Blocking and stuff in comic scripts

[Marvin Capistrano]

I was just wondering how you guys go about writing comic scripts. The one thing I can't really grasp for myself is how to block each panel, how many panels per page, how much dialogue do you allow into a panel before you break into the next panel.

Most of my creative writing has been for the theater, which is very dialogue heavy and rather talky. While Bendis does the talky wonderfully in his comics, I have the brains to admit that I am not Bendis.

I heard Allan Heinberg say that he writes all his dialogue first, then breaks them down panel by panel. I've tried this method before, but if your stuff is usually chatty, it's a little hard to do...well, for me at least...(maybe I should be writing more! LoL!!!)

Anyways, any suggestions?

[Shannon Chenoweth]

Well, there's a "rule" about not putting more than 36 words into a balloon or thereabouts, but that can be broken of course. I think you just have to feel it with the dialogue. Oddly, I'm a talkative person, but my comics have yet to be overly talkative. So, just write what you want and then go back and see how it reads.
As far as breaking down your pages goes, there's a lot of variants to that. You can have as many or as few panels as you'd like. The idea is just to make it flow. This is also something you can work with your artist on. I know the more I have worked with Eric (THE LINE), the more we can almost read each other on what is needed for a page. I've gotten less detailed with him as I've gone along since he doesn't need that. It's just all about learning as you go and working with your artist.
Check out Peter David's book, Writing for Comics. Good stuff in there.

[Philip Clark]

I've started a thread on some guidelines I've found helpful here:

http://comicbookwriters.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=1269131%3ATopi...

As far as blocking out action. I'm a big believer in the rule of threes: intro, conflict, resolution. I try to maintain that type of flow on every page, in every scene, and throughout the book itself.

As far as an actual order? Once I have the book plotted, I'll just start writing a prose description of the action. If dialogue comes to mind I'll throw that in, but usually that comes later. Once I have a general idea of how the whole book lays, then I'll start breaking that big prose thing into pages. From there I break the pages into panels, and from there it really makes it easier for me to flesh out dialogue and fine-tune the panel descriptions.

As a result, my scripts usually begin with a general "page summary," which gives the artist a broad idea of what happens on the page, followed by the more detailed script. That way, if the artist has to change/add anything, he has the best of both worlds to work from.

Oh, I forgot. It really helped me early on to actually draw thumbnails of my pages. Even though they were crude stick-figure things, they helped me work out continuity issues. They also gave me and the artist something to laugh at together.

[Joey Cruz]

I've always wondered about this myself. Usually, I'll just flip open a book that I know to be wordy (Ultimate Spidey, Transmet) and take a look at the amount of words, the size of the panels, and how many panels are on the page. The 36 word rule is good, though! I never heard that one. I'll have to apply it and see how it works.

[Philip Clark]

Well, I letter, too. And generally I'll break up a balloon that has more than 3 sentences in it, just to make the dialogue flow more and give text "beats." Obviously there are exceptions. But I remember years of reading Claremont's X-men and huge, wordy captions. No like!

[Joey Cruz]

Yeah, my typical practice is to find the breaks in the rhythm. Saying the words out loud, seeing where the pauses are, or where the emphasis is, breaking to another balloon accordingly.

[Shannon Chenoweth]

That's a good suggestion, reading other comics to see how those writers do it. Also, I recommend checking out script books like the Ultimate Spidey one by Bendis.

[Joey Cruz]

Oh, I've got the Ultimate Spidey AND Powers scriptbooks kept next to my computer, as well as Kirkman's Incinvible script book. It's interesting how vastly different their styles are!

