1) The difference between Comic Book and Graphic Novel

The primary difference between a comic book and a graphic novel is the mode and length of the story-telling. Although superhero comics like Marvel and DC are primarily comic books, the technical definition of the term has little to nothing to do with content. Comic books are serialized stories told over many, very short issues. They typically cover long periods of time in the protagonist’s life rather than one particular event and they span over many issues which correspond with one another.

Graphic novels, on the other hand, are typically individual stories told over one or a few longer issues. These typically detail a particular event, rather than simply spanning over years and various adventures of a protagonist’s life. Because these stories are typically only one or two issues, the plots tend to be much more intricate and complex than that of a comic book because fans aren’t expected to remember details over various issues.

2) Decide which would be best

This is fairly self-explanatory, but (prior to writing) you’ll need to decide which medium would be best for your story. So, for example, let’s say you’re creating your own Batman-like superhero, who will go on various adventures and you’re already overflowing with ideas and origin tales. This will definitely fit better as a comic book than a graphic novel, so you’ll want to keep your issues relatively short. However, let’s say you’re writing a nonfiction story about your specific coming-of-age story. This will be a complete story and, therefore, would work best as a graphic novel. This means you’ll have a lot of writing wiggle room to play around in terms of length and specific scenes you choose to include in the story. If you’re not sure where your story would fit best, do some research to see if you can find a similar book on the market.

3) Find an illustrator

Writing a comic book or graphic novel should be a collaborative process between the writer and the illustrator. All of the greats have done this, including the famed tag team Stan Lee and Kirby. Therefore, it’s best to find your illustrator in the earlier stages of the process. This way you can do a few things. First, you can make sure you’re formatting your script in your chosen illustrator’s preferred way, thus saving you time reformatting later on. Also, your illustrator can serve as someone to bounce ideas off of as far as the visual aspect of the story. A comic book isn’t like any other medium of writing- it is both a visual and a written form of art. It’s only as strong as both of the parts work well together. Seeing the style your story will be in visually may give you ideas on the writing and vice versa. For example, Marvel styled comics like Deadpool are obviously a very different illustration style than The Umbrella Academy series.

The only exception to this rule is if you (like Tillie Walden) will be both the writer and the illustrator, in which case you’ll already have an idea of what your book will look like visually. We’d still encourage you to reach out to other comic book writers to make sure they feel that your illustrations are a good fit with your subject matter. If they don’t fit well, your readers will know (trust us). And (this may go without saying) but write your story before you draw it. Otherwise, it’ll get very messy very quickly.

4) Formatting

Comic books and graphic novels, unlike fiction/nonfiction writing, don’t have an iron-clad standard format across the board. There isn’t a font type, size, formatting design that you see in every comic book writer’s script. If you do some research you’ll see that different people have different styles and preferences on what they prefer in their script. There are, however, a few technical aspects that you’ll see in most comic book or graphic novel scripts.

A header is created for each new page of the graphic novel/comic book. So, your graphic novel page will likely not correspond with the page on Microsoft word. Below the page number, you also create headers for each Panel that will be on the page (Panel One, Panel Two, etc.). The amount that you have per page is entirely up to you and your illustrator (who may have a better idea of how everything will fit together).

Below the Panel label, a comic book writer will typically write a basic description of what the reader is visually seeing in the panel. The length and detail of the description varies greatly between writers, some prefer immense detail to get as close to the picture in their head as possible while others write a brief synopsis and give their illustrator artistic license to play around a bit. Again, this is something that will be decided between you and your artist.

After that, you’ll write below any captions or piece of dialogue that will be included in the panel. It varies how people prefer to have these piece of text written, but we recommend writing them in the order that the viewer is meant to read them. Here are a few suggestions on how to label these pieces of text: Caption 1: [INSERT TEXT], Character 1: [INSERT TEXT] OR 1) Caption:[INSERT TEXT], 2) Character name: [INSERT TEXT].

5) Strong Storytelling

Even though comic books/graphic novels are a shorter medium to tell a story, it’s important that all of the normal facets of a strong story are still present. One mistake that writers often make is focusing too heavily on plot and severely neglecting character development/arc in the story. Make sure, when you’re introducing your protagonist in the story, that you’re immediately giving your reader some character-defining traits. Even if you’re writing a comic and you open on a really dramatic fight scene, have your character go home, take off their costume, sit on their couch in their middle-class house and read The Rime of the Ancient Mariner aloud to their cat. That way you’re still giving us character insight even if you have your heart set on opening with an action scene.

Remember, and this is true of any form of writing: we have to care about your protagonist to care about the events of the story. We know that, with such a short window to write, it can be tempting to submerge the reader in action. But character is still the most important part of the story so make sure you take breaks from the action to let us learn more about your protagonist or even just to give us a funny exchange between them and a friend. Anything that informs us about our protagonist will only serve to strengthen your story and the stakes involved.

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Every book is different. However, there are common components that help writers tell a good story. In today’s blog post, we’re covering the four elements of a good story and how to implement them into your book.

