Scene To Scene Writing For Comics

Scene to Scene Writing for Comics

In Practices, Structures by Phillip Allen

Scene to Scene Writing for Comics

I’d like to start by offering my apologies. When I first started researching writing practices and story structures I made a list. A list of ideas for topics to cover. The list started with the 3 Act Story Structure, the 5 Act Story Structure, and Scene To Scene Story Writing.

I made promises to cover each of these three topics on their own respective articles. But upon further research I found myself lacking any reason to.

As you may know, I wrote an article about the 3 Act Story Structure For Comics. But I decided to skip the 5 Act Story Structure For Comics for reasons I will cover here today.

What Are Act Structures To A Comic Writer?

The best way I have heard it described as was a list of things you may want to consider adding to your story so that it may flow in a consistent and comprehensible manner. But it is not a die hard rule to follow.

And that’s what we’re here to discuss today. A different perspective to the writing process of comic writers. Specifically, why you shouldn’t depend on the 3, 4, 5, 7, or however many act structures you feel comfortable using. Instead, consider a different practice; Scene to Scene Writing for Comics.

Here are 5 reasons why you may want to consider this.

Reason 1: Readers follow Characters, Not Acts

Egad! Don’t say that!

Oh but it is…

I made a comparison between movies, television shows and comics in the previous article about how panels show a character(s) interacting with others or their surroundings through a specific angle (like a camera angle). And as the panels progress you see a story unfold based on dialogue or character(s) interacting with their environment and seeing some change occur.

That’s still something very important to remember. Your readers are seeing a character’s/characters’ story unfold.

When your readers are reading your comic panel by panel, they aren’t following some pre-programed storyline in their heads. They’re focusing on the characters you’ve worked hard on designing and developing. They are seeking to find how these individuals grow and change over time, interaction to interaction, panel to panel, page to page.

Readers will focus on the scene they’re reading. Not the place in the story they might be on.

Reason 2: Act Structures Are A Shortcut, Not A Law For Structured Writing

Probably why the 3 act structure, and other of its kind, are so well documented and popular in writing circles is because of how easy it is to teach.

It’s very easy to plaster 4 lines on a board and a few words and speak of the key characteristics of each act. (Like someone did two weeks ago) But it’s still challenging to write a good story. Having this formula doesn’t help give a writer any warnings or guidance to the work or challenges ahead. It doesn’t tell you how plots will be resolved. It just tells you what and when is something supposed to happen in a specific order.

To be more specific the act structure you end up using, if any, is only going to be useful during the outline stages of your writing process. In the very beginning when you’re just laying out the framework of your story.

Remember, it’s not the meat and potatoes.

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Reason 3: It Only Climaxes Twice,
That’s Just Not Fair…

Major, story-defining plot points only appear between Act 1 and Act 2 as well as Act 2 and Act 3.

If you go by common expectations of Act 1 you’ll be waiting a bit of time before introducing the readers to the first plot point. Only to then introduce Act 2.

If you remember what I wrote in the previous article, Act 2 is pretty dense in content before reaching your second and last plot point. You can’t expect a reader to retain interest while you walk them through all that without some significant change in the story happening.

A better alternative is to use a sequence, a coherent collection of scenes with beginning, middle and end. They can run on any number of pages. (Movie screenwriters would recommend 15 minutes of screen time, I’ll let you decide how many pages that would translate to).

Frequent, significant, and coherent changes in your story will keep your readers entertained and focused.

Reason 4: One Screenplay Unit, Is A Scene

Like I mentioned before, there are a significant amount of similarities between comic writing and screenplay writing. Another significant similarity is that a one screenplay/script unit is a scene. Not an act.

A series of panels would, normally, show a character in the same vicinity. Getting through a specific interaction with a character(s). Once this interaction ended it would mean the end of the scene.

A writer’s job should be to make each scene you write better than the next. Keeping your reader on the edge of their seat dying to see what lies on the next page. A scene should never exist just to fill the space between plot points.

If you were to challenge yourself to write every scene to be better than the next it would only make your writing, and story, better.

Seek to make your readers not just remember the scene where your major plot points were, or the climax. Make them remember the significant chunks in between. Be it the dialogue, the gestures made between characters, or anything else for that matter. The purpose of a scene is to move a story forward.

Reason 5: The Act Structure Is Subjective & Arbitrary

The act structures exist to divide a story into comprehensible bits. But it has the tendency of giving writers a harmful and inefficient case of reductionism. Being able to break down a story doesn’t make it the one and only way of writing.

Like I mentioned before, in my research I have found that there are people that claim that the 4, 5, or 7 act structure is ideal. But when I took a closer look at the nitty gritty details. It looked just the same as the 3 act story structure, just divided.

The only changes found were for definitions on characteristics and recommended length time. Nothing necessarily significant. And nothing you probably wouldn’t have ended up changing on your own.

Don’t limit yourself and your creativity by believing that you need to divide your story. Yes, you need a beginning, middle, and an end. You also need to know what major changes to your story are going to be as well as when they are going to be introduced. But you don’t need anything else.

You just need to make sure that your story is comprehensible, efficient, entertaining and fun to read.

Conclusion

There is absolutely nothing wrong with using the 3 Act structure at all (heck I even plan on using it myself so some degree). The problem lies in how it’s used and even depended on. Don’t neglect your imagination.

Consider the 3 Acts structure and others like it as an equivalent to a pencil sketch of a very vague to-do-list. You can’t think too much about its meaning. Just run with your idea and make sure it makes sense.

And be sure to keep working at your story until it’s rock solid. Make sure that it’s exactly what you want it to be.

Select your global block.


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About The Author

Phillip Allen

Writer, Editor, and Founder of Unknown Comics

Hello there! My name is Phillip Allen and I'm the writer, editor, and founder of Unknown Comics. I am an aspiring comic book creator. In an attempt to learn how to create my own comic I came to learn just how few reliable resources existed out there. From a few books and unhelpful websites I decided to focus my attention on researching and writing a resource for both myself and the rest of the comic creating industry. This website and and its content is the result of all of that hard work.

Sources

Moura, Gabe. “LIKE THIS SITE? Follow Us on Facebook for Updates.” Elements of Cinema. Elements of Cinema, 25 Aug. 2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2017. <http://www.elementsofcinema.com/screenwriting/3-act-structure-alternative/>.