What are some good tips for writing a graphic novel?
Drawing a graphic novel is an extremely arduous process. It takes a really, really, really long time. The only way to do it is to work on it constantly, work on it unceasingly, and never give up. It will almost certainly take at least a year, so you're better off not thinking about how long it's going to take. Just chain yourself to the drawing board and don't let yourself do anything else until you're done.No special skill is needed to complete a graphic novel, only pure determination. It's like walking a thousand miles. Just put one foot in front of the other until you're done. You will feel like you've always been doing it, that it will never end, that you were born working on this project and that you will die working on this project. And then, one day, you're done.It is a process that teaches you to do it as you do it. At the end, you will be a better artist and storyteller than you were at the beginning. Does that mean that you should go back and draw the whole thing over again? Yes, yes it does.
How do I learn to storyboard my first novel? Does story boarding help in writing novels?
Does story boarding help in writing novels? Yes. And no.Yes, because quite frankly, anything that helps you organise, understand, and develop all the multiple stands of stories in a novel will help.No, because there are other methods available that might be more useful. It all depends how you think. If you are a very visual person who normally thinks through problems by story boarding, then you will find it useful. As you suggest you might have to learn to storyboard, I guess this might not be your current ‘go to’ process.I use flow charting quite a lot, because I am a visual person and I like to see the shape of the story laid out in front of me. I tend to use the ‘corkboard’ facility on a writing programme called Scrivener, because it suits my lifestyle. It looks a bit like this (random image lifted off google):However, many people achieve the same result with sticky notes or index cards, like this:Once I have flow charted all the different aspects of the stories in the novel, I combine them with the information from my story arcs:And put it all into a scene based spread sheet, like this:If I have lost you, there is a lot more information on my website.Anyway, the important fact is that you will need to find someway to plan your story, story boarding is as good a way as any if it suits you.Hope this helps,Nick
A friend and I are interested in writing a graphic novel and we have an awesome idea for it too. We need someone to draw, as we're not artists?
If you’re not planning to pay, there’s some great advice about this in this twitter status:OXBOXER on Twitter(especially the part about starting small to see whether you’d want to work with an artist more)
Where can I receive help in creative writing?
One thing you can do is hire a comic book, manga or graphic novel ghost writer. At Ghost Writer, Inc. we have those on our team. Google “comic book ghost writer” and see what comes up under that search term. Comic book manga ghost, graphic novel ghost, etc. You’d be surprised how much a great ghost writer who knows comic books can help you get your ideas down and made into the illustrated story you have been dreaming of for years. Not to advertise our ghostwriting services, but we have several famous artists and writers on our team who can perform the type of work you mentioned. It’s just a matter of searching the Internet until you find the ghost and the price you need to complete your work. Check out a variety of ghosts!
I want to self-publish my graphic novel & my ongoing comic series that I'm illustrating/writing. How can I do it?
Createspace.com which is associated with Amazon has a Comic Book Creator program to help you get your graphic novel ready for print. It’s a bit of a steep learning curve, but no more difficult that making the original drawings. The program is free, and publishing is free, but you have to buy your own print copies at manufacturing cost.
Best software for graphic novels?
Everyone's got to start somewhere, and for me, I want to start getting into comic-book style art. Mainly, it's for drawing the scenarios in my spy/spy co-story I'm working on with my writing partner. For personal entertainment purposes. I've always been interested in this, and now, getting my first job at 16, I want to raise the money up to buy the best, easiest to learn software to draw graphic art. Much like this: http://24.media.tumblr.com/61177e75a583c... (Just an example I found for one of my favorite fandoms.) I own a Macbook. What software would you recommend? Thanks in advance to anyone trying to sincerely provide tips and help to my question.
I want to publish a graphic novel?
To be honest, no publisher looks at 'ideas', what they want is finished work ready for publication (otherwise they don't know if you can deliver, if you will take ten years finishing the piece, or what). Do the work. Have a portfolio of art on hand about it to help pique interest. Singles, action panels, several entire pages of art that show you can tell a story visually. Going to the comics conventions is great, you can talk with published artists who DO this kind of work and they can give you a ton of info. For doing the work, go over to Amazon and look for a book called Drawing Words And Writing Pictures. Pick it up used, it's the most up to date one on how to do graphic novels for publication. The follow up book Mastering Comics talks about getting your stuff sold. Get the FIRST book first, it'll save you a ton of time and false starts. Do your story, make it anyway you want (even paper is fine, not everyone works digitally or even in color). Once you've got a finished project, THEN you google 'publishers of graphic novels' and look at what kind of work they publish. Also go to your library's reference section and find a book called Writers Market 2016, look through the publisher section for 'graphic novel'. Take a look at the graphic novels in the bookstore and at the library and take note of who the publishers are. Look online for each publisher and take note of what they require for submission guidelines, who to address it to, and what they are looking for as subject matter. Some people self publish, like King Cat, Narbonic, Sluggy Freelance, Hark A Vagrant and others. If the work you do is extensive, you can get funding through Kickstarter or Indigogo for a self publishing funding run.
Where can I find a good digital graphic novel illustrator?
That depends. Do you plan to pay them?There are many avenues you can use to seek out artists - going to comic book conventions and networking; joining online discussions that other comics creators participate in; putting up flyers at your friendly local comics shops; going to art shows, especially for things like new media or illustration college programs; looking at online portfolios either by searching for particular styles or approaches or through sites like DeviantArt. I founded and co-moderate a Facebook group called Connecting Comic Book Writers and Artists that was established to do exactly this — to help put creators in touch with other creators.But in every case, your chance of finding and keeping an artist for a project is vastly increased if you are ready and willing to pay them.An artists’ share of the work of creating comics/graphic novels (whether digitally or not) is by far the most time-consuming and laborious. Comics artists at every professional level constantly face would-be writers and creators asking them to partner and invest tremendous amounts of time and energy in projects — for the promise of future rewards.But if an artist is working on your project, that means they’re foregoing either other paying work, or working on their own dream projects. Taking on someone else’s project, especially if that person is an unknown and aspiring (or early-career) creator too, is a tremendous risk and opportunity cost. Unless there’s money on the table.So, use any or all of the means I suggested above can help you find the right artist for your project. We’d welcome you in our Facebook group!But please understand what you’re asking of artists, be willing to compromise on things like shared ownership and timelines for completion.And please, be ready and willing to pay them.
Negative stereotypes about Graphic Novels?
What are some negative stereotypes about graphic novels, novels written in comic book form? My friend and I are writing a point-counterpoint about them, and I am writing against them. I accidentally left my notes at school, though, where we were working on it, and so I need some help. I have a few things: -not as deep -doesn't expand vocabulary, reading/ comprehension skills, etc. - "easy read" - "glorified comic book" - lose the similes, imagery (through the words), and other important parts of the text in "real" novels - can't work with the text itself, ie annotating and highlighting I honestly have nothing against graphic novels; it is just the part I am writing. Any help would be very appreciated. We had to read a graphic novel for summer reading, so any negative comments in that sense- educational- and also in a general sense would be really helpful. (And by the way, this isn't schoolwork/ for a grade, so your ideas wouldn't be helping me cheat. We both love to write, so we are submitting an article to a school newspaper, and we were actually told that it was alright to collaborate and get other opinions. ;) Thanks again!!)