Let’s get started.

How to tell a good story

Define the purpose

When you’re writing a book, consider the reason behind the story, and  make sure that it’s apparent to your audience. A defined purpose helps put your plot on a clear path that you can build on as your story progresses.

Hook it

Your hook is what grabs your readers’ attention. It’s the part of your opener that pulls your audience in to read more. Use a hook to pique their interest and keep them turning the pages for more.

Get personal

Add a personal flare to your story. This will help humanize your plot and adds a relatable element. Your characters should stir emotions that readers have felt themselves at some point in their life. This personal flare will help your story resonate with your audience.

Build your surroundings

When you set a scene, you create an immersive experience for your readers. Build an environment in the beginning of your book, the continue expanding upon it as your story progresses. Give readers enough detail to enable them to envision the scene you’re setting. Be sure to use words that are strong and specific so that you can evoke emotion and connection with your audience.

These are just four of the elements of storytelling. Use them as building blocks to build your story into something worth reading.

Copyright Dorrance Publishing, 2018

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Though an autobiography is an account of a person’s life as written by that person, this genre of writing isn’t much different from fiction.

Let us explain.

When writing a fiction novel, you’re using your imagination to weave a series of connected events that will keep the readers interested and invested in your story. There are characters and plot twists that work together to bring your story to life.

Even though an autobiography is based on factual information about your life, the idea behind the writing doesn’t really divert from fiction. Your autobiography should be treated like any other good story that includes interesting characters and a common theme that holds the story together. So what do you need to do before you start your autobiography?

Here are three tips.

Map it out.

It’s your life. You’ve lived it, and nobody knows it better than you. So take some time to reflect on the timeline of your life. This exercise will help you pinpoint pivotal events, people or situations that changed the course of your life, and recall important dates and other bits of information that you want to include. Your timeline is the structure in which you will write your autobiography. To begin, write everything down. No detail is too small at this point in the planning process. Once you’ve written down all of the information about your life that you might possibly want to include, you can then start weeding out details that might not add any depth to your book. Remember, your autobiography doesn’t have to start at your birth. It’s perfectly appropriate to begin right before the start of the main events you’re describing. It’s also worth noting that your autobiography can include your family history and ancestry as well. This information could add some substance and context to the other details in your book.

Pinpoint the best.

Our lives are full of stories both small and large. However, not every story is worth incorporating into your autobiography. It’s your job to weigh the importance of each story you want to include. If you’re stumped on how to vet your stories, here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Childhood ­– Your younger years are basically the foundation on which your life was built. Though as we said you don’t have to start at birth, you should consider incorporating some tidbits from your childhood, because these younger years pave the way for our entire lives.

• Pivotal moment – There will likely be a point in time that changes the entire landscape of our lives. Whether it’s a career realization, finding your soulmate or embarking on a life-changing journey, you’ll want to talk about that pivotal moment that played a major role in shaping you into the person that you are today.

Be yourself.

When writing your autobiography, be sure to write in your own voice. Authenticity and infusing your own personality into your writing will make your stories more amusing and your life lessons more meaningful. Your autobiography is essentially a portal into your life. Open your heart to your readers and let your prose be clear. Use normal phrases and try not to pollute your writing with large vocabulary words. Write like you’re talking to a friend. Be revealing, let your guard down and tell your story.

Copyright Dorrance Publishing, 2017

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In order to develop a theme, you must understand what it entails. To put it simply, theme gives meaning. It provides a connection between the story and reality that helps the readers understand the context of the story. In essence, it tells the reader what the story is about.

Whether it’s an idea, a concept or even a lesson, the theme is commonly associated with a character’s internal journey that plays out externally.

So just how do you develop a theme? Here are some quick tips.

Identify the unifier

Look at the big picture of your story. For a moment in time, forget about the smaller details like the characters’ quirks, the details of the plot and the other supporting details. When identifying your theme, you have to think more broadly about what you’re trying to develop. What’s the underlying story that you’re trying to tell? It’s that answer that can help you identify your theme. Just like horror is about fear and romance is about love, you have to look at the grand idea of your story. What about that concept are you trying to bring to light? The answer to that question will likely be your theme.

Make it simple

Your theme should be subtly woven into your story and come to the surface over time. The theme doesn’t have to be illustrated with a drawn-out monologue or other apparent measures. Rather, it can be infused in the text in a more delicate way. Your theme should continually be backed up throughout the story and in ways that make the reader say “ah ha!” or “I get it.” You want to create moments that resonate with your reader and not leave them with a laundry list of questions.

Guiding light

The theme of your story acts as the guiding light to the events and conversations that take place. Though theme provides structure, it also encourages spontaneity. Every exchange between characters doesn’t have to somehow involve the theme. However, using theme can add the layers of complexity that readers crave in a story. It’s important to note that if you feel like something that you’ve written doesn’t support your theme, you might be off topic.

Think of your theme as the muscle to the backbone of your story – the plot. Using both in tandem will give your story strength.

Copyright Dorrance Publishing, 2016

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