CraftWatch: Writing

I suddenly realized I'm writing a lot more than I used to. I write a semi-regular column for a news magazine, I've just written a short story for Dean's anthology (rejected, for being... ah... more than meets the eye), and I'm rewriting the script for a 10 page comic.

Techie that I am, I keep thinking about a way to systematize writing things up. I think that a notebook full of story ideas and storytelling techniques would be good thing to keep... just the thing when people say "write something... anything!" I think that a good archive of all written short stories would be good (rejected or not). You never know when you'll be called upon to rewrite your story into a given format.

Speaking of formats, I've found that for writing quick comic scripts, the following method works quite well:

  1. write a brief paragraph about the setting of the story, and note any visual elements you'd like the artist to make;
  2. write one brief paragraph about each major character in the story, especially the protagonist(s);
  3. write a short summary of the plot flow and any special flourishes you want in the story;
  4. go through the summary, and break it down by pages into a page summary;
  5. go through each page summary and modify it by breaking down the number of necessary panels without bothering with the actual panel layout on the page;
  6. go back through each page summary add captions, SFX and dialogue;
  7. read through the entire 1st draft of the comic script and check for EVERYTHING: plot holes, pages overcrowded with panels, panels overcrowded with captions / word balloons / sound effects, realistic dialogue, unrealistic expectations of the artist, and so on.
Back to work. Apparently, my comc script has to be in Tagalog...

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