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A review by brokenfiction
Words for Pictures: The Art and Business of Writing Comics and Graphic Novels by Brian Michael Bendis
4.0
There are no shortcuts.
There are no quick in's or out's.
There is just doing the work.
I've read many writing help books, from Stephen King to Steven Pressfield. From Deborah Chester to now Brian Michael Bendis. The one piece of advice set into the firmament is that you aren't going to find a magical way to get your words cranked out. There isn't a meat-grinder for ideas to turn them into sentences. There is simply reading and there is writing. And you will do it until you produce something finished. Finishing is the key to it all. No matter how long, short, malformed, or genius your idea is, FINISH IT. Sit down, and write every day. That's the message in all of these books. You're welcome.
NOW...
Having said that, there are a lot of variations that can spark your imagination and light a fire under your ass based on the personalities of the author. ON WRITING, from King was very formative for me, as I suspect he is for a lot of people. Many authors will dig into the minutiae of plot, character, editing, and so forth to give advice on how to tackle phases of the project. Bendis does a great job of this, because it's not only his book, with his experiences, he brings in the big guns of the comic book universe to provide their takes, perspectives, and advice.
Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker, Walter Simonson, Bill Sienkiewicz, Sara Pichelli all make an appearance (and tons more too numerous to list) to talk about their experiences, good and bad. Editors like Tom Brevoort, Sana Amanat, and the great Diana Schutz talk about what they see, what they like, and what they don't like.
He gives concrete real examples of comic books scripts, using both Full Script method and Marvel Style, from different authors - and then talks to those authors about what they like to use and what they don't.
An interview with his wife, who runs the business end of his creative output, is incredibly valuable. Alisa Bendis talks about contracts, the law, and the business end of comic writing. More specifically on how to protect yourself. You don't see a lot of this type of advice out there and it's worth it's weight in gold.
His best advice is sprinkled throughout the book - you probably won't make a lot of money making comic books. You are warned. Instead, do it because it burns inside of you. You need to get these stories out.
Good advice (abridged) literally from Bendis' Tumblr:
Write every day.
Write honestly.
Read.
Learn.
There are no quick in's or out's.
There is just doing the work.
I've read many writing help books, from Stephen King to Steven Pressfield. From Deborah Chester to now Brian Michael Bendis. The one piece of advice set into the firmament is that you aren't going to find a magical way to get your words cranked out. There isn't a meat-grinder for ideas to turn them into sentences. There is simply reading and there is writing. And you will do it until you produce something finished. Finishing is the key to it all. No matter how long, short, malformed, or genius your idea is, FINISH IT. Sit down, and write every day. That's the message in all of these books. You're welcome.
NOW...
Having said that, there are a lot of variations that can spark your imagination and light a fire under your ass based on the personalities of the author. ON WRITING, from King was very formative for me, as I suspect he is for a lot of people. Many authors will dig into the minutiae of plot, character, editing, and so forth to give advice on how to tackle phases of the project. Bendis does a great job of this, because it's not only his book, with his experiences, he brings in the big guns of the comic book universe to provide their takes, perspectives, and advice.
Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker, Walter Simonson, Bill Sienkiewicz, Sara Pichelli all make an appearance (and tons more too numerous to list) to talk about their experiences, good and bad. Editors like Tom Brevoort, Sana Amanat, and the great Diana Schutz talk about what they see, what they like, and what they don't like.
He gives concrete real examples of comic books scripts, using both Full Script method and Marvel Style, from different authors - and then talks to those authors about what they like to use and what they don't.
An interview with his wife, who runs the business end of his creative output, is incredibly valuable. Alisa Bendis talks about contracts, the law, and the business end of comic writing. More specifically on how to protect yourself. You don't see a lot of this type of advice out there and it's worth it's weight in gold.
His best advice is sprinkled throughout the book - you probably won't make a lot of money making comic books. You are warned. Instead, do it because it burns inside of you. You need to get these stories out.
Good advice (abridged) literally from Bendis' Tumblr:
Write every day.
Write honestly.
Read.
Learn.