Author Topic: Writing Prompts 28: Webcomics (August 18)  (Read 3077 times)

mbarker

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Writing Prompts 28: Webcomics (August 18)
« on: August 22, 2008, 02:15:31 AM »
And who's going to draw the first panel?

(Y'a know, if Howard drew a set of panels WITHOUT dialogue, we could all try our hand at fitting the dialogue to the panels? :-)

Necroben

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Re: Writing Prompts 28: Webcomics (August 18)
« Reply #1 on: August 22, 2008, 02:46:41 AM »
That would be COOL!!!  I have no way to put what I might draw online so couldn’t participate in this prompt in any other way.
I don't suffer from insanity...  I enjoy every minuet of it!

It's ok to be strange, as long as it's on paper. :)

Silk

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Re: Writing Prompts 28: Webcomics (August 18)
« Reply #2 on: August 22, 2008, 10:03:12 PM »
I don't think there was an official writing prompt this week. Or a drawing prompt, though the latter's just as well. Anyone who tried to make me draw things would deserve the results. ::)

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Re: Writing Prompts 28: Webcomics (August 18)
« Reply #3 on: August 23, 2008, 09:54:19 PM »
Okay, here are 3 images I put together really quckly in Illustrator.

Make a story out of them.

The Folly of youth is to think that intelligence is a subsitute for experience. The folly of age is to think that experience is a subsitute for intelligence.

Necroben

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Re: Writing Prompts 28: Webcomics (August 18)
« Reply #4 on: August 23, 2008, 11:32:25 PM »
Sabrina, sensing trouble, takes to the sky.
The Effrit, Jinn al Ni Muun, appears from the Gate in the Center of the World.
Alijaundro and Sebastian, interrupted in their swordplay by the keening of the Earth’s pain, pause in mid form.

O.K.  I've never attempted anything like this before...  so be gentle.

Edit:

"Something isn't quite... right."

Rummble.  Grind.  "Ahhhhh hahahahaaa."

"What was that?"
"I don't know, but it can't be good."

Is this more appropriate?  I'm more of a novel writer than comic-writer, this is harder than it looks, but it is fun.
« Last Edit: August 24, 2008, 04:09:15 AM by Necroben »
I don't suffer from insanity...  I enjoy every minuet of it!

It's ok to be strange, as long as it's on paper. :)

mbarker

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Re: Writing Prompts 28: Webcomics (August 18)
« Reply #5 on: August 24, 2008, 03:38:33 AM »
Hi, Necroben. I think instead of doing narrative summaries -- telling us what's going on -- I'd tackle it more as adding dialogue. So maybe:

"That wasn't a good sound."

"Who's shaking the ground?"

"Wait a minute -- did you feel the Earth move or was that just your moulinet?"

Not good, but maybe you'll see where I'm heading. Voice bubbles, not labels?

mbarker

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Re: Writing Prompts 28: Webcomics (August 18)
« Reply #6 on: August 25, 2008, 01:25:22 AM »
I don't know about appropriate -- I don't do webcomics either -- but at least it gives some content to the pictures. Now, let's see, if those three panels were really our daily strip, we might want to tune it up to give a punchline or something. Although I think setting up a cliffhanger -- what is making that sound? -- is probably just as good. Then we can spend a bit of time filling in the story and characters while the readers fuss at us about just what set off the whole little sequence.

What if you had one more panel in the strip? What would you want drawn in it, and what dialogue would you use?

Got to admit, this is kind of fun.

Necroben

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Re: Writing Prompts 28: Webcomics (August 18)
« Reply #7 on: August 25, 2008, 02:30:28 AM »
What if you had one more panel in the strip? What would you want drawn in it, and what dialogue would you use?

Hmmm.  One more panel would probably have the 'punchline' if it were to be a funny comic. 

But what would it be called if it were to be serious. 

I would like to see three characters moving to the background, something to show movement toward conflict.  The dialogue would depend on the panel: who, what, when, where, that sort of thing. 

I imagine it could be quite difficult for partners to work together in this.
I don't suffer from insanity...  I enjoy every minuet of it!

