Don Elson (@BrmaDon) hit up our twitter with a great question this week:
Why should one write a script when in the end they draw the comic as well?
[Tweet “Everyone works differently when creating comics – @MichaelYakutis”]
Local hero and all around good guy, Michael Yakutis, had a wonderful response:
For a lot of people who both write and draw their comic, it can be helpful to work off of a detailed script. It makes it easier to envision the comic as a whole before doing any artwork. This is especially important when writing a print comic, since most print comics have a limited number of pages to work with. You need to ensure that your story will fit within those boundaries before you start producing art. However, for some people a written script may not always be needed. Everyone works differently when creating comics. Some creators write detailed scripts, some only write out the dialogue, and some only write general notes. Many artists who write their own stories forego the scripting process and go straight to rough layouts and sketch in the word balloons. It all comes down to whatever works best for you. Experiment with different techniques until you find the one that best suits you.
[Tweet “Experiment with different techniques until you find the one that best suits you. -@MichaelYakutis”]
makingcomics.com
Writing a script: useful for working out complex story structure things, planning foreshadowing, shifting mental gears between “drawing” and “writing”. Also good for practicing for when you collaborate, if you plan to ever do so.
Plus it’s a thing you can usually do in smaller spaces than drawing, which may help turn travel time into creative time.
I am a graphic designer. I studied design before I got into education and writing. The two are fundamentally different in how they function for design.
Writing is a linear medium. Meaning, that it lays building blocks down, one after another, in a left to right manner. This is useful to comics, because the script can act as a mental exercise to help you perfectly order the flow of information before you start artistic composition.
Artistic composition, e.g. drawing comics, requires a whole complex set of variables that need to be considered for the flow of information to make sense. (See “Principles & Elements of Art” .
For those reasons, using a script to plot the flow of information is a great step to do before considering composition elements of art. A script will allow you to go through multiple edits of a story structure that is quick and efficient.
Personally I work with editors on scripts for up to 3-5 drafts before I ever start doing art for the comic. Comics have a “point of no return” element in the art where after a certain point in the construction process it becomes difficult to implement edits without having to rework countless hours. The most efficient places to conduct editing is in the script and thumbnail stages of the comic.