3 Simple Rules for Comic Book Script Writing
Here are some simple rules to help guide you if you're writing your first comic book script.
3 Simple Rules for Comic Book Script Writing
I was talking with some other comic creators earlier this week about what makes a good comic book script. I’m always looking for ways to make it easier for artists, editors, and letterers that I work with to quickly read my scripts and understand all of the story and formatting elements.
One thing that we kept coming back to was keeping a script lean. A lot of writers that dive into their comic book scripts for the first time can tend to have very wordy panels. To be fair, sometimes that’s needed. Especially in things like science fiction stories where you have to describe something that’s never been seen before. But an easy way to make sure that scripts are still readable is to always put the core idea upfront.
Here are some quick and easy rules if you’re writing your first comic book script.
Rule #1: One Action Per Panel
While it would be awesome to watch someone leap from a building, kick open the door of a helicopter, and tackle the pilot out the other side in a comic book, you can’t do that all in one panel. That’s at least three panels worth of story.
Bad
Panel 1. A big panel of TUCKER leaping from the building towards the helicopter that’s been chasing him. He kicks through the door of the helicopter and into the cockpit where the PILOT is shocked. Tackling the Pilot out, they fall between the skyscrapers.
Good
Panel 1. A big panel of TUCKER leaping from the building towards the helicopter that’s been chasing him.
Panel 2. Tucker kicks through the door of the helicopter and into the cockpit. The Pilot looks shocked.
Panel 3. Tucker tackles the Pilot out the other side. The skyscrapers waiting for them below.
Honestly, even Panel 3 could be broken up into a couple of panels if you really wanted to break it up further. A panel can only depict a single moment, so make sure you’re conveying that to the artist and choosing the best moment for the panel.
Rule #2: The First Person in the Panel Should Have the First Line of Dialogue
So I don’t often see this come up in writing courses and it’s kind of a unique thing to comic book writing. The person who speaks first in a comic book panel should be on the left side and listed first in the script. That’s because we read from left to right and it helps the letterer place the balloons.
Can you start the dialogue on the right side of the panel?
Yes, but it can get tricky to lay it out and then naturally have the balloons lead you to the next panel. There are always exceptions to the rule, but it makes it easier on the whole creative team if you can list the first person speaking as the first person in the panel.
For instance:
Bad
Panel 1. CHARLIE and MIKE walk along the side of the road, their clothes in tatters.
MIKE:
I can’t believe the truck just exploded like that.
CHARLIE:
You cleaned the seats with gasoline… what did you think would happen when you lit that match?
Good
Panel 1. MIKE and CHARLIE walk along the side of the road, their clothes in tatters.
MIKE:
I can’t believe the truck just exploded like that.
CHARLIE:
You cleaned the seats with gasoline… what did you think would happen when you lit that match?
Mike is listed first and would most likely be on the left side of the panel, so we would start with his dialogue.
Also, I’m not sure why Mike cleaned his truck’s seats with gasoline—that’s just the first thing that popped into my head.
Rule #3: Avoid Unnecessary Information
So this is more of a guideline than a rule and you need to use your own judgment on this one. Dropping huge bits of lore that no one is going to see in the panel can be cool and fun for the creative team, but it does bog the script down and make it harder to scan.
I typically try to keep all of the character information and deep worldbuilding stuff in separate documents for the creative team to review later. Then it’s easy to just go grab it and use it for reference, rather than having to dig through a script and remember which panel described how this world files their taxes.
One thing I do think that helps is including someone’s state of mind. I’ve found that some artists I work with like/enjoy a sentence or two about what’s going through the character’s head to help them convey the emotion.
For example:
Bad
Panel 2. Mike strokes his chin as he thinks. In this world, there’s a lot of misinformation via a social media platform called FaceSpace that gives people bad advice. It’s led to tons of deaths and even has the FBI looking into it. We’re never going to really get to this, but it’s a bit of world-building I’m obsessed with and I want to include.
MIKE:
I thought gasoline would be sterile… I probably read it in a magazine somewhere… or on a blog.
Good
Panel 2. Mike strokes his chin as he thinks. He’s digging deep for a good lie.
MIKE:
I thought gasoline would be sterile… I probably read it in a magazine somewhere… or on a blog.
Again, Mike is an idiot and this is something off the top of my head, but you get the picture.
Time to Start Writing!
I hope these quick tips were helpful! Honestly, anyone’s first script that avoids some of these pitfalls is a huge improvement. If you’re looking for some good books on writing comics, here are a few to get you started.
Have a great time making comics and I’ll see you next time!
Best,
Kenny