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J U L

How to Write a Manga or Comic criptPo ted Julia Kent – Jul 05, 2015

Categorie : GU T PO T LIT RATUR & TH ART

Gue t Po t ean Michael Wil on

To cele rate the launch of ecret of the Ninja on Jul 7th, author ean Michael Wil on explain to reader how

comic ook and manga are actuall written. U ing example from hi own ook, he guide u through each tep!

Of cour e almo t ever one know a out comic ook , ut almo t no one know how the are made. There

are till ome old fa hioned people who have not et realized that comic ook are an art form in their own

right, and that writing them involve a pecific et of kill and proce e that differ from novel or

creenpla (although the hare imilaritie with oth). o, here are the tep involved in the writing comic

ook or manga:

1. TH ID AThe fir t tep in making a manga/comic ook i having a new idea for a tor , cene or character. The e can

come an time, o write them down!

2. TH PLOT

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Next, write out a plot or nop i of what happen , where, and to whom (not forgetting wh and with what

idea involved). Thi could e an thing from one page to dozen of page depending on how much detail ou

wi h to go into at thi tage. For the kind of hi torical or iographical ook that I often do there i quite a it

of re earch involved. When writing the e, ou’ll need to under tand the era and the character . Later, when

doing the actual dialogue and art, ou’ll need to know how people looked, what clothe the wore, how the

talked to each other. I often have an expert in the era or field check the hi torical accurac of the final cript

and of the art. For ecret of the Ninja , thi per on wa Anton Cummin .

3. TH PAG R AKDOWNWhen the a ic plot i clear, ome writer like to work out the “page reakdown,” which look at how man

page the tor might need and give a a ic de cription of what happen on each page. It help to get a

feeling for the whole architecture of the tor . o, in the ca e of ecret of the Ninja I wrote:

Page reakdown

Page 1: A wide hot to e ta li h the place of the tor .

Page 2: We go right into the cene of Nagata en ei in tructing hi on, Hi aaki.

Page 3: An imaginar cene of u ing that ninja technique in practice.

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ome writer al o do a “rough thum nail ketch”—ver a ic, mall drawing of each page that the end to

the arti t to help vi ualize what happen in each panel and acro each page.

4. TH CRIPTThi ha a few a ic a pect , depending on the writer’ t le and the arti t’ . The are:

De cription Line ( et umei un )De cription line are guideline for the arti t. ach of tage of the cript and ook depend on how the writer

and arti t like to work together. Then, of cour e, ome people are clever enough to do the art and the writing

them elve . I’m not that mart! I’ve worked with Akiko himojima on four of m ook , including ecret of

the Ninja .

ome writer u e a “page de cription” cript, in which the outline what happen on each page—the place,

people, feeling, action, etc. The arti t then decide a out the pecific panel ( koma ) and the actual art of

the tho e page .

Other u e a “panel de cription” t le in which the writer de cri e thing for each pecific panel. The

writer indicate what will happen in each panel and what the focu hould e, ometime de cri ing the

framing (often u ing film terminolog like “zoom in clo e up to the character’ face” or “pull ack for a wide

hot”).

elow i an example of uch de cription text from ecret of the Ninja . Notice that thi panel i a large one,

taking up the whole page, a technique that writer ometime u e to make a dramatic impact or, a in thi

ca e, to give the art plent of room to create a lovel oft, atmo pheric feeling.

De cription line example from Page 48:

One ig page of father and on moving through a fore t of am oo, while the un i going down. A

“ eaut page,” a I call them. We ee a pine martin in the tree a ove, a lizard on the ground, a little ird in

another tree, and the cicada chirping.

FX: Chee Chee Chee

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Dialogue ( erifu )Dialogue, the word character peak, i hown in the round or oval “ peech alloon ”

(fukida hi ).

xample from page 42, panel 3:

Norio

What will e m role, en ei?

en ei

To e here and guard the equipment.

Hi aaki

Ha ha!

Caption ( Kakomi ) and Narration ( Nare hon )The e are the word in the rectangular oxe . Often the e come from an un een narrator, giving guidance

acro cene , or are other element of information.

xample from page 36, panel 1:

Caption at the ottom: It’ important not to let the fire get out of control or it ma cau e eriou difficult

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for ou.

The tran ition etween panel i al o important. Panel hould flow together moothl , whether the hift are

fa t or low. ither the writer or the arti t determine the tran ition .

Finall , the writer pla a role in the overall arrangement of the panel on each page. I think mo t of thi i the

arti t’ domain, and I onl comment on it a out a quarter of the time.

From there on, the arti t take over a the main deci ion-maker and creator of the ook. Much of the time

arti t will end the rough art a well a the fini hed inked art to the writer to check for variou point .Change in art and dialogue often happen once we ee the actual art and text on the page and get a etter

idea of how the connect together, how the “dance” on the comic ook page.

That’ it! Thi i what I pend m time on ever da , and I’m happ to do it. ecret of the Ninja i the re ult of

thi proce . I hope ou’ll check it out!

AN MICHA L WIL ONean Michael Wil on i the award-winning author of more than a dozen

graphic novel and manga comic , including adaptation of The ook of Five

Ring and The 47 Ronin . He i al o the editor of the criticall acclaimed

antholog AX: A Collection of Alternative Manga (one of Pu li her Weekl ’

“ e t Ten ook of 2010”). Hi ook, ecret of the Ninja , i a hi toricall

grounded manga that follow the ninja Nagata a uro a he teache hi on,

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Hi aaki, the weapon , ecret tactic , and value of the ninja. a ed on the real-life writing of the

famou ninja Hattori Hanzo. It com ine a familiar coming-of-age tor with a hi toricall

accurate ackground of political intrigue and engoku-period Japane e culture. A Hi aaki grow

from o to man, Wil on killfull interweave real le on , weapon , and kill u ed ninja in

feudal Japan, depicted with detail arti t Akiko himojima.

Tag :

ANTONY CUMMIN GRAPHIC NOV L & COMIC AN MICHA L WILLIAM

AN MICHA L WIL ON

A O U T T H A U T H O R

Julia KentAfter graduating from UC erkele in 2007, Julia wa delighted to find out that

“profe ional ook recommender” wa a jo . he ha een working in marketing andpu licit with independent a Area pu li her ever ince. he joined North Atlantic

ook in 2014. he live with her hu and and two ver nice cat in Oakland.

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