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What I've Learned So Far

1.) Over the past month, I've been giving presentations to Freshmen about comic books. They have a large component called the 'Math Comic Book' (formerly the Math Story Book) that I have helped explain the concept and how to make one. I have learned how to be a better presenter and I've also been learning how to create a comic along with them.

2.) While I don't have evidence of me becoming a better presenter just yet, I do have evidence of what I've been learning. This week is a lesson on how to write a comic book. I've written up loose notes (in the form of an "essay" type document) that I'm going to use for my presentation. Link Here.

3.) My latest Research Check helped very much with this information (sources: __, __ to be added later) My Dad also helped in describing the details that my research didn't touch on. They both gave me the information that allowed me to create my evidence and (hopefully) conduct a good lesson on how to write a comic book.

Alice M - PERMALINK
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How To Write A Graphic Novel

SOME NOTES ON WRITING COMICS (or graphic storytelling in general)

Writing for comics resembles a lot of other writing formats—writing for movies, for short stories, even for radio or spoken word—but it's not exactly like any of them.

Part of the difference is rooted in the manufacturing process and history of American comics. For more than seventy-five tears, we've become accustomed to a certain page size and page length... and in fact, it corresponds to our “real-time” experience of TV programs and even movies.

A really good comic can be read in 20-25 minutes – about the length of a half-hour TV show minus the commercials. We seem to be accustomed to paying attention for about that long, so even if there's a longer story to be told, it will be broken down into a story of about that length.

In practical terms, you're talking about 20 to 22 pages of art in a comic (or a chapter). No more. Many writers get around this by doing multi-part stories, as few as 3 issues and as many as 12 (or more), but the pacing still works in parts that break down into around 20 pages each.

BUILDING UP A COMIC STORY

  1. The Premise

The most common way to structure a story is to build it up and out. You start with a single idea for a story that is usually called the premise:

Aquaman has to battle a trio of villains who are actually made of water. They kill a new friend of Mera's (Aquaman's wife), and Aquaman has to restrain her while defeating the villains. Ultimately he has to confront his own fear of the cold to freeze the villains and shatter them.

You can see all the basics in there: a hero, a villain (or villains), a conflict (their battle) and a resolution (their freezing and shattering). It also contains an internal conflict (his fear of the cold) and a “B” story (the death of Mera's friend and the revelation of her savagery).

  1. How Long, How Deep?

Next, the writer will decide how long he will take to tell this story. One Issue? Three? Six? He decides this can be told well in three issues (or parts):

  1. The introduction of the villains and Mera's friend, ending with the friend's death.
  2. Mera's savage outbreak and Aquaman's restrain of her, his first confrontation with the villains and his 'defeat' because of his fear of the cold.
  3. Mera's containment, Aquaman's overcoming of his dear, and the final battle that ends in the villains death.

This is the “building up and building out” process – adding another layer of detail and complexity with each stage.

  1. The Treatment(s)

Next, the writer will probably create a treatment of the three issues – a longer, more detailed story that includes at least a couple of sentences for each scene. Though this may not include a lot of dialogue (maybe a few key sentences that come along as the story is told), it is often the most 'creative' part of the process, as the writer goes back to revise and rework the story so that he knows exactly what happens, how many scenes take place, how the plots works and how the characters develop.

Some writers will actually summarize each scene on individual 3” x 5” cards so they can move the scenes around, or post them on a bulletin board or a wall to see the story visually. Others will writ it in a present tense, almost as if they were telling the story around the campfire, then make tons of notes in the margins, or annotate it with highlighters. Each writer will develop ea different working style, but the end product is almost always the same: a scene-by-scene breakdown of all the scenes in the story.

  1. The Script

Finally, it's time to write the script that the artist will be using as a guideline. Like all scripts – movie screenplays, TC screenplays, stage plays, radio plays – it is an intermediate document. It's usually a document that no one but the artist and the writer (and something editors) will see; the final story comes out of this. It's the highly detailed description of the final product and nothing more.

