


Read the announcement for the 8-Page Challenge Be sure to join the message boards, so I can add you to the calendar.Ībout the Comic Book School 8-Page Challenge

In the next post, we’ll go to Step 3, which is the script. It’s “only” 8 pages, so you will have to work hard to trim anything that isn’t important for this particular story. You need to remove any character, scene, or dialogue that doesn’t propel the story forward in a meaningful way. By now, you should know which characters matter to the story. If you’re following on the calendar, this is also the time for writers to create a character list for the art team. We have a message board for discussing your 8-Page Story. Trim everything out that doesn’t matter and get to the best parts in a visually satisfying way. In your story, try to get someone to help you break down the pages to find the core idea. That helped me get right into the action. He knew I wanted to get right into the story, so he suggested ways of trimming some of the talk-heavy scenes in the first two pages.
Simple comic story ideas how to#
In this case, he shared me really good tips on how to trim unnecessary scenes and highlight the fun scenes. Not all editors will do this, but Darren talks through every story with me. And then she solves the problem with her unique power and with teamwork. That’s because the best part of the story is when Wasp shows incredible bravery. Simple right? Actually, it’s quite tricky. Pg10 Wasp, Hulk, Thor – Avengers Assemble! Outmatched vs Terrax & Thanos & rock creatures. The final story was drawn by comic book legend Ron Lim and is published in Avengers Assemble: Time Will Tell. By this point, he has given me approval on my story idea and then I break down the plot. I use the page breakdown to figure out the middle parts to get me there.ĭownload and print the Facing Pages Guide.Īs noted above, I am plotting the Avengers Assemble story assigned my my editor Darren Sanchez at Marvel Comics. I know where I want my story to begin and end. I keep a cheat sheet on the side of my monitor that shows the page breakdown. The odd numbers (1, 3, 5, & 7) are on the right. Then your even numbers (2, 4, 6, & 8) are on the left-hand pages. In most comics, you’ll start on a right-hand page. The theory, however, is pretty much the same. It gets tricky when you have to plot a multi-issue story. In this case, the math is really simple when you only have to fill 8 pages. Writing a comic is part art and part…math. It’s better to plot before scripting to save yourself and your creative partners time and frustration later. It may sound easy, but it can be challenging. The plotting will give you a valuable opportunity to reorganize your story to fit the 8-page limit. However, and this is an important point I want to make, we will plot and then script in this project.
Simple comic story ideas full#
Of course, it takes a good deal longer to write full script than it does to plot. That includes page breakdowns, panel breakdowns, dialogue, and even certain creative direction. The DC method required the writer to deliver a full script. Stan would come back later to add dialogue. Talented Marvel artists like Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and John Romita would basically break down a story. In the early days, Stan was working on so many comics that he would literally hand a plot to an artist. Plotting comics comes from the early “Marvel method” of writing stories, pioneered by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Just a side note on the word “plot.” This is a term that is open to some interpretation. It is pretty rare for new writers to sit at the keyboard and craft a good story without a plot. This is an important step, particularly for new writers. In this post, we’ll look at story breakdown as part of plotting. You should read that post before you read this one. In the Step 1, we reviewed how to plan a story idea for an 8-Page Story.
