How to Write a Comic Book Script: Resources for Beginners

Do you have a fabulous idea that you think will make an awesome comic? Great!

Have you ever written a comic before? No? Then hold on to your hat, because I'm about to lay some educational information on you.

Let's start with terminology. I found this stuff on Wikipedia, they had pretty comprehensive definitions. And I like to work smart, not hard.

Layout:

Panel
A panel, frame or box is one drawing on a page and contains a segment of action. A page may have one or many panels, and panels are frequently, but not always, surrounded by a border or outline, whose shape can be altered to indicate emotion, tension or flashback sequences. The size, shape and style of a panel, as well as the placement of figures and speech balloons inside it, affect the timing or pacing of a story. Panels are used to break up and encapsulate sequences of events in a narrative. What occurs in a panel may be asynchronous, meaning that not everything that occurs in a single panel necessarily occurs at one time.

Gutter
The gutter is the space between panels.

Tier
A tier is a single row of panels

Splash
A splash or splash page is a large, often full-page illustration which opens and introduces a story." It is rarely less than half a page, and occasionally covers two pages. Often designed as a decorative unit, its purpose is to capture the reader's attention, and can be used to establish time, place and mood.

Spread
A spread is an image that spans more than one page. The two-page spread is the most common, but there are spreads that span more pages, often by making use of a foldout (or gatefold)

Elements:

Speech balloon
A speech/word/dialogue balloon or speech/word/dialogue bubble is a speech indicator, containing the characters' dialogue. The indicator from the balloon that points at the speaker is called a pointer or tail.
The speech balloon bridges the gap between word and image—"the word made image", as expressed by Pierre Fresnault-Druelle. In early renderings, speech balloons were no more than ribbons emanating from their speakers' mouths, but as it evolved and became more sophisticated, it became a more expressive device. Its shape came to convey meaning as well. A thought balloon contains copy expressing a character's unvoiced thoughts, usually shaped like a cloud, with bubbles as a pointer. Emotions can be expressed by the shape of the balloon—spiked balloons can indicate shouting, and balloons "dripping" balloons can indicate sarcasm.

Caption
In a caption, words appear in a box separated from the rest of the panel or page, usually to give voice to a narrator, but sometimes used for the characters' thoughts or dialogue.

Sound effects
Sound effects or onomatopoeia are words that mimic sounds. They are non-vocal sound images, from the subtle to the forceful.

Originally I was going to put together a list of tips on how to write a comic. Realizing that I'm not a comic author I researched this information to share with the MCC authors and found that this has been done, and done quite well, by experienced authors. So instead what I'm going to do is share what I think are well written guides on how to do comics.

The book that I see recommended again and again is, "Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art" by Scott McCloud. It has an amazing 4.7 out of 5 stars on Amazon. Check it out at your local library or get it at a fairly reasonable price from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

The next one I'd like to recommend is a four part series on Lit Reactor by Kelly Thompson called "Don't Write Comics: How to Write Comics". It also includes how to make a pitch to a comic publishing company and tips on choosing and collaborating with an artist who will fit your style. The great thing about the MCC is that we will find an artist for you, so you've got one less step to handle.
Part 1     Part 2     Part 3     Part 4

This next resource discusses formats for your comic script. You'll find that the comic world doesn't really have a standard format for scripts. Some publishers have submission guidelines that detail how they want you to format scripts for them, but you'll find no real consistency across the industry. I'm not going to pick one style and tell everyone to follow it, but it would make it easier on the editorial board and on the artist who will illustrate your script if you pick a style and stick to it. Neil Gaiman said that "a comic script is a 10,000 word letter to an artist." and I think he is absolutely right. You might be telling the story but your artist is the one making that story come to life visually. This one is called, "Graphic Novel Script Format" by Tim Stout.

Another overview dealing mostly with formatting is Chris Oatley's article "How To Write A Comic Book Script and Other More Important Things". It includes script samples and outlines their process.

If after finishing all this recommended reading you still have questions, please ask us. We are here to help you. If I don't know the answer, I will find someone who does. We have many talented experienced authors working with us that I will be happy to bother.