The comic book script, at first glance, most resembles a movie screenplay, but it's different in many ways. The script actually calls out the number of panels on a page, and gives a general idea of how big (important) or small (unimportant) details that each illustration has. Some comics writers include thumbnail sketches of the page; others simply describe it. Either way, the writer indicates what he 'sees' in his mind's eye as the final page, and includes all necessary action and dialogue. The artist (rather like a director guiding the camera operator and film editor of a movie) will often take these breakdowns as a suggestion, not a requirement. The artist won't alter the basic action of the page or draw it in such a way that there won't be room for the dialogue, but the actual layout, number of panels, angles, etc. may vary widely. That's the artist's job.

  1. The Art

The writer has little to do with these pages other than approve or diapprove. This is where the artist draws the 22 or so pages, elaborating from the script – first in very rough pencil sketches, that are often reviewed by the writer and editor. Approves art is then inked – all the sketchy line-art is made solid and blank – then another artists comes in to color the lines.

Finally, the comics writer gets to something that writers of other 'intermediate forms' don't: they get to come back in at the end and literally place (and often rewrite) the dialogue and captions that they presented in the script. The artist's final rendition may present better ideas for telling the story; it may mean cutting dialogue, moving or removing a caption, or otherwise 'smoothing out' the storytelling now that he can see the actual art (unfinished though it may be) in front of his eyes.

  1. Placing Word Balloons

Though there are a number of other stages for completing and manufacturing the story, this is usually where the writer finishes – with the rewriting (if necessary) and placement of all the word balloons and captions for the 20-22-page story. And it's on to the next one.

Some General Guidelines

Whether it's a superhero story, a horror story, a romance or a quirky tale of frontiersment in Lower Manhattan c. 1983, some stoytelling principles for comics still apply:

  • Keep the story linear; it's very difficult to illustrate the passage of time or (even worse) flashbacks or simultaneous scenes (something that's far easier to do in film)
  • The action and dialogue have to carry the story. There is no verbal description at all, and the writer's control of the environment is limited to the very basics he can describe to the artist.
  • To the end, don't waste a lot of time making the physical description poetic or polished. They are merely guidelines for the artists' vision of your story. If you're lucky, you will be pleasantly surprised at what a good artist will bring to the basic concept of “a desert” or “a department store” or “a dark and stormy night.” But as a rule, give only the essential details.
  • Even though you're often writing for continuing characters that you can't kill or even substantially alter, you MUST come up with some internal conflict for your story. It might be danger to loved ones that he hadn't taken seriously until now; it might be the death of a friend (as in the example above) that has to be avenged, or an internal conflict (like fear o the cold) that has to be overcome. But even with characters who the reader knows cannot 'die', conflict is what makes a story, a story.
  • Keep captions to an absolute minimum. The cast majority of information bout the scene – its location, time of day, the mood – has to be in the picture itself. Overlapping or transition dialogue, or a special time or day might be mentioned in a caption, but by and large the fewer the better. There are plenty of comics writers who set a goal of no captions at all, and achieve that more often than not.
  • Avoid thought balloons. Once a very popular approach, they have disappeared from many storytellers' work, and appear only rarely in others. They may still be a popular approach in a kind of storytelling (novels, or instance), but they add a layer of 'unreality' that does not sit will with most modern-day comics readers. Interior monologue, personal narration can work, but “thought balloons” as opposed to “word balloons”... not so much.
  • Keep it simple. Complicated plots or lots of exposition do not work in comics, anymore than they do in modern films. Simple, linear and easy-to-follow action is far more powerful than talk, talk, talk and ambiguity. It is one of the things that makes comics to internationally popular.

