5 Reasons to Write Comics

Plenty of successful writers pick up the pen, or punch the keyboard, deciding to write a comic script, maybe a complete series. So what goes through their head? Why are so many people trying out the sister art to screenwriting? There are a few reasons. For one, films are becoming comics, and comics are becoming films. Screenwriters are often good in both comic writing and film writing, because they are so very similar. This isn't to say it's easy to move from one field to the other. But the mechanics of writing a screenplay and comic are close. This leads me to the first reason to write comics.

1 - Similar in scope to films

There are more film fans, more than likely, than comic fans. After all, billions are made every year on films, hundreds of millions of people go to theaters every week. Comic writing is a smaller art, but similar in presentation to writing films. More than that, the similarities mean often comics are turned into films, and they're not always the super hero kind. But, in my mind, the biggest reason to write comics over films is much bigger.

2. Write from Home!

Actually, novels and comics have plenty in common as well, and one reason there are more novelists out there, published or not, is because you can write from anywhere on the world and still submit a manuscript. The same is true of comics. You don't have to live in Hollywood to sell a comic script. You can mail out your script from your home in New York to a publisher in California. Screenplays usually mean you need to live in or near Hollywood. Comic writers live close to publishers, usually, but often break in from wherever they live.

3 - Make Money

The problem with comics vs novels is most publishers of comics won't even read your script. For example, DC comics won't look at it ...Marvel comics will read a letter but won't accept a pitch ... and so on. Yet you can still make money! Many indie publishers actively seek out good writers and artists. Some say the comic market isn't easy to break into. True, but here's the theory. The average film costs in the millions to make. The average, 22 page comic costs far less. You have a better chance of selling a comic script than a movie script. You can make money.

4 - See Artists Vision

Beyond money is seeing your vision through on the finished pages, after the artist develops your script into pictures. One perfect example is an artist making your characters and scenes come alive in his/her own way. For example, I have a comic script being worked on by an artist, and it became obvious from the outset this artist had a similar vision for the character as mine. Sometimes it's far out there, sometimes it's close to what you saw when you wrote it.

5 - It's Creative, Fun, Addicting

You likely won't make much money on your first comics, if ever at all. It's the same way with novels and screenplays. So what's the point? The point is the creative process, seeing the limited series created and finding fans across the world ... or seeing your character on the cover of a comic. It can be addicting too, because comic writing is truly a unique art form. There isn't anything quite like writing a comic book script.