In a second, I'm gonna post the first two pages of the rough draft below. Not overly happy with it, but figure it might help those of you here more for the self-publishing side (although it does have same 'zino' goodness for you undead-heads). Please keep in mind its very rough.
Now first off, one of the more annoying aspects of comic, is everyone seems to have a different way of writing their scripts, unlike plays, television or movies. While this can be liberating to the writer, it can annoying for the penciler to say the least. You want to have a clear concise style of writing that conveys what's going on, and how it breaks down in panels, if you, yourself are not penciling (ie drawing in pencil before inking). And don't be surprised if the penciler does something different to the panel structure: remember he's the guy/gal you picked to convey your words to images because THEY are the artists. In this case my meager skills are doing all the heavy lifting so I can write for myself, which is great because I get how the flow goes in my head as I'm writing.
This brings me a note for those self publishers that are doing both the writing and art on your project. I HIGHLY recommend writing the script before you start drawing. Writing the script and going through a couple of drafts will allow you to see mistakes in the story and give you a clear structure to work off of. Trust me I know how tempting it is to just pick up an artboard and go at it, but in my personal experience (which admittedly is not large) it is always important to have the script done before any graphite hits bristol.
As an aid to those REALLY new to writing comics, I'll put a couple of standard examples of structure that are out and about. A number of writers format their scripts similar to the below, with of course a level of variation.
QUICK EXAMPLE ONE:
PAGE ONE
1. Superduper-man flying above the Washington Monument as his dog Whipto soars at his heels. The sky is a bright and beautiful day.
SCROLL CAPTION: Washington, DC
CAPTION: After saving the Senate from the evil Sluganoids, Superduper-Man and his dog Whipto fly to their secret layer.
2. SDMan looks behind him to Whipto. Whipto is sniffing the air
SDMAN, THOT: I wonder what Whipto is sniffing at?
[Etc.]
QUICK EXAMPLE TWO:
Page 1
Panel 1
Small Panel on BROODING MAN. He looks up glaring hate at the YUCKSTER
BROODING MAN: Where are the drugs?!?
Panel 2
Reverse angle from the Yuckster's POV. BROODING MAN is boiling over with rage
YUCKTER: Sorry didn't understand you? Could you
BROODING MAN (INTERRUPTING): WHERE ARE THE DRUGS?
And of course there is a multitude more. One note, even if you are, in fact, both writing and penciling, I do NOT highly recommend what is known as the 'Marvel Method'. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail on it, and if you want to know more I suggest you google it and make sure to read the criticism that actual comic writers have of the method. Note this has nothing to due with Marvel comics, other than the writers that developed this style worked for Marvel and utilized it because of their high output volume (that should tell you a lot right there).
So without any further blabbering, this is how I personally write. If you've ever seen a TV or Movie script it may look somewhat familiar. I like to write for both of the afore mentioned mediums so my style barrows heavily from that (Rule #4: "Do what you know". It comes right after, Crush your enemies, see them driven before you and to hear the lamination of . . .no, that's not right either. >Sigh< I need to sleep before I post these).
***
Page 1
Splash Page: We see a Hadrosaur, wearing a tie and broken glasses running franctically toward reader, through a city street. Behind him a group of Infected (zombie) Dinosaurs are in pursuit, lusting after the Hadrosaur's flesh. Various signs and marquees show this to be a modern looking city but populated by Dinsosaurs.
HADROSAUR
Oh Dino-Christ! Zombies!
Cap Box: Finally the truth of how the dinosaurs became extinct. Ignore the erronious theories
of meteors, volcanoes, and ice age, in fact what brought down the thunder lizards. . .was something more fearsome. For what truly brought the Dinosaurs down. . .was ZOMBIES!
Page 2
Panel 1: Hardrosaur POV: looks behind shoulders to see a pack of zombie dinosaurs right on his tail get closer.
HADROSAUR
C'mon, C'mon
Panel 2: The Hadrosaur runs into an alley, desperately trying to get away.
Panel 3: We see the zombie dinosaurs run past the alley as the Hadrosaur keeps his back to the wall, as the Hadrosaur keeps his back to the wall, trying to hold his breath.
HADROSAUR
(Whispering) Can't believe that worked
Panel 4: As the Hadrosaur slinks further back into the alley, we see pair upon pair of small, hungry eyes emerge from the refuse of the alley. A pack of infected Compies. They slink silently toward their unsuspecting prey.
HADROSAUR
Okay. Okay. If I can just get to a car. Something I can.. .
Panel 5: Long Panel; We only see the shadows of what is happening at the alley, as the Hadrosaur screams. The pack of Compys is obviously attacking and killing him.
HADROSAUR
ARRGH!
CAP BOX: But how did this once great civilization, so much like our own, die and crumble, and more importantly how did their dead come to rise against the them. To discover this we must go back some three months before this poor soul's demise.
###
Well that's it for tonight. Exhaustions got the better of me. I might even take 15 minutes to play my XBox tonight. Haven't touched it since I started this blog/comic, let alone the TV show I'm developing with my buddy Keith. Tomorrow should have a few sketches, and I might preemptively put up the splash page mainly so I can show how a splash page works and what I'm talking about when I say 'bleed' (so newcomers to the game will know how to account for, and draw with those boundaries in mind).
I'll try to start of the post with a list of books I recommend for self publishers.
-T
(Can't sleep clowns will eat me)
you've quoted one of me and Shawna's favorite Simpsons lines EVAR, but it's trumped by the line "Oh Dino-Christ! Zombies!"
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