Behind The Scenes (Writing Comics)
"Make
me laugh. Make me cry. Tell me my place in the world. Lift
me out of my skin and place me in another. Show me places
I have never visited and carry me to the ends of time and
space. Give my demons names and help me with heroes who
will give me courage and hope. Ease my sorrows and increase
my joy. Teach me compassion. Entertain and enchant and
enlighten me. Tell me a story." - Dennis O'Neil
Writing comics, what a joy. The idea of being able to express your inner child while simultaneously earning a living within the land of make believe is a dream come true for many creators.
Writing is a skill that cannot be taught within the confines of a web page. Sorry. Writing – as with all creative endeavors – is a matter of mileage. The more time invested the better you will become. Only by writing and writing and writing some more will you begin to teach yourself and develop the skills and qualities that seem so readily accesible to those in the industry we follow on a monthly basis.
The goal of the comic book writer, as evidenced in the quote above is to tell stories. So it would behoove us to first identify what exactly a story is:
A story is a structured narrative designed to achieve and emotional effect, demonstrate a proposition or reveal character.
In order for a story to work in comic books, we have to define what comic books are:
Comic Books are the combination of both words and images collected on the same page. They are a langauge comprised of 2 separate elements used in tandem to convey information.
To be a good comic book writer you MUST become fluent in this langauge. To quote Dennis O'Neil again, "Writing comics is a lot like poetry; you've got to adapt your thoughts to a fairly rigid form and use it so fluently that readers are unaware of its artificiality."
So what components are required for us to become fluent in this language (This is but a brief list. For more information turn to the experts in the books I recomend at the bottom of the page.)?
Structure. Story structure is esential. The story needs to follow an outline of sorts by breaking it up into 3 Acts: The Premise, the Development, and the Climax. Through these acts we are able to contiually escalate the action to it's final crescendo and denoument.
For instance: In issue 2 of The Miscellaneous Adventures of STYKMAN™ ACT ONE introduced The antagonist LUCY FURR and her desire for our Beloved Bough to retrieve a certain "item ." ACT ONE showcased the quest for said "item." Act THREE climaxed with Lucy Furr obtaining said "item" and all hell breaking loose – literally!!!
One way to help in your structure development is to plot out your ending first. Obviously you wil have a general idea of how your story will play out, but by knowing where you are going to end up you will find all of the other pieces fall rapidly into place. There is nothing more frustrating than reading a comic, book, or screeplay wondering if the author had any idea where he/she was going.
I used to love reading Stephen King novels. But one thing that drove me crazy were his endings. More often than not it felt as if he never really thought out the ending of his stories and couldn;t quite figure out how to end them ( Which is probably why I loved THE MIST. It never really ended.)
Pacing. I cannot tell you how important this part of your storytelling is. The very last thing you as a writer want is for a reader to be bored. Boredom is answered thorugh escalation, or rising action. In other words, each incident is more intense, every action is bigger, the danger grows more menacing, dificulties become more complicated than what went before. The idea is to bring the reader to the Apex of suspense and emotional invoivement then provide them with a catharsis – or relief from the tension you've created. When writing humor, this is where you would deliver your punchline or comic relief.
Using issue 2 as an example again:
While in the middle of a discussion with LUCY FURR, STYKMAN™ decides he has to pee and makes his way to the little boy's room – a vile, decrepid, putrid structure at the bottom of termite-rotted stairs, across a rickety, collapse-at-any-moment wooden bridge, surrounded by a noxious cauldron of neon-green toxic waste. Weapon drawn and at the ready, STYKMAN™ descends the stairs. The door slams behind him. Suddenly the air is pierced by a blood curdling, ear-splitting, little girl scream. Time passes. LUCY FURR and Al wait with no sign of our hero wannabe. Suddenly the door blasts open. Out crashes STYKMAN™, coiled in the tentacles of the dreaded leviathon. His weapon torn from his hand lies mere inches away from his grasp. Struggling worthlesses in its grip, the levathon uses STYKMAN™ to redecorate the wals and demolish the furniture. A glass case just off to the side with an inscription beneath reading "In case of Leviathon Break glass" is suddenly shattered. STYKMAN's sidekick AL stands holding a salt shaker at the ready. STYKMAN™ reaching, knocks the shaker loose from AL's grasp sending it flying in the air. Luck favoring the foolish, the top comes off and salt pours onto the chartreuse, scaly skin of the Leviathon. A wail with its origins in the depths of hell, eminates from the creature as it recoils from the attack, flailing wildly, dropping STYKMAN™ from its Death-Grip. He grabs his weapond and opens fire on the creature as it recoils in pain and anguish. Whelt Wafers richochet wildly as patrons of the bar dive for cover. Holstering his weapon, STYKMAN crawls ever so slowly, in agony across the floor, pulling himself up with every fiber into the booth across from LUCY FURR. Exhausted his head slams into the table as he struggles to catch his breath. He raises his head as says, "I still have to pee!"
By keeping your action escalating you keep your readers from the dreaded boredom at the same time giving them the emotional satisfaction of a weell told tale. Now, as a Writer/Artist, my approach to storytelling is a bit different from those of you want soley to handle the writing duties. Quite often I will aproach the writing from the Plot only standpoint, rouging out the deatils and story points, continually to refine the storyline and dialogue as the art continues to develop. In other words, I break most of the rules. However, without knowing the fundamentals first, attempting to do so would be disasterous.
Dialogue is key. You can have the the most fascinating plot and amazing rtwork , but if the dialogue is flat, convaluted, or confusing you will lose your reader. As mentioned above, the last thing you want is for your reader to lose interest or become bored. They will turn to someone else for their entertainment.
A friend of mine Kevin Grievioux, Creator and writer of the movie UNDERWORLD is one of the best examples – in my opinion – of properly written dialogue in the industry. His work in The New Warriors (Marvel) and Adam: The Legend of The Blue Marvel (Marvel) exemplifies pacing and structure. You would do yourself a great service by taking the time to read through these examples.
Now I have caught flak, and been involved in lengthy debates with a plethors of other creators for what I am about to say to you: I do not believe that Profanity belongs in comics. Although it has its place from time to time, using profanity is a form of laziness. The English language is so rich, and has such depth, it is unecessary for us to swim in the shallow end of the cesspool of our vernacular in order to convey our point. You do yourslf a disservice and limit your audience by including it.
Obviously I have only touched the surface of writing for comics. I am by no means an expert in the area as more of my creativity and storytelling abilities fall in the category of out next subject.
For More Information on Writing Tools, Tips & Techniques
I HIGHLY recomend the follow books.
