Im a manga writer who is fairly new at this, amd was wondering from an artist perspective, when looking to colab with a writer do you prefer having the story in script format or novel format, how do you like having all the information delivered to you, im trying to get all my note and information together as best I can to find an artist to collaborate with
Jan '23
Feb '23
Personally, I like to read things in script form. It makes it clearer to see who's talking and cuts out a lot of the fat that novel format might have. Comics are essentially like movies without the movement, so writing it in a script form would sort of mirror that relationship to begin with
Script format is definitely better. Not necessarily in panel per panel way (probably not in panel per panel way if you haven't done comics before, your artist may be much more experienced in paneling), just a scripted text is fine, but there's no need in long vivid novel kind of descriptions. It is great if you are able to do thumbnails too, if not to make them for the artist, at least being able to simply sketch how you see this or that shot.
I prefer script format.
I like very detailed character descriptions, I like to know everything about the
characters, the books they read, they medicine they take, the food they eat
and all other things which are important.
When it comes to character descriptions do you guys wamt a slight back story? Or just visual design and maybe fighting styles to add
Oh, definitely a backstory. For example I know I am much better in character design than my writer, but it's up to him to make a story, character's background including 
it could make character creation easier too, knowing their habits and stuff.
Brilliant 
Yeah, I´m an artist and a writer myself and I go into very small details when I invent characters,
it helps me to visualize them and to imagine how they react
I like loose outline style scripts. But I have in my mind what the layout is when I write my scripts for me. If I wrote for some one else I would most likely thumbnail some shots like a storyboard.
You all are fantastic i haven't been on this side of tapas but you all have been so helpful thank you so much!
I'm currently working with a writer for a webcomic platform and the script format is the standard.
An example would look like
Panel 1:
Spongebob and Squidward working at the counter of the Krusty Krab.
Spongebob: Hey Squidward. Do you like Krabby Patties?
Squidward: Sigh.Panel 2:
Close up of Spongebob giggling.
Spongebob: Teehee.
You can probably leave out the per panel thing if you aren't experienced in comic storyboarding and/or would like to leave it up to the artist's expertise.
Also the more the artist is told about the story — including how the story will advance, any story spoilers, character quirks, etc. — the better they'll be able to depict those ideas, as they will be your collaborators in this visual medium.
Before starting this project, I received:
* a condensed synopsis of the story
* short biographies for the main characters
* character key traits/descriptions
* a list of major environment backgrounds
* estimated panels per episode
* total episodes for the entire project
All the information was clear and concise, no flowery language, and presented in bullet points or tables. Nothing too long or wordy (think it like a business email — the longer your paragraphs, the more you might lose the other person).
Script format, some artists only require the elements to be drawn, too deep in text could actually draw far away from the scene than bringing the artist close close, not to mention, is more time consuming to read something in novel format. Storyboards even in stick figure are extremely helpful, doesn't need to be something elaborated but good enough to be understood, while you can provide the key elements about the story, sometimes the artist will have a better idea about paneling, reading flow and how many panels are actually needed in the episode.
It would be great if writers could have clear information of the characters that are going to appear in the story, the specific locations or detailed world building to know the elements to be drawn as well.
You're the one who knows stuff about the characters, artists haven't engineered yet a mind reading ability yet, so of course, background bio, likes, dislikes, physical appearance, height, weight, educations and so many other things are required, especially if you want it to kind of be there in a show-not-tell kinda way. Like a character who has asthma, you'd like maybe a few medicine in their nightstand, other times being agitated and so on, but of course if you're going to use things such as illness the best thing to do is educate yourself on that matter to avoid problems with readers that are actually dealing with those things.
Still... I want to mention that if this is entirely your project, your idea, your vision, your characters, your world, your everything. Then it's probably going to be harder to find an artist to collaborate, and maybe it would be better to hire someone, since that way if you make way too much or too little text but at the same time you're overwhelming to them they won't quit at the lack of creative freedom or to be able to actually put some of their part regarding those aspects.
So I kinda wrote out a better description of my main antagonist, I know without explaining the power system its kinda hard to get a gauge on it but would this be a decent enough description if it was given to you
Storyboards is a great point.
That´s the most important step from script to comic for me.
A storyboard with a short description would work in most cases.
Something that would be perfect for me would be:
-Summary of the story
-Character description
-Story in script format
-Storyboard
-Reference pictures
closed Feb 10, '23
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