Emotion and psychology instead of symbols

And the first mistake a writer makes when making a graphic novel.

The first mistake everyone makes when writing for comics...

...is not letting us see a character move through the story...

A lot of us come from a world of ideas, or a world of experience in our mind or behind our own senses...

So we show AN IDEA, or we show what WE THE AUTHOR sees, or else a symbol of the idea…

But readers want to see a character...

They want to see a character move through a story.

Let’s take the example of a small character who, walking along comes across a big chasm, has an idea that they could put a log or downed tree across the chasm to cross.

As a writer in the world of ideas, we might think the below would work:

1. Character, 2. Idea symbol, and then 3. What the idea is.

And it does work, it’s fine but it’s not engaging, it doesn’t draw us in. What draws us in is seeing the character in those moments:

(From Mr. O by Lewis Trondheim)

In these panels, we watch the character’s emotional/psychological journey through an abstract experience (having an idea to solve a problem.)

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This works everywhere. Even heavy political documentaries will do this.

See this simple early section from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's documentary film. Vietnam.

It's a powerful audio recording of JFK about the coup in Vietnam, heard over slow-panning images of JFK's face...

(Those 4 screenshots alone are enough, but we can go into more detail.)

In this short riveting video, you’ll hear Kennedy wondering about the ethics of the coup they supported, and about his misgivings about giving his consent, and his wondering about the future of the government there.

A standard way to have visually depicted this might be to show a moment of the coup, and then a picture of the government’s personnel, the generals, etc.

But because Burns and Novick are real masters of this, they know that this particular section is about the internal misgivings of the country which backed this event.

And so they show Kennedy contemplative, but playing with a toy boat, which has so many thoughtful resonances.

And then Kennedy too is deep in thought. We zoom in, the boat is now out of the picture (it’s now heavier), and words are on the screen.

Then he switches the direction of his gaze; he is rueful and considering what to do next, his head shifted as he considers the options...

Note that Burns and Novick found these images to superimpose with this text, and with them, have created amazing psychological storytelling.

And that's comics!

Comics are visual, and humans want to see other people. We want to know their stories and want to watch them live through them.

Your graphic novel can soar with ideas like these...

I encourage you to have fun, and explore the humanity in your ideas...

Thanks for reading and sharing!