NaGraNoWriMo Day #1: Writing Resources
Are you in for National Graphic Novel Writing Month? We hope so. And because we’re generous people, we thought we’d give you some reading material to help you start on your masterpiece.
- Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
by Scott McCloud - Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels
by Scott McCloud - Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form
by Scott McCloud
The books above could be considered the holy trinity to the world of sequential art. Scott McCloud presents how to write and build a comic book, by deconstructing the art form into its basic principles and components. We can’t recommend this books enough. And once you get through those, consider:
- Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative
by Will Eisner - Comics and Sequential Art: Principles and Practices from the Legendary Cartoonist
by Will Eisner
Before Scott McCloud, there was Will Eisner… the legend that spawned an industry. If you don’t know who Will is… we recommend you just buy these books now and thank us later. And if you’ve finished these, why not take a gander at:
- Writing for Comics and Graphic Novels
by Peter David - The Complete Book of Scriptwriting
by J. Michael Straczynski - Alan Moore’s Writing For Comics Volume 1
by Alan Moore
Living legends in their own rights, this trio of books could be considered the followup courses after you’ve polished off both Eisner and McCould’s contributions. All of these books will help you, and are available at decent comic
book stores, through your local library, or by following the links to
purchase through Amazon.
After you’ve boned up on your structure, have your basic plot in mind, and your word doc opened… why not get a graphic novel that gives you access to the final working script, so you can compare structures! We recommend:
- The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country
by Neil Gaiman, which includes the script to “Calliope”. - Absolute Watchmen
by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, which includes some sample script pages for you to peruse.
We also have to point to the excellent work of Tim Simmons and the Comic Book Script Archive, where you can see a number of scripts in various styles and levels of development. (We’ll probably have a few more to add by the time we’re done.)
What books do you recommend? Sound off in the comments.
OK, NaGroWriMo is a brilliant idea! It’s the 24 Hour Comic on Steroids! Question: What are the rules? Do you have to write, draw, ink and color this all as a solo project? Are you allowed to collaborate and still claim that you’ve taken part in the NaGroWriMo? But wait, is OCTOBER the NaGroWriMo month? Way to give us the heads up beforehand! OK, I’ll watch you go at it for this month while I consider attacking the challenge next year.
I hope this idea gets the international attention it deserves.
OK, NaGroWriMo is a brilliant idea! It's the 24 Hour Comic on Steroids! Question: What are the rules? Do you have to write, draw, ink and color this all as a solo project? Are you allowed to collaborate and still claim that you've taken part in the NaGroWriMo? But wait, is OCTOBER the NaGroWriMo month? Way to give us the heads up beforehand! OK, I'll watch you go at it for this month while I consider attacking the challenge next year.I hope this idea gets the international attention it deserves.