comic book series/story arc?

There are a number of books out there with guidelines...there are also websites that all you to download samples. There's no hard and fast template.

Best approach for a story arc is to first decide how many issues it will comprise and break the plot down issue by issue... sort of like this:

Captain McHardAb: When Titans Clash!

Part One:

Cap is patrolling the streets of Futureburg when he hears a cry for help...

And so on.

If you have an example comic book with a plot arc similar to what you want to do, it's pretty easy to analyze that to get a custom template.

Also, a single comic book is similar to a TV episode, so a tv episode template might be applicable.

writeshiek33 said:

does anyone know how plot a story arc of comic book ? anyone has a sample/template? yes i am a noob in writing field. i am dyslexic and have too many ideas trying to organise my thought between prose and comic book ideas my mind is everywere

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My advice is to plot it just like you would a novel.

There are two main schools of thought for novel writing: Outliners and Discoverers. The outliner has an idea of the plot of their novel, and they build a cohesive plan for every plot arc, then inside that for every chapter, and around that arcs for each character and so on. The discoverer generally has a firm grasp of their characters and the world their story is set in, and they just start the story in motion and let the characters do what they will. Eventually (with a little editorial control) this turns into a full story, but the discoverer might have no idea what the story will be when they start out.

Because of the time it takes to draw comics, I feel that outlining is the better approach. Just unpack your story. Start with the grand plot arc. Then delve into that, considering each issue to be a chapter. Add the character arcs and pin their important moments to the overall structure. Then dig into each issue and outline each piece of the story in detail.

You're not going to get a template of this that will help you, because everyone's creation process is different. Come up with your own way of organizing your notes about your story. In general, for outlining you want to work from the large scale inward, adding details only after the important plot points on the larger scale are figured out. But don't be rigorous about it; give yourself some flexibility, and don't worry if you have to hastily rewrite part of your outline in the middle of your project so you can include a better idea. That's part of the creative process.

Good luck!

I am an outliner. i plan out most details before I write, otherwise I write myself into corners.
As for me, what I find most helpful is to get my beginnings and my endings and fill in the middle. It's like what artists say, define your space, then fill in detail. First I plot the beginning and end of my comic book. Then I start filling in the arcs necessary. For each arc I plot my beginning and end and fill in detail after I know where it starts and ends. This way, twists are easier and plotting runs fairly smooth.
Also the beginning and end are not in any way set in stone. So at the end I edit for continuity.
Hope that helps, I'm no pro but that's working for me so far.

I'm currently writing/plotting/laying out a three-issue revival of the Justice Machine.

I plot the issues as separate components but with threads that continue from issue to issue, tying them all together.

Sunandshadow's comparision of an individual comic book to a TV episode is very apt--I've always used the old half-hour dramas as my models in regards to plot and character development as well as pacing.

The Rifleman and Have Gun-Will Travel have been particularly helpful in those areas.

Once I have strong idea of what goes on in the issue, I draw rough thumbnails, breaking the story down into panels and send that to artist, indicating negative space for balloon and caption placement, even before the text is actually composition.

I find this method works the best for me and the artist--I don't feel constrained by the script format and I have more input into the overall look of the finished page.

The artist usually prefers it because he doesn't have to figure out ways to interpret the script and lay the whole thing out...I've done that for him.

And if he has a better idea of how a scene should be depicted, that's fine with me as long as it doesn't affect either the plot or the pacing.

Once I receive the finished pages from the artist, I dialogue the issue and make adjustments to accomodate the art...which is the most important part of the whole enterprise.

I know some writers don't feel this way, but they're deluding themselves. You can sell comics with good art and a bad story...unfortunately.

It's much, much harder to sell a comic with a good story and bad art.

I wrote one once, and dang if it wasn't harder than a short story in some ways. Maybe I was doing it wrong, but I often felt like I was directing in addition to writing. Blocking, frame composition, how many frames per page (and the inevitable splash page)...

Yeah, it's different discipline, all right. Closest to screenplays, but it has its own parameters, limitations and rules. People without the touchstone of the "graphic narrative" rarely can just pick it up and run with it.

That's one reason my wife and I wrote this (that and we were contracted to ):

There's one thing about an arc that sets it apart from just a regular story:

It's one story, and it's several stories. And you'll have to keep both in mind.

Outline the issues as acts of your big story. More issues, more complex structure. If you follow the classical three-act structure, it could easily break down into four issues, the second act conveniently filling issues two and three.

The trick is to remember that each issue is a story with its own structure, too. Outline the issues the same way you'd outline a self-contained story. That'll make for a more satisfying read.

writeshiek33 said:

the sad thing is that i have a very visual imagination i literary see how things work out in my head but because of my dyslexia have hard time putting it down. i more of discoverer type writer than outliner but i know i need to outline comic book story arcs i guess i have work around my disability

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Nothing wrong about using thumbnail sketches as an outline.

Dang, I thought I could wing my way through this without actually looking stuff up, ;P.

You can project the classical three-act structure to your arc. I used four issues as an example because it's simple.

1 - introduction, everything up to the first major plot point = issue 1

2 - elaboration, the story unfolds, sub-plots are introduced as needed = issues 2-3, because that's the major part of any story.

3 - resolution, finale, last major plot twist. Naturally, issue 4. It shouldn't be just the Last Stand because that would make it predictable. So if you can use it to turn some things around you should be fine.

In a longer arc, the acts spread out differently. Including the finale. I've seen several arcs that had a climactic battle in the penultimate issue, then sorted out the aftermath in the last. Joss Whedon's FRAY did that with a great turnaround of one major plot point, and BUFFY season 8 is structured similarly.

Generally you want to go with exposition, rising action, climax and if you are planning a multiple issue story repeat that cycle within each issue. Cliffhangers work really well with comics, they make it so the reader can't wait to get that next chapter.

When scripting the expo/rising/climax cycle try and think of how many different 'scenes' you can fit into a 22 page issue without spreading things too thin.