Writing Blog Number 2

20250616 Graphic Novels

Graphic Novels

Here’s something a little different – the format for writing a Graphic Novel, a short form comic (like in those old horror comic books, which are making a comeback) or something along those lines. This is if you are not working with an artist or are not an artist yourself – you have a story you think would work much better with visuals, and you want to format it so an artist can work with it.

First, you need to have your story completely worked out. This is either written as a short story or as a detailed outline.
         If there are elements you feel need the visual element, then these need to be highlighted so your conversion of it to a graphic script is smoother.

Second, each page needs to have panels. Three rules of thumb: 1) don’t over-use single-panel pages; 2) no more than 5 panels to a page; and 3) finish at the end of a page. Now, having said that, all of these rules are often broken, but they are good rules of thumb to go by.

The title does not have to go at the top unless the publication you are submitting to demands it. But title must be on the first page.
         Assume an A4 page (or the US equivalent) is going to be used. Some publications ask that you show a mock-up of where the panels go for each page. Not all, but some. Some will also tell you how many panels, etc. they prefer per page, especially if what they want is out of the norm. For example, one Australian company printed a nice B4 sized comic, and they liked 9 panels per page (3x3) or equivalent.
         So, the rule, as it always is, is: (b}Always read the submission guidelines!

You only need to write an order of where the people are standing once, and writing (as in panel X) subsequently is perfectly fine, but you need to indicate in your initial description where each person is, are they left or right of the panel, etc. Describe the images in the panel with as much detail as necessary to get your point across. Being over-prescriptive can see artists not wanting to work on it as they will not have their own agency.

So, here is an example:
PAGE 2/Panel 1 (upper left)
Figure of Conan is silhouetted by lightning on top of mountain. Muscular and male. We see him from behind. He is wearing a cloak with no sleeves. In front of him, in the distance, is a ruined castle.
         Thought bubble: “The Castle of Thrydd. Time to face that cursed wizard Blackheart.”
PAGE 2/Panel 2 (upper right)
Conan, from behind, his battle-axe in his hands, pushes open the door. His muscles should be showing tension.
PAGE 2/Panel 3 (full lower half)
A giant of a man, twice the size of Conan (or more) strides toward Conan, holding a sword before him. His face is disfigured and he has scars on his body. Conan is on the back-foot, three-quarter on from behind, his axe held before him.
MAN (speech bubble): “You dare enter the fortress of the mighty Blackheart, puny man? Prepare to die!”
PAGE 3/Panel 1 (upper left)
Large man swings his sword but Conan is ducking beneath the swing.
PAGE 3/Panel 2 (central page)
Conan leaps and swings his axe, opening up the torso of Large man. Large man’s head is thrown back in pain, Conan looks furious. A lot of blood. The castle’s interior is block stone-work. A picture of Blackheart is on one wall, not too big, but large enough to be clear.
SOUND EFFECT: {Man screaming) Aaiiieeee!
PAGE 3/Panel 3 (lower right)
Man’s body is in foreground, dead. Conan is walking away, looking over his shoulder.
CONAN (speech bubble): “The bigger they come…”

Quick 2 pages (pages 2 and 3), 6 panels, and we have characters, a fight scene, a death, and the bad guy semi-introduced (name and image). The whole thing is 12 pages long.
         It may seem easy, but I find that it is not. You need to think visually while writing with words. To me, it is tough.

But it still might be something to give a go.