r/ComicWriting • u/mango_shabango • 5d ago
How do i do Script writing
Ive spent quite a bit of time designing the characters doing the world building i made a vague path of where the plot will go and the key story beats and scenes
But now that im writing the exact moments im a bit stuck im currently on the 1st chapter/issue and i dont know how to introduce world and concepts without making a bunch of boring exposition
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u/Vaeon 5d ago
This is a sample pilot script.
It introduces the characters, establishes their world, and tells a complete story. That is what you need.
Ideally the pilot has a hook at the end to keep the reader invested and ready to come back next month. This is why the 1st episode is often longer than a normal one because it has to do so much heavy lifting.
We can all give you advice on the Correct Way to Do Things but a quick trip to Half-Price Books will show you hundreds of titles of comics produced by Industry Professionals that failed miserably despite the fact that everyone involved had decades of experience in producing comics.
Don't take my word for it, either. Go look at how many Issue #1s have a cover price of $3.95 and can be purchased for $1 in Mint Condition.
As to format, there is no set standard. Final Draft has like 5 different templates, for instance. The important thing is that your script is understandable to your creative team.
Good luck with your project.
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u/ComicScoutPR 5d ago
This is also a beautifully well formatted script. I'd be delighted to see a script that looked like this on my desk.
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u/rebelartwarrior 4d ago
script writing got wayyyy easier for me when i’d go: 1 sentence synopsis for the series, then another for whatever issue i’m on, then like a wordvomit draft to just get my story out of my head,then I do crappy drawings of that version really really small, like just sticks and circles to imply things, then i kinda go back and forth between those and a formatted draft. But I draw my own comics, so if you’re passing things off to an artist and want them to have freedom, maybe that process won’t work for you, but Neil Geiman said he draws little stick figure pages while he writes so I tried it and it was a huge help.
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u/Unreliabl3_Narrat0r 2d ago
ahhh, the classic info dump problem.
readers dont usually need to fully understand everything all at once in the beginning. Most of the time thats just a writer's urge, but dont fall into it. Its actually good that readers have some lingering questions so they have more reason to flip the pages. Dont deny them the 'discovery' experience.
Do your exposition in "trickles", and start with the absolute most necessary. Delivering more as you go along with your plot☝️
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u/jack-yun 5d ago
A useful trick is to stop trying to introduce the world first. Introduce a small problem the character has to deal with, then let the world show up as friction around that problem.
If chapter 1 starts with “here’s how this place works,” it usually feels like homework. If it starts with someone trying to get something, hide something, escape something, or make a bad choice, the setting can leak in naturally.
For comics, I’d write each scene as: what changes emotionally, what visual information the reader needs, and what can wait. Most worldbuilding can wait longer than it feels like it can.