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HOW TO WRITE AWESOME COMICS or, Don’t Ask Me! How the Hell Should I Know? by Brian J. Showers © January 2004
INTRODUCTION
No one can tell you how to build an awesome car. That’s why there are so many models out there. Some go down in automotive history as classics; others doomed duds to be crushed into mid-sized metallic cubes. What someone can tell you, though, is how a car works. What its components are. How a car, generally, is assembled. This article is not about that. It’s about comics.
Actually, come to think of it, comics are a bit like cars. While no one can tell you how to make an awesome comic, they can tell you how a comic works. What its components are. How a comic is assembled. But it’s up to you to write the classic. That’s what this article is about.
Hell, it’s not even about that because I’m barely qualified to tell you how to write, let alone tell you how to write comics. So instead, I’ve compiled a list of books written by people you’ve heard of. People who are qualified to teach you the components of a car, er, of a comic. People who can set you on your way of designing a classic. |
PART I: GRAMMAR 101
This is the boring stuff, I know, but it also happens to be the most basic component of writing. You don’t have to be Strunk or White, but you do have to have a reasonable grasp on this stuff. There’s nothing that will turn an editor off more than bad grammar and editors are the people who will make or break your career. So here are the books you’ll need for this part of the course:
THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE by William Strunk and E.B. White (ISBN 020530902X)
This slim volume is about as basic as you can get. Writers should keep this book in their right hand at all times.
THE NEW OXFORD GUIDE TO WRITING by Thomas S. Kane (ISBN 0195090594)
This book is quite a bit more in depth than The Elements of Style. It’s not just a grammar manual, but also a reference book. It’s got solutions to all those strange grammar problems like whether you should capitalize ‘crayolas’ or not.
THE NEW OXFORD GUIDE TO STYLE by R.M. Ritter, et al. (ISBN 0198691750)
More for editors than writers, The New Oxford Guide to Style will give you that much more insight and edge. There’s information in this book concerning how to present what you’ve written. It is not an essential book, but may come in handy. PART II: STORY
Bet you thought we could get to the good stuff now, right? How to get that Batman story on to paper, right? Wrong! You know your grammar, you’ve read a wholemessa comic books, but do you know how to tell a story? You might know how to change the oil, but do you know what the oil does for the car?
STORY: SUBSTANCE, STYLE, AND PRINCIPLES OF SCREENWRITINGby Robert McKee (ISBN 0060391685)This is an indispensable tome. Learn about what a story is and how it works before you jump into storytelling with pictures. The title implies that this book is for screenwriters, but you'll find there's an awful lot of wisdom here concerning all forms of storytelling.
A WRITER'S JOURNEY: MYTHIC STRUCTURE FOR WRITERS by Christopher Vogler (ISBN 0941188701)
This is another screenwriting book that will help you with general storytelling. Vogler's angle is Joseph Campbell, or rather mythic structures in story. Vogler asserts that all the archetypes of stories that can he told, have already been told. Whether you agree with this or not, this book will help you strike those deep human chords that resonate to the very foundation of story structure. While you're at it, read Graves, Bulfinch, Hamilton, Campbell, Hawthorne and all those other guys who dabble in legend and myth.
PART III: GRAPHIC STORYTELLING
Here’s the bit you’ve all been waiting for. Now that you know your grammar and how to write an actual story, though that’s not to say you actually can do it yet, you’re ready to start learning how to tell a story graphically. While no single one of these books has the answer to how you should write your comic, if you read a handful of them you’ll get the idea and be off an running. The books towards the top of the list are among the most memorable and most frequently recommended.
UNDERSTANDING COMICSby Scott McCloud (ISBN 006097625X)
This is probably the best book out there. It's not a 'how to' manual by any means, but any smart reader can extrapolate the nuts and bolts of how a comic works from it. If you were to read one book, make this it.
REINVENTING COMICS: HOW IMAGINATION AND TECHNOLOGY ARE REINVENTING AN ART FORMby Scott McCloud (ISBN 0060953500)
McCloud’s admittedly getting a little bit out there with this book, but still, there are some ideas here. In this book, McCloud explore alternate ideas for writing comics. Stuff that doesn’t necessarily confine you to the paper page.
COMICS & SEQUENTIAL ARTby Will Eisner (ISBN 0961472812)
Moments ago, as I was about to start writing this entry, I learned that Will Eisner passed away. He influenced a lot of people, within and without comics, and tried a lot of new ideas before anyone else. This book was one of the earliest attempts to write about the art of writing comics, probably as nuts and bolts as you can get. This book is the sequential art master’s legacy to you. Learn it and don’t let him down.
GRAPHIC STORYTELLING & VISUAL NARRATIVEby Will Eisner (ISBN 0961472820)
Let's not forget that comics are a tool for storytelling. In this follow up to Comics & Sequential Art, Eisner takes things a step further and shows you how some of those nuts and bolts can be used in a narrative context.
ALAN MOORE'S WRITING FOR COMICSby Alan Moore (ISBN 1592910122)
It’s been said before. Alan Moore knows the score. How many times has he made comic book history? When this sage opens his mouth, you’d better listen up! This slim volume is more about stories and the creative process than it is specifically about comics. It’s about harvesting the fruits of idea-space and treating your muse with care. It’s a brief glimpse into the mind of the modern master.
DC GUIDE TO WRITING COMICSby Dennis O'Neil (ISBN 0823010279)
If you’re looking for a straightforward and condensed guide to comics and graphic narrative storytelling, pick up this book. It’s very comprehensive and straightforward with the basics. For those of you who want it, this is your ‘how to’ manual. And a pretty darn good one at that.
DC GUIDE TO PENCILLING COMICSby Klaus Janson (ISBN 0823010287) The DC Guide… line is a sturdy set of books. There are other books on pencilling, inking, coloring and lettering, but for the same of keeping this list reasonable, I’m only going to list the DC Guide… line, because I know they’re quality. So why should a writer read about pencilling? Because unless you’re blessed enough to be able to draw and write, this book will give you some insight to the illustrator’s creative process. It will help you to think graphically and, at the end of the day, may teach you something about communicating with your collaborators.
DC GUIDE TO INKING COMICSby Klaus Janson (ISBN 0823010295)
You should read about inking for the same reason that you should read about pencilling. Comics are a medium of contribution. By learning about the problems your collaborators have to puzzle solve, the better collaborator you will become.
DC GUIDE TO COLORING AND LETTERING COMICSby Mark Chiarello and Todd Klein (ISBN 0823010309)
Do I have to repeat myself? Learn about the fuel system, the brakes, the carburettor, the engine…learn how all the parts of the whole damn car work!
PANEL ONE: COMIC BOOK SCRIPTS BY TOP WRITERSby Neil Gaiman, Marv Wolfman, Kurt Busiek, et al. (ISBN 0971633800)
Some of the most well known comic book writers have submitted scripts for this book. There’s no smoke and mirrors here. These are the scripts in all of their undressed glory. Have a look and see how the pros do it. Compare, contrast and learn.
PANEL TWO: MORE COMICS BOOK SCRIPTS BY TOP WRITERSby Peter David, Mike Baron, Scott McCloud, et al. (ISBN 0971633819)
More of the same. It’s interesting to note that there are almost as many script styles as there are writers. This is just another facet of “There’s no one way to do it.” Find a script style that works best for you. If you can’t find one, create your own. Learn how to communicate.
WRITERS ON COMICS SCRIPTWRITING, VOLUME Iby Mark Salisbury (ISBN 184023069X)
Here we find a collection of top comic book writers talking about their craft. It’s not an instruction manual, but more about the individual experiences of each writer. This is not an essential book, but more of a one-sided conversation with the pros about writing. Aside from that, this book may be worth it for the Grant Morrison interview alone.
WRITERS ON COMICS SCRIPTWRITING, VOLUME IIby Andrew Kardon and Tom Root (ISBN 1840238089)
If you found the above book to be helpful, this is more of the same.
ARTISTS ON COMICS ARTby Mark Salisbury (ISBN 1840231866)
This is a companion to the above book, only focusing on artists and their experiences. This book may come in handy when trying to get inside of and communicating with that alien-artist mind.
EPILOGUEWriting isn’t like x-ray vision or super speed. It’s not something you’re born with or get from a radioactive accident. It’s something you have to work at to develop. No matter which book you read on writing, or any skill for that matter, the big secret that nobody’s hiding is practice, practice, practice. Here’s a follow-up exercises: Make mistakes. Lots of them. The more mistakes you make, the more you’ll learn. And finally, READ, OBSERVE and DECONSTRUCT your favorite comics. What works, what doesn't, what's hackneyed?
And that's about it.
There are a few other books that I enjoyed, but didn't feel it right to include on this list: Stephen King's ON WRITING (ISBN 0743455967) or Ray Bradbury's ZEN AND THE ART OF WRITING: ESSAYS ON CREATIVITY (ISBN 1877741094) are two examples. These are both very good books, but are more on the inspirational side. King's message: learn it, keep at it and write well. Bradbury's message: learn it, keep at it and live forever.
Now go write something. |