Signed, sealed and delivered

Well the submission made it in to the comic contest on time and, as always, I spent the next two days thinking about what I should have changed. I’m sure its not an uncommon thing to feel like apiece of work is never entire complete and this was no exception. What probably made it worse is the page limits on getting an idea across, which in itself is probably a skill that needs sharpening.

The entry consisted of five pages of sequential script and a five-page treatment of concept. The sequential script was a challenge in that its something entirely different in terms of writing style. For each panel you describe the events for an artist to draw and then you put text/speech for each picture. Whilst some images came very easily (too much TV, movies and comics means I normally have a clear picture in my head when writing) panels need to exist for the words and not the pictures. In the end I just wrote the story (very crudely) then went trough and broke it down into panels. From there the story elements get split into what can be expressed graphically and what needs someone talking. I cringe at the ‘hand-holding’ of the writing in some places, but recognise that that’s how the comic medium works.

The treatment of concept was an entirely different exercise. A little Internet research on what a treatment is led me to the conclusion that its basically a sales pitch. Outline what you’re trying to achieve and the general story in a short enough format that someone can skim through it. Of course the challenge is getting enough of your idea into five pages in order for it to grab someone. I gave up writing five pages about halfway through and just wrote it all out. Once I had seven pages it was then an exercise in cutting the word count/page count down to try and make it all fit. There’s a lot left out and I feel that the events are covered but the reason for the events and the theme/purpose behind the whole story is missing. We’ll see what the judges have to say. If nothing more than this writing exercise comes of the whole thing, then its at least been an interesting experience.

Next up, back to editing The Time Traveller’s Teacher so that can be properly finished.