Graphic Novel Scripting
Graphic & Ghost Blog by Dennis Webster.
Writing a graphic novel or comic book is very different than writing fiction stories. In a short story or long fiction novel, the author is able to fully describe the settings, the background of the characters. They’re putting the meat on the skeleton. When you write a graphic novel it’s similar to writing a movie or television script, you leave the details to the artist or director. The next time you’re in Barnes & Noble, go to the graphic novel section and take a random story off the shelf and look at the number of panels on a page. If you write for this medium you need to decide how many panels you’ll have on each page. It’s like doing a storyboard in your mind. Then, you must resist blasting a ton of exposition or dialogue as fans of the graphic novel don’t like tons of words. I know, that sounds crazy for a writer but you can get your concept across in small details you can give the artist drawing the panels. I would encourage any writer to give it a try in scripting a graphic novel. You can find examples of graphic novel script writing on line. Go for it! You’ll challenge your writing muscles and who knows, you might just find a new writing love!