Tag Archives: writing for comics

Archive Seasons 7-10, Season 08, Theory and Technique

Writing Excuses 8.48: Long-Form Storytelling with Sam Logan

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Recorded live at GenCon Indy, Sam Logan of Sam & Fuzzy joins Brandon, Mary, and Howard to talk about long-form storytelling. Sam’s webcomic has been running for eleven years now, and has evolved over time into something of an epic.

Sam talks to us about how he got started, and how the strip morphed from its gag-a-day origins into what it is today (is this similar to what happened with Howard and Schlock Mercenary? Maaaaaybe.) He also talks about his planning process, and the manner in which he structures the smaller stories to fit inside the larger ones.

If you’re looking for a good starting point for Sam and Fuzzy, Sam says that point is right here.

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Go for a walk. Think about what you’re writing while you walk. Don’t do that Facebook or Twitter thing while you walk. Just walk, and think.

Feed, by M. T. Anderson, narrated by David Aaron Baker

Archive Seasons 7-10, Career and Lifestyle, Guest, Live Audience, Season 07

Writing Excuses 7.44: Writing for Comics with Jim Zub

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Jim Zub joins us in front of a live audience at GenCon Indy to talk to us about writing for comics. He’s the writer and creator of Skullkickers, writes the newly-launched Pathfinder comic book for Paizo, and has been writing, illustrating, and managing projects at Udon for the better part of a decade now. Jim is an expert’s expert when it comes to this.

He starts by talking about the overall process, and how his original script fits in there. Jim and Howard then talk about brevity. Jim also points us at his five-part series on writing for comics (so yes, you have homework.) We talk about the writer-artist collaborative process, and how those collaborations change shape over time.

Jim also schools us on comics pacing, and how page-turns drive the comic forward differently than they do in prose. Finally, he talks about how to get into the business he’s in.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:31 — 12.0MB)

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Introduce a place without using dialog. Describe five panels for an artist to draw, so that the reader has been introduced to the location.

Swords and Deviltry: The Adventures of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, by Fritz Lieber, narrated by Jonathan Davis and Neil Gaiman