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Alice M - PERMALINK
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Independent Component 1 Plan Approval

1) My first independent component is going to be a presentation, as well as additional research. The freshman this year, have a fairly new project. It started as the "Math Storybook", where they would explain a math concept or theory in a storybook and present it to the seniors. This year, the freshmen team switched it up a little and made it a Math Comic Book. While they would still be explaining a math concept and theory, they would be creating their own superhero and comic book to explain it rather than a storybook. The way I tie into this (and what my independent component is) is that I present to the freshmen class about what exactly a comic book is, how to make one, and what are the elements of a comic book/how to incorporate those specific elements. I will be doing additional research specifically towards my presentation that week and I will also be giving presentations to each of the houses that last about thirty minutes. These presentations will guide them through the process of making a comic book and will, hopefully, make them realize and appreciate what comic books are.

2) There are two basic things that will get me to my thirty hours: research and presentations. I expect to do about seven classes. Theme, character creation, planning, writing, Q&A sessions, art, and voice. I may be going into the freshmen class for more instruction later on, so I'd include that time in there as well. Let's say, 40 minutes for each presentation for each class. Meaning: every presentation, I get about 160 minutes or two and a half hours give or take. multiply this by seven, I get around nineteen hours. That's already half. Add on another two and a half hours of extra in-class mentoring and I have twenty-one and a half hours. The research for each of these would probably take an hour (to get very good research) and another half an hour to take notes. Again, times that by seven and I'm already over the time at about 33 hours. Extra mentoring with individual students and working with the freshmen team on whatever they need (grading, analysis, anything) and I've gotten a good 36 hours of independent work under my belt.

3) My independent study relates to my EQ (What are the most important elements in a successful, Modern Age comic book?) because it's a basic study of what resonates with the younger audience. What these kids make are what they see as appealing, or else they wouldn't make them. If it's based a lot on character design, or on the "realness" or "likeableness" of a character, then that'll give me more insight to my EQ. This is the best way to look at a topic like this (an 'art' related topic): it allows people to create something that they want to see, not just react to something that's already been done. I expect to learn a lot about what people think as successful from these creations.

Alice M - PERMALINK
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Defining the Essential Question

What is your EQ?
- "What is the most important element in a successful, modern age comic book series?"

Define the words in your EQ to make sure we are on the same page regarding what your EQ means.
- Element: A storytelling technique or plot point.
- Successful: A book that can be read by any generation, any gender, and stays with them as something they cherish for life (specific for this instance.)
- Modern Age Comic Book Series: A comic book series that was published and set in the past twenty years.

What are some possible answers to your EQ so far?
- Some of the possible answers for my EQ so far would be adaptation, emotional realism, diversity, memorable characters, visual impact, emotional impact (can be combined with visual), Cultural relevance. 

What has been your most important source and why?
- My most important source has been Sean Jackson, my first interview. He is a comic book store manager, so he knows what is successful (business wise) and what isn't. He noticed that a lot more comics starring emotional realism (and impact) were being taken. Things like Batman, where he's faced with family issues as well as the superhero problems that he deals with on a basic level. He also pointed out that to keep a comic book interesting, you have to have a character that resonates with people. It can be a character they might have seen before, but if you put that character into an interesting event or tell the character's point of view in an interesting way, it's easy to capture people's attention and keep them hooked, which creates success.

Extra:
The problem with my definition of success is that is has no measurable amount, so it's mostly subjective. Does this pose a problem later on, or would it be okay to have this part of my EQ subjective and opinionated rather than based on hard facts and numbers? I could relate it to the sales of comic books and get a measurement out of that, but... still. It's mostly subjective.

Alice M - PERMALINK
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Second Interview Questions

While I'm not sure who I'm going to interview just yet, the questions are going to be about the same.

1.) How long have you been working in the comics industry?

2.) What do you do, exactly, in the comics industry? (Are you an artist, writer, self-publisher, etc.?)

3.) Do you think that comic books are important to society? Why or why not?

4.) How did you get into the comics industry?

5.) Why are you in the comics industry?

6.) Did you have any formal education specific to working with comic books? If so, what?

7.) What do you feel is the most important thing that comic books portray? (This could go hand-in-hand with 3)

8.) Was it difficult to become a part of the comics industry? How can you recommend other people to get into this industry?

Alice M - PERMALINK