I Might as Well Carry on...

The Dialogue: The dialogue itself will obviously be taken care of in the script, which should be written in proper case with bold and italic words/sections already formatted so your letterer can work straight from the same package. Be mindful of space in a panel and don’t try and jam too much into a scene. I have always worked to a tight limit of 180-200 words per page with a maximum of 6 panels and therefore a rough word count of 30 per panel. This is, in my experience, a pretty low count, but it gives plenty of space for the action to unfold around the dialogue. If you need to flout the rule, then do so, but be harsh with yourself – if you can say it with fewer words, ensure you do.

Colour: Colour can be a valuable tool in GN production. It can signify a flashback, a mood, a particular character, season or location. It isn’t essential (many successful Graphic Novels and Comics (such as 2001 AD, The Walking Dead and, for the most part, Sin City) are produced in black & White. But flashes of vibrancy in a monochrome world can be even more impacting (such as red blood in a film noir comic printed in B&W).

Highlighted changes: If you’re using the same information for several panels to describe a static scene, any sudden changes that might be glossed-over by your artist should be highlighted somehow to draw attention to a subtle, but sudden change in surroundings.

Advice: Create a writer’s pack explaining how you work. You could even have a glossary of terms that should be clear in themselves, but reference actual examples should any confusion arise. Obviously if you know your artist personally and have a chance to sit down and talk about how you work, even better, but a professionally written cover letter and a manual on how to interpret every word of your script won’t hurt. And in all honesty, it will help you just as much to solidify your style, improve your accuracy and enable you to focus on what matters most…writing!


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