neil kleid
06-09-2005, 09:01 AM
http://www.scrypticstudios.com/index.php/articles/553
"So let’s discuss editing the sound of our own voices. One thing right off the bat about writers: Writers write – and hate to edit.
“A publishing company approached me to adapt a work of literature into a 144 page graphic novel. Said piece is narrated from the point of view of an animal – which allowed the author to wax philosophical from within and around the protagonist’s mind. Now, that’s well and good for a novel that allows for space, breadth, length and verbosity. But for a digest sized comic, in which each page can fit four panels or less? Gotta pick them words carefully.
“Let’s talk superhero comics for a minute: How many times have you waded through an issue of Super Monkey Detective Comics and gotten stuck in captions, exposition and balloons that obscure painstakingly detailed artwork, simply because the writer wanted to blather on about Super Monkey Detective’s forensic study of Shadow Goat’s death?
“I’ve seen it a thousand times and my eyes always skim over the gray text until I happen upon a ninja fight.”
This week's BIG POND is live at Scryptic Studios, and in it I am joined by writers Leland (VOX, SUSPENDED IN LANGUAGE) Purvis and Steven (STYX TAXI, EVERYMAN) Goldman. Swing by to check out the second of three columns about dialogue in which we focus on the merits of killing your darlings.
BIG POND: Shut Up and Edit. The eleventh in a series of collaborative columns at Scryptic Studios.
"So let’s discuss editing the sound of our own voices. One thing right off the bat about writers: Writers write – and hate to edit.
“A publishing company approached me to adapt a work of literature into a 144 page graphic novel. Said piece is narrated from the point of view of an animal – which allowed the author to wax philosophical from within and around the protagonist’s mind. Now, that’s well and good for a novel that allows for space, breadth, length and verbosity. But for a digest sized comic, in which each page can fit four panels or less? Gotta pick them words carefully.
“Let’s talk superhero comics for a minute: How many times have you waded through an issue of Super Monkey Detective Comics and gotten stuck in captions, exposition and balloons that obscure painstakingly detailed artwork, simply because the writer wanted to blather on about Super Monkey Detective’s forensic study of Shadow Goat’s death?
“I’ve seen it a thousand times and my eyes always skim over the gray text until I happen upon a ninja fight.”
This week's BIG POND is live at Scryptic Studios, and in it I am joined by writers Leland (VOX, SUSPENDED IN LANGUAGE) Purvis and Steven (STYX TAXI, EVERYMAN) Goldman. Swing by to check out the second of three columns about dialogue in which we focus on the merits of killing your darlings.
BIG POND: Shut Up and Edit. The eleventh in a series of collaborative columns at Scryptic Studios.