How do you script?

I’m not a pro by any means but I have a system that works pretty well for me. It is pretty long and involved though. So I'm wondering if anyone else goes to this much trouble?

First, I come up with a title for the script. A good title always sets the stage for me and inspires my writing as much as the concept of the book.

Next, I work through the entire plot from beginning to end and write a 3-5 page synopsis of the who, what, where, when and why.

Then, I boil that synopsis down to one page and boil it down again to one sentence. I do this to make sure I know what the essence of the story is and because it’s useful for pitching the book to other people.

Once I have all that figured out, I sit down and write the first script. I like to stick to a 20 page format with one page of text equivalent to one page of art. The reason I do this is to force my writing to be as compact and concise as possible.

When the first script is finished I go over it once and edit it for content in terms of dialog and plot. After the first edit, I take it to the storyboard.

For storyboarding I use Comic Life, a free program that came with my Mac that allows me to easily create comic book layouts. I then layout each page with panels, dialog, etc to make sure that everything fits and makes sense when it’s laid out in comic book form.

I change and edit things during the storyboarding phase which I then must transfer back to the original script.

The coup de grace for my comic is when I add images to the layout and create a basic mockup of the comic book. Unfortunately, my art skills aren’t very good. So, instead of drawing, I look on the internet for pictures or photos that approximate what I want the panel to look like and I just paste those pictures into my layout.

Here’s an example of a finished storyboard.

Ooohh . . . I'm the opposite.

I use a film script format for my comic, but am careful to articulate different pages and panels. ( Like, each 'shot' = one panel )

And give lots and lots of details for what I want the panel to look like. One for me, to remind myself totally of what it was I had in mind during the time I wrote the script. In the past with my scripts, I've written then and then gone back to draw the comic, and been like 'what on earth did I try to illustrate here??'. So this time, I avoiding that.

I like your way of honing in on the idea and the core of the story. I imagine it would give you a good way to spot if your idea is as good as you originally thought it was, before putting lots of work into it. It's a bit like the snowflake writing method. I should have done this with a comic I'm currently working on. I've discarded a whole pile of storyboard and completely finished and inked pages for it, as I was never happy with the story. The problem with it is that I began with an idea for a clever way to do a comic, and then constructed a story around that technique, which made the story lack heart. I've yet to be able to write a one liner for the story, or even a paragraph long synopsis, which probably indicates the story is broken. :)

That said, I tend to plan a bit better than that. I like to note down the basic plot idea, and maybe a quick outline. Then I'll try to write some background on the characters. It's not really that organized, and I'll generally jot down all kinds of ideas and restructure the story a lot. Sometimes using index cards or post it notes, to move stuff around like on a timeline. I then write the story as a screenplay, but unlike Henada, I don't include any information on the panels, pages or camera angles. Those I leave for the rough version of the comics, where I define the panels, layout, angles and so on. Often at this stage I'll change some of the dialog, and tweak stuff a bit. Once I'm happy with the rough version, I'll move on to pencil and ink to finish the comic.

vnflcards... MP Layout was great. Very nice job.
Love it. Love it. Love it.
I love especially the "voice" of the comic.

jade

Thanks Jade. I really appreciate it.

Now if only Dark Horse would call me back. ;-)

So Vn, how do you legally use other people's photographs?
What if you don't know WHO took the photo?
Are there certain websites/domains that put up free pics for all to use?

Just wondering down here.

jade

For some of them I use a website called iStockphoto that provides royalty free photos, but many of the photos I use are without permission.

The layouts are just a tool for my own personal use that most people will never see because I hope to have an actual artist draw the comics.

If someone ever sued me over the MP layout I would just take it down.

First off, I hope that suit never happens!

Secondly, would taking it down be enough? What if they wanted you to take it down plus $20,000 dollars? Is that possible?

Thirdly, I was just asking to be educated about something I don't know about. I mean no harm in any way. =) As I've said before, I love the work you posted.

Lastly, isn't all this great fun?!!! Writing is such a personal triumph.

jade

I didn't think that you would sue me. lol. I was just saying.

Anyway, I don't worry about it.

Well, in a way, I'm glad you are so brave. I do love the style.

Now, tell me your other writing tricks! Tell me all there is to know!

jade