Graphic & Ghost

Graphic Writings
by Dennis Webster

Have you ever attempted to write a graphic novel or a comic book? It's not as easy as I thought it would be. I have always written fiction with my most recent book being nonfiction. I have dabbled in script writing but none of this prepared me for the scary yet exhilarating world of graphic novel scripting. The one similarity to writing a television or movie script is you have to leave a lot of the details out of your writing. The artist will use their creativity to "draw" your sounds. I can describe the process as writing to a storyboard where you have to stand back and think about the progression of the visuals and how they relate to the plot. Thank goodness I had a mentor who has had a lifetime in the comics industry. He patiently read my story and gave me tips on pacing as related to pictures. I enjoyed the dialogue writing and if you are strong in this area then this is the medium for you! The next time you are in a bookstore, go to the graphic novel section, pick up one of the drawn tomes and see how little dialogue there is. Too much makes for a boring story yet the visuals you see are written down as a guidepost to the illustrator. Graphic novels are hot right now as Hollywood continues to adapt these into movies.