can help get us going when we'd otherwise be staring at a blank sheet of paper or computer screen. And this one...it just works.
Plot your 22
Now, I want you to number a sheet of paper from 1-22. Yup, because 22 pages is the standard comic issue length. (If you're writing a comic that's a different page count, well, adjust your numbers accordingly.)
Next, it's time to map your 5-7 scenes and 12 things on those pages. Basically, you're making a ballpark judgment of how many pages it's going to take to tell that part of the story. For example, the first scene in Invincible #14 is the opening set piece battle with the alien horde. This is a superhero book, and the fights are what a lot of readers are coming for, so Kirkman allots 5 whole pages for this scene, so he and Ryan Ottley can work their magic. However, the smaller plot point dealing with the principal's reaching out to Mark only needs one page to execute.
This is one of the fun parts of comics creation...sequencing and plotting your scenes. Once you've laid them all out, you'll then use this as an outline for script writing.
Steal Someone Else's Format and Just Start Scripting
I could write several columns on comic script formatting. Who knows, maybe I will someday. But that day is not today. The truth is, unlike screenwriting, there's no "right" way to write a comic script. There's no industry standard. You could spend a ton of time researching various script formats to find the perfect one for you. But I'd rather you spend that time focused on writing your script.
So just copy someone else's formatting style and start writing your comic. Plenty of graphic novels contain script samples in the back. The book Panel One: Comic Book Scripts by Top Writers is a great resource as well. Hell, if you want to act fast, copy my formatting technique. I published the original script to ICE: Interrogation Control Element online here.
If you absolutely need more direction, I suggest you read C. Edward Sellner's piece on comic scripting. He covered the topic in far more detail than I care to here, and it's a great resource. But my advice is not to spend a lot of time stressing over format. Stress over your content instead.
Once You Start, Don't You Dare Stop!
JUST GET IT DONE. I'm bastardizing a law of physics here: Writers in motion, stay in motion. Writers at rest, stay at rest. So put your butt in the seat and start cranking. Get stuck on a scene, go on to the next one. Trouble with dialogue? Write the cheesiest, corniest line you can think of and just move on. Or don't write any dialogue at all at first. (Comics is a visual medium, after all.) Focus on the imagery and fill in those word balloons later. Give yourself permission to be awful. It's a small price to pay to get your draft done. Your first draft is going to suck. (They all do.) But just plow through it. My tips for re-writing will be there when you're done.
Hope this helps. I'd say more, but sorry, you've got work to do. Don't let me keep you from it.
Attention Readers: If you enjoy this column, you might be interested in checking out The ComixStreet Recap. It's a new series I've begun where I share and comment on interesting topics, resources, and events relevant to comic creators. The column is bi-weekly, and posts on Thursdays.
NEXT: An Artist Ready Script
Tyler James is a comics creator residing in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He writes and draws Over, a romantic comedy online graphic novel updating every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He also writes Tears of the Dragon, an epic fantasy webcomic. His work has been featured at Zuda Comics, and includes Interrogation Control Element, a political action thriller, and Super Seed, the story of the world's first super powered fertility clinic. When not making comics, Tyler works as a game designer and content producer for a software company.
Contact Tyler directly at tylerjamescomics@gmail.com, keep up with him at his blog, or follow him on Twitter.
Previous Columns
1: Big Goals
2: Resolutions
3: The Great Idea
4: Research Part I
5: Research Part II
6: The Killer Pitch Part I - The High Concept
7: The Killer Pitch Part II - The Synopsis
8: Pay Your Artists
9: Zuda Comics- A Tale of Five Submissions
10: Creating Great Characters Part I (Or Why Wolverine is Everywhere)
11: Creating Great Characters Part II (Or Why Wolverine is Everywhere)
12: Structurally Sound- The Beginning
13: Your Reputation
14: Structurally Sound- The Middle
15: Structurally Sound - The End
16: Your First Con
17: Beat It
18: Memorable Scenes
19: Mailbag
20: Comics Dialogue - Part I
21: Comics Dialogue - Part II
22: Baltimore Comic Con - Part I
23: Baltimore Comic Con - Part II
24: Is It Worth It?
25: The Re-Write Part I
26: The Re-Write Part II
27: The Re-Write Part III
28: Taking Initiative
29: Setting the Table for a New Year of Creating Comics
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