It's ok to be strange, as long as it's on paper. :)

mbarker

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Re: Writing Prompts 28: Webcomics (August 18)
« Reply #8 on: August 26, 2008, 01:31:07 AM »
Good question. Funny comics do usually end on a punchline. Serious ones?

Serious scenes end with a hook, a cliffhanger, a decision -- something to keep the reader going, to make them turn the page and keep on reading. I think serious webcomics would need the same kind of grabber, something that will make the reader come back tomorrow (or whenever the next strip goes up).

After all, the reader is going to turn away from the strip, work, play, eat, and otherwise gafia (get away from it all -- or perhaps fafia - forced away from it all?) so what is going to bring them back? A mystery (a man in black walked in), a revelation ("I'm your mother, Luke"), or something like that? You want them wondering, waiting, in suspense until . . . the next strip is up!


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Re: Writing Prompts 28: Webcomics (August 18)
« Reply #9 on: August 26, 2008, 04:13:21 AM »

I imagine it could be quite difficult for partners to work together in this.

It could be difficult. A lot maker's of web-comic seem to prefer to both draw and write exactly for this reason. I think one problem is that the work doesn't get split evenly. Depending on the style of the artwork, the artwork can take far longer than the writing on the production side. I've seen several sites where the writer and artist are seperate and the writer is sometimes writing entire short stories/novels while waiting for the artist to catch up. Some writers fill-in as letterers and colorists to help ease the artwork production load.

Still some writer's have found success by down-scaling the artwork significantly so, in theory, they can produce more story. This carries the potential of not grabbing much of the audience if the story/jokes aren't absolutely brilliant.

Anyways, I am interested in what people are saying since I drew those three images rather quickly and couldn't really quite see how they relate.

I kept thinking of something like:
panel 1 "I'm so glad to fly away from his cliche place..."
panel 2 "...my ignorant boyfriend..."
panel 3 ".. and those boring teaparties."
The Folly of youth is to think that intelligence is a subsitute for experience. The folly of age is to think that experience is a subsitute for intelligence.

Necroben

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Re: Writing Prompts 28: Webcomics (August 18)
« Reply #10 on: August 26, 2008, 04:46:10 AM »
Anyways, I am interested in what people are saying since I drew those three images rather quickly and couldn't really quite see how they relate.

I kept thinking of something like:
panel 1 "I'm so glad to fly away from his cliche place..."
panel 2 "...my ignorant boyfriend..."
panel 3 ".. and those boring teaparties."

As my wife often tells me, I am way too serious.  So in trying to connect the three panels, some kind of crisis kept coming to mind.
My humor would tend to be more cynical, and frankly, more disturbing than would be appropriate.  Therefore, I didn't think along those lines, instead, I decided upon some sort of 'Epic' type theme.
I don't suffer from insanity...  I enjoy every minuet of it!

It's ok to be strange, as long as it's on paper. :)

mbarker

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Re: Writing Prompts 28: Webcomics (August 18)
« Reply #11 on: August 28, 2008, 12:38:38 AM »
I think it's pretty exciting that we can take the same base and produce a whole set of different strips -- funny, serious, tragic, etc. -- mostly by what we add as dialogue. Take another look at that blank base (or plot, or . . . ) from a different point of view, and see what else you can turn it into. Do "What if" variations -- is she flying or falling? Or thrown? What's the relationship of the red fellow and her? How about those swords? Could they be something else? Mandibles or antenna? Play with it, play with how you want to tell the story, play with the point of view -- and there's a whole stack of stories in that simple three panels.

Necroben

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Re: Writing Prompts 28: Webcomics (August 18)
« Reply #12 on: August 28, 2008, 03:01:46 AM »
Okay, here are 3 images I put together really quckly in Illustrator.

Make a story out of them.



                        ^                                                    ^                                               ^
                        ^                                                    ^                                               ^
"Lala deda teda." "Snort, cough, Grunt."  "Yaaaawwnn." "Don't not wake."  "Haha, take that you scallywag!"
I don't suffer from insanity...  I enjoy every minuet of it!

It's ok to be strange, as long as it's on paper. :)