How to Become a Comic Book Writer or How to Fight Evil

There are many comic book fans that would like to write a comic script. We see how movies are being made out of Frank Miller and Alan Moore titles like "Sin City" and "V For Vendetta," and think there is money to be made in the medium. We also see how popular the graphic novel has become because of its evolution. The graphic novel really is popular again; and there are millions being made on comic book movie adaptations. So there is a reason to dream of becoming a comic book writer: money can be made. But there should also be a love and joy in wanting to write comic books. Writing comic book scripts is a challenge for any writer. Publishing and success are just steps down the road.

With these things in mind, this article will provide the key points in how to write, publish, and earn an income off comic book scripts.

Rule 1: Study Comic Books

Comic books can be studied in many ways. We can take notes on scripts as a hobby and means of finding how the stories are constructed. A comic book scripts can be found in many how-to-write books, but, in short, they look like screenplays because they distill everything that is needed to tell the story. To get a feel for a comic book script read some of the top writers in the field. An unpublished writer should study Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Grant Morrison, and Warren Ellis. Studying these writers will lead to a general understanding of how a comic story is told. Minute examination of comic books is important because, in order to write scripts, we will need to understand their format.

Rule 2: Study Published Scripts

Many sites feature the actual scripts of published writers. These scripts will help in the initial stages of writing comic books. A few scripts that should be printed out, and are useful to beginners, include those on Scryptic Studios (scrypticstudios.com) and the 2000 AD website. These studies will lead you into an understanding of the two comic script formats. There are two kinds of scripts: a full script and the Marvel style. You will see the differences in the script styles after looking at examples. Full scripts are usually much longer than those written in the Marvel style. For this reason, most find them harder to write than Marvel-style comics. Whatever our choice for script styles, the first few scripts are more of a learning experience than writing that earn us an income.

Rule 3: Write It Down

Many of us struggle getting to the computer or notebook, and this struggle is even harder when the writing project seems daunting. A comic book writer should be fast to the keyboard every time they want to write. This means scheduling time to write a script. If we want to be fiction writers we start out with short stories because they take less time. This is the same case with comic book scripts; write short five-to-ten page scripts because they take less time. A shorter story will find more markets, but offers less money. However, the short story will provide the experience that we need, and allow us to explore what can be done in the short form. Knowing the short form and gaining experience is key to writing a comic book script.

Rule 4: Find An Artist

There is a general rule among the small presses (in other words, not a major publisher like Marvel or DC) that a comic book script with an artist attached will often get accepted before a comic without one. If the writer is interested in publication, they should submit to small presses because smaller presses publish writers with little experience more often. Most college towns have a wide variety of people interested in comic books. If we live in a smaller city consider sending out a script to an artist we know has talent. If we cannot find an artist, consider looking for one online who would be willing to sketch out some pages. Even a few pages of sketched out work without color could lead to a sale.

Rule 5: Send It Out

Once we have a script that is original and well constructed, it is time to find a market for it. Follow the guidelines posted on the company websites in every submission. If we ever want to make an income or have our heroes see print, we have to study the market and submit to it. Many publishers actively seek submissions from writers. What if no one is interested? If there is no interest in the comic book we still have a chance. Consider sticking to short form scripts until we find a publisher interested. Eventually, we will eventually get a response if we keep submitting. Once a shorter script is published, we can submit those bigger projects (like a four issue limited series) to publishers citing our experience in the field.

Those rules provide the core of becoming a comic book writer; but there is no tried-and-true secret to getting published except persistence. If the last rule falls through, we should repeat the process until we find success. The comic book medium has a lot of talent being published, but turns away many talented individuals. Remember that, in order to become a comic book writer, we must take chances, be studious, and accept rejection. Every current comic book writer popular now-from Frank Miller to Alan Moore-began his or her career by doing exactly that.