[Chris!! Page]

i tend to picture the whole page in my head as i go and see what works. i try to limit myself to 6-7 panels or so on a page, unless it's something like a nine panel grid, or a series of small panels for reaction shots (think bendis' powers work). i give a rough description of the action, and put the dialogue below it. i'd recommend picking up some script books (the powers and ultimate spider-man ones are nice) and use myspace where warren ellis and bendis will occasionally post scripts. that way you can see how it looks.

as a side note, i've also drawn/lettered all my own scripts, so after writing, i print the thing out, go to my drawing table, and 7 out of 10 times, disregard the majority of what i've written (in terms of layout). i always make a note at the beginning of the script that tells the artist to please feel free to change panels if they feel that they have something better. if something is vital to the story, i'll mark it at the beginning of the page.

[nwspencer]

So much of this depends greatly on your artist as well.

The 36-word rule is a decent one for word balloons, but really, if you did a 7 panel page, that's gonna be pretty tight if you're doing it all the time.

Some artists can do 9 panel pages just fine. Others, you're better off giving them room to breathe, with 4-5 a page. I think sometimes writers have a tendency to try to cram a lot on a page for narrative reasons-- but this is a visual medium, so more often than not, the work suffers as a result.

Really, the best thing you can do is write it, then get someone to draw it. If you asked for something impossible, believe me, the artist will let you know, or just fix it themselves. Then you'll get the art, and that will bring some changes regardless. You'll go back to the script and move around some balloons and captions, change some wording here and there, etc. I have NEVER gotten art and NOT made changes before the letterer got it. Then the letterer will email saying things aren't positioned to fit something, and you'll have change something again. It's a collaborative process, and it ain't finished 'til it's finished.

As for the medium itself, well, I actually think comics are THE writer-friendly medium, compared to theatre, screen, or straight out prose, for a variety of reasons. The 3 rules I have for myself at all times:

1) Transitions are your friend-- Every scene should lead to the next. Captions are a wonderful tool for this, but so is dialogue. The best use of transitions I've ever seen is Star Wars: A New Hope (don't laugh). In that film, they have to cover a ridiculous amount of ground in a short period of time, but they do so easily because the scenes transition so well into each other. In this medium, we have page turns, too. Make use of them. Remember to not drop big shockers on the wrong page in the breakdown, or even worse, in the middle of a page.

2) Don't get too trapped in the talky-talky: I use the "Allan Heinberg" method you mentioned, but you have to learn to exercise some restraint. Let the conversation play out, but sometimes it helps to imagine there's a ticking bomb or something that hurries them along and forces them to get to the point. Otherwise you end up with twelve page conversations and nothing happening. It might sound real, but it's also kinda tedious. Bendis might be able to pull that off, but that doesn't mean we can. Also, remember, there are no actors here. A lot of people may not get the tone or cadence of what your character is saying-- make sure it actually reads well. Too many writers make the mistake of just reciting or acting out their dialogue. That's fine if you're writing for film, but in comics, it needs to READ well.

3) Plan really, really far ahead: outline. Do a synopsis. Whatever. But don't just "let it flow." Know where the story is going, specifically. Don't make it up as you go along. Otherwise, you'll invest a ton of time and energy in a book, only to find you've worked yourself into a serious hole by Issue 4. Know how every storyline is going to end, and when. Pace it out. I use index cards. Discipline is key. Let your characters breathe and influence you, sure, but also make sure they know who's the boss!

But then, those rules might be crap for someone else.

[BlaqueSaber]

I know this is a bit old but I just joined. I lay out the page with extremely simple descriptive statements of actions taken by the characters and how the plot will go. In this stage there is NO dialogue (I'll throw it in if its really snappy and I don't want to loose it) and no fluff about red tights and yellow "s" on the blue chest. Just actions that the characters take (StarWars):

Young boy sees ruckus off in distance
Stops speeder for a peek
Climbs ledge, activates viewer goggles
Alien surprises him, coming into the goggle view so close to him
Boy rolls to avoid attack
Alien connects
Boy falls off ledge
Boy is knocked out
Mysterious stranger comes
Aliens run away scared
Boy awakens in the old timers home
The old timer knows the boy and his family
The old timer begins to tell of the boys fathers exploits

And on and on and on until I have the story plotted out basically. Then I'll break it up into issues, and flesh it out. The story evolves as you go though...