Let’s prepare our stories for Graphic Novel Pro together!

Fey Realme

Hello everyone! I am going to enroll in Graphic novel pro in march next year, and in preparation I am locking in a draft of a story I have been developing. If you are toying with the idea of taking Graphic novel pro, or just making a graphic novel eventually, I encourage you to start working on it now! Like I talk about in this thread, It is much easier to make the art for a narrative project when the narrative is finished and not open to change.

For my story development I am using Brian McDonald’s “You are a Storyteller” podcast as my mentor, and if you want to join me on the journey, I am going to use this thread as a place to post the story homework I am doing each week, and If you want to join me then we can have story discussions here!
The homework is going to include listening to a podcast episode, analyzing a movie referenced in the podcast for whatever element they say it teaches, and reading a couple graphic novels to broaden my horizons.

Are you planning on enrolling in Graphic Novel Pro? Do you already have a graphic novel idea? Or a graphic novel draft? I’d love to hear about it! If you dont have an idea or a draft, but want to do the story homework, I’d love to hear any and all thoughts as well!

Bon appetit story friends!

Fey Realme

Week 1 Story Homework:
Listen to episode 1 “The Armature” (YouTube) (iTunes)
Watch “The Wizard of Oz” Can you see the armature? Record what stands out to you.
Read two graphic novels. Record what stands out to you.

In the story you have been developing, can you identify the armature?
If you haven't started thinking about a story, listen to the episode "What is a Story? (and Why Do We Tell Them?) (iTunes) (SoundCloud)

Oana

Hi! I was aware the Graphic Novel Pro course was in the making but I did not know it is getting closer. I am certainly interested and your thread very helpul and motivational, thank you!

Mariana B.

@Fey-Realme thank you for creating this thread.

I am very excited for the upcoming GN Pro!
I haven’t participated in the Children’s book pro, and I don’t know if this class will follow the same directions/approach, but I think I remember for that class they provides with a story. I wonder how is this class going to be in that regard.

I personally have a story I have been working on for a while. I have read so many books of storytelling, listened so many podcasts (however I haven’t heard the one you mention, so I will definitely check it out), I love watching YouTube channels that focus on screenwriting, but I learned that I overthink too much.

I recently participated in the Comics workshop, and although the length of a mini comic is nothing compared with a GN, I learned that if I try to write the whole script(action-panels-dialogue) I get lost.
But instead what I did for that class was focus only on the plot points, with very little detail and no dialogues. Then from there I made super quick thumbnails with handwritten dialogue as it came to my mind, and I was able to finish my mini comic draft (at first 16 pages, then I stretched to about 24 pages) in just a few days!

All this to say that I think the reason I could never finish the manuscript for my GN, is because trying to just write it all seems to not fully work with my brain, after all my primary storytelling language is visual, and storytelling with words is something that I am just recently trying to hone in.
A Plantser approach, with quick thumbnails may be the way to go for me.
I am in the inking process of my mini comic but after I finish that project (I have a bad habit of not finishing projects, so I am forcing myself to not get distracted until I finish this one) I will try to test this approach going back to my GN!

I will be coming back to this thread because I am curious about the homework ideas and I love the idea of connecting with other members who are interested in making GNs!
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Fey Realme

@Oana and @Mariana-B I'm So glad you guys are interested in the thread! I hope it really is helpful and can help the class be a success.

I am also interested to know how the class will be formatted--the time (10 weeks) seems pretty consistant, and in CBpro it made sense for everyone to have the same story, but in SPubPro they just teach principles and work through the process with you (because it would be weird if they had everyone do the same project). I think GNpro will be somewhere in the middle.

I don't think it would make sense if they have everyone work on the same project, but I think it might be powerful to have some class assignments where they provide you with a script to practice dividing out and paneling loosely (like Jake was talking about in the Comics Workshop). In that way, they could help you practice and have a bit of the uniformity that made CBpro strong, but also keep it open to personal projects like in SPubPro.

I can only imagine they will spend the first two weeks talking about storytelling, but I think the beginning of the class is far too late to begin writing a story to use in the class. I had an experience in college (narrative illustration class sort of like CBpro) where the goal was a finished book dummy at the end of the class, but we had to write our own story--and it was a disaster for most of us (for me definitely) and I am going to do everything I can to avoid having that experience again!

Thank you @Oana for sharing a bit about your journey of personal discovery in your graphic novel project! It is so impactful to hear about other people's messy journeys because my journey constantly feels overwhelming and I struggle with wanting to do everything "the right way." I can really overthink things too, although I feel more comfortable with words and planning/outlines than I do with pictures and actually fleshing things out... its all a struggle but I'm here for it, and I'm doing positive self-talk, telling myself that if I just do a little bit at a time every day (or regularly) then I will manage to finish stuff and it will be good.

Mariana B.

@Fey-Realme thank you for the comment and I will be looking forward to hear more about everyone’s projects.

I feel like one of the big obstacles that we face as creative people trying to enter into something new, is finding what workflow works for us, specially when there are so many methods out there.

I love creating characters, really going deep into their backstory, psychology, goals, fears, etc etc, and I love thinking about story structure and I have a lot of fun with the outline, but yes, then when I start the script, I just loose steam, I go on tangents, trying to hold on the images I see in my mind , or trying to write them down with my limited writing skills, and at some point my mind goes blank.
That’s why I’m very excited to go back to my GN project and try a different approach.
Positive self talk and doing a bit at a time is definately the right mind set for something as big as a GN

Fey Realme

Hey guys, did you get to learn anything about armature this week? How do you think you can improve your stories by having a central message you are proving, or a question you are exploring?

I learned something new about armature this week. I was telling my husband about the story homework (armature) and he said "That is interesting how you used the word armature, what does it mean?" so I told him about how way back in the day Brian was watching modelers making a scaled-down model of a monster they were going to build for a movie he was working on (before CG), and he asked them "Why do you always build a wireframe for the clay model?" They told him that if they didn't have that wire frame, that armature, the clay would eventually collapse under its own weight. He later began using the word armature instead of theme to describe the backbone of the story because he felt it was appropriate, and it helped his students ask more questions and not assume they already knew what was going on.

Then my husband told me that the wire casing in an electric motor is called an armature, and that is the piece that makes the motor spin and generates electricity. Without the armature, you don't have electric motors--(electric motors are what make electric cars drive, and are used in a billion other functions and tech). We pondered how that aligns with the idea of an armature in a story. Like in an electric motor, when used, the armature of your story is what makes your story move, directs your decisions like a compass, and generates the power your story has to impact an audience (for better or worse--choose better).

If you find out what the story is about then you have found your compass and you can know what decisions you should make--down to the text treatment--because you know what journey you are taking the audience on.

Now the movie homework! Did anyone watch the wizard of oz? what would you say the armature is?

Its okay if you didn't, here is a summary of the movie.

the summary is also helpful for week 2 homework
WEEK 2 HOMEWORK
ep: Why Three Act Structure Matters (iTunes) (SoundCloud)
Movie: pick between Casablanca, Jaws, Die Hard 1, Wizard of Oz, Tootsie, or any other movie they mention--or