Day 4 of #NaGraNoWriMo! Last time, I told you that a full script for comics can look very deceptively like somethings it should never be… and those are plays: both traditional stage plays and screenplays. Why? Because they simply don’t describe the same things. The single most important difference between a play script and a…
Yes, we got enough demand from you that we’re doing it again! For the month of November, we’re going to help you learn how to write a graphic novel! Stick with us for 30 days, and we’ll go over just about everything you need to know about writing for the specific requirements of comics! It…
I’m pretty much stuck at home these days because of the fractured ankle. Can’t go to my day job for six to eight weeks, per my orthopedic surgeon, and even with the walking boot, the orders are to stay off of it as much as possible. The first couple of weeks I probably walked and…
For some odd reason, over the past several decades many a wannabe comics creator has consulted me for advice. That’s quite nice; it makes me feel like I might know something. Of course, that also means I’ve been around the block so many times I’m prone to tripping over my own tracks. That’s the yin…
So you had a story idea and you’ve worked it up into a plot. The characters are defined, you know who is doing what, the twists and turns and even the theme. Now you have to put words into everyone’s mouths or, more precisely, into their word balloons. For some would-be writers, that’s where the…
Back then, when the universe was trying to create justice from whatever scraps of phantom it could find, I was working for one of the all-time excellent comic book editors, writing stories about a superheroic archer. I once gave this archer a line that conflated a politician with… I don’t remember the exact wording, but…
One of the most frustrating things to learn when you’re trying to break into the comics business is that you can be doing everything right – you can be skilled in your craft, pro-level, ready to go, with genuine audience pleasing work – and you still don’t get the job. Even more, you can go…
Recently on Facebook, a father asked me what advice I could give his 13-year old daughter who wanted to be a writer. I had to be succinct but I think my reply was moderately useful and I thought I’d repeat it here. As I’ve done columns about writing before, some of this may be familiar…
It’s emerging from the darkness…the ghastly, horrible, revolting…Copyright Monster! Okay, that’s enough of that. Now: Springboard for a 22 page Superhero Story! Birdman is in torment. For over 75 years he’s been fighting crime, swinging from rooftops, crashing through windows, escaping from death traps. He has vanquished foe after foe: the list is long and…
For those playing at home, DC Comics is looking for new talent to join their team. Artists had their shot last month, and now writers are able to apply until the end of this month. One of the requirements asks of the would-be employee: “[Provide] a short composition no longer than the space provided, which…
Splat! Splibble! Ghosh! Uh oh, here comes another one. KLATLAM! Okay, letâÂÂs close the metaphorical door…no, letâÂÂs slam the door on my cutsey way of sneaking up on an answer to the question I posed last week, which was something like: If I canâÂÂt teach writing â and I admit that I canâÂÂt â why…
Every once in a while, I’ll come across a picture of me from back in my twenties and thirties or even earlier. I look at myself and what I was wearing and how I wore my hair (I had more hair back then to wear). I sometimes had a mustache, I sometimes had a beard,…
