Writer Help

General & Sundry

Creator Meditations from my blog
Writing Comics (part 1, part 2 and part 3) by Warren Ellis
Advice on Writing Comics and Breaking In by Brian K. Vaughan
Advice to Authors by Neil Gaiman
Writing for comics by Kurt Busiek
Breaking In by Brian Wood (plus Del Rey publisher Dallas Middaugh’s response)
Writing Comics - Warren Ellis interviewed by Neil Kleid
Writing comics by Mike Baron
Writer’s Style Guide by Christopher Priest
No Golden Biscuits (Breaking In) by Chuck Dixon
Comics Writing Fundamentals by Jennifer de Guzman
Script Writing by Alan Moore and Jeph Loeb
How 2 Rite Gud by Andy Mangels and Jonathan Clements
Comics Storytelling Tips That Work by John Freeman
How to Survive Writing a Graphic Novel by Grady Klein
Writing for Comics by Anina Bennett
Writing for Comic Books by Joe Edkin
Writing Comic Books by Barry Lyga
Alan Moore Interview Index (extensive list of links to online interviews 1984-present)
Grant Morrison Interview Archive (extensive list covering 1976-2006)
Getting Things Written by Antony Johnston
Theme and Setting by Steven Grant
DMZ #4 notes by Brian Wood
Reactive Writing and Staying Connected vs. Getting Lost by Joe Casey and Matt Fraction
Stupid Gun Mistakes EVERY Writer Makes by Chuck Dixon
Writing Action Scenes, I Drink Your Script-Shake and Lessons from the Script Pile by John Rogers
Scryptic Studios is a comic writing website and has a terrific resource page.
Narration in Comics by Joris Driest
Fan Husbandry by Charlie Jane AndersFinancial Advice for Writers by John Scalzi
Act Like a Professional.doc, Co-Writing Methodologies.doc, Rules For Writing.doc and Writers - what’s your work day like?.doc from THE ENGINE

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COLUMNS

Making Good by myself (be sure to check out the entire Columns section at Scryptuc Studios–the entire site, and therefore all the columns, are dedicated to the craft of writing comics)
“Creating Comics Step By Step” by Steven Grant (a series from 2005 within his regular Permanent Damage column)
Come In Alone and The Ministry (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6) by Warren Ellis
What Th–? by Marv Wolfman
The Basement Tapes by Joe Casey and Matt Fraction
Dixonverse Articles by Chuck Dixon
12-Step Program by Dan Wickline
He’s Only a Writer by Tony Lee
Writing Comic Books/Strips by Dave A. Law

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IDEAs

The Idea by Steven Grant
So, Where Do You Get Your Ideas? by Marv Wolfman
Where Do You Get Your Ideas? by Chuck Dixon
The Idea by Dan Wickline
On Conception.doc from THE ENGINE

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CHARACTERS

Characters and Characterization by Steven Grant
Developing Characters, Villains Intro and Once, Twice, Three Times a Bad Guy by Chuck Dixon
The Characters by Dan Wickline

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PLOT

Plot (part 1 and part 2) by Steven Grant
Writing the Plot (part 1, part 2 and part 3) by Marv Wolfman
The Plot (And How to Hide It) and How to Work a Subplot(s) by Chuck Dixon
The Plot (part 1 and part 2) by Dan Wickline

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dialogue

Dialogue (part 1 and part 2) by Steven Grant
Writing School #01: Dialogue by Chuck Dixon
dialogue word count.doc and Dialogue.doc from THE ENGINE

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SCRIPTING

Script Writing by Alan Moore and Jeph Loeb
The Script by Steven Grant
The Mechanics of Writing Comicbooks (part 1, part 2 and part 3) and Endings by Joe Casey and Matt Fraction
Scripting the Light Fantastic by Marv Wolfman
The Ten Commandments of Comic Book Scriptwriting and Openings and How to Work Them by Chuck Dixon
The Script (part 1 and part 2) by Dan Wickline
22 Shots That Always Work by Wally Wood
The Anatomy of a Comic Book by Jeffery Stevenson
Types of Shots
Script Writing Terminology by Brian Dittfeld
How to Format a Comic Script (part 1: full script and part 2: plot style) by Dave A. Law
Download the Dark Horse Script Guide as a .doc or .pdf
Comic Script Archive compiled by CitizenTim
Dark Blue by Warren Ellis
Two annotated Scott Pilgrim Script Pages by Bryan Lee O’Malley
Script Archive by Christopher Priest
Various sample scripts by Dwayne McDuffie
The Black Terror: The Deep End by Beau Smith
The Evolution of Un-Men #7 by John Whalen
Various script samples by Anina Bennett
Building The Page.doc, Comics Scripts .doc, Comics Writing- Nuts and Bolts.doc, Concept to Script.doc and Good script books?.doc from THE ENGINE

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PACING AND PAGEFLOW

Paneling, Pacing and Layout in Comics and Manga (part 1 and part 2) by Rivkah
The Page and How to Work It and More on the Page Turn by Chuck Dixon
Comics Are Drums by Warren Ellis
On Timing (part 1, part 2 and part 3) by Joanna Estep
On Cutting.doc, Theory- panel rhythm.doc and TURN OF THE PAGE.doc from THE ENGINE

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WORKING W/ ARTISTs

Finding an Artist and Creators’ Rights by Dan Wickline
Working With Artists by Dave A. Law
Artists - what’s your work day like?.doc from THE ENGINE

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Working w/ letterers

The Three Rs of Lettering (part 1, part 2 and part 3) - Richard Starkings, Robbie Robbins and Robin Spehar interviewed by Jason Hanley
The Writer/Letterer Relationship - Richard Starkings interviewed by myself
Balloons are Round by Christopher Priest
Lettering Question- To Bold Or Not To Bold?.doc, Lettering your own work.doc, Lettering- A Lost Art.doc, SOUND EFFECTS.doc and thought balloons.doc from THE ENGINE

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THE PITCH

The Pitch by Warren Ellis
So How Do I Pitch…? - Tony Lee interviews Joshua Hale Fialkov, Lee Nordling, Michael Avon Oeming, Andy Schmidt, Heidi MacDonald, Rob Levin, Keith Giffen and Andrew Foley
The Pitch and Black as Pitch by Steven Grant
Writing Your Pitch by Drew Melbourne
What It Takes to Sell Your Pitch (part 2, part 3) by Lee Nordling
Do or Do Not; There Is No Try by Larry Young
Writing the Synopsis, from the 2000AD submissions page.
Some sample proposals by Dwayne McDuffie
Writing Submissions by Dave A. Law
Proposal Etiquette - Scott Allie, Jim Valentino, Larry Young, William Christensen, Jeff Mariotte, Erik Larsen, Joe Quesada, Bill Rosemann and Paul Benjamin interviewed by Dan Wickline
Getting Your Submission Read by Erik Larsen, Devin Grayson, John Ostrander and Chuck Dixon
On her blog, SLG editor Jennifer DeGuzman does a series where she goes through their submission slushpile and points out people’s mistakes.
Top 10 Tips for Comic Book Writers (pertains especially to preparing a proposal) by Image Shadowline editor Kris Simon.
“The Rule of Four Ps” when submitting by C.B. Cebulski
Selling the Story by Christopher Priest
Submitting to Image - Jim Valentino interviewed by Dan Wickline
What Editors Look For in a Submission by John Freeman
Submissions, The 5-Page Trap by Ty Gorton
Here’s the pitch that sold Postcards to Random House/Villard.
The Image and Dark Horse submission guidelines succinctly cover what a fairly standard submission should contain
Pitching comics.doc and The Pitch.doc from THE ENGINE

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