I know a lot of writers who have toyed with the idea of creating a graphic novel version of one of their (usually unpublished) works, whether it’s a screenplay, novel, or short story. But they hold themselves back from it because they aren’t familiar with the business side of graphic novels and comic books. It’s a pity because the process, though a lot of work, is not as difficult as they might imagine.

Thinking Visually

One of the first things to consider in approaching the possibility of turning your story into a graphic novel is the visual possibilities in your story. Since, assuming you are not an artist yourself, you are going to be hiring an artist to draw the images for your story, you want the tale to give that person some exciting things to do: action encounters, emotional intensity in the characters, interesting locations. And while you may be in love with your prose, a graphic novel is about images. You will be giving up some of your wonderful prose in favor of wonderful artwork.

For the script of a graphic novel, you want to make the artist fall in love with the image potential in the stories. If you bore the artist, you will get boring artwork. So you want to excite your artist. To do that, you have to think visually about the story you are telling.

Learning About Artists

Of course, if you don’t know any artists, you may have no idea of what will excite one. To learn about what any artist likes to draw, what they are good at, what their finished artwork looks like, you need to do some research. You can search online and find many artists and then initiate email conversations with them. Or you can go to comic book conventions and cruise the Artists Alley of the exhibit hall, and see first hand the various styles and abilities of many artists. The artist is usually right there at the table for you to talk to and discuss possibilities.

Information Right at Your Hand

There’s no need for you to feel completely overwhelmed by these steps. I give you the basics for getting started in Creating Graphic Novels. In this book, I walk the graphic novel novice through the whole process. I explain the special jargon of graphic novels and comic books, finding art teams, and the options in  publishing.

This books is a great gift for your aspiring graphic novelist, or for yourself. Check it out! (And by the way, if you purchase from the publisher right now, you can get the book at a 25% discount with free shipping! Don’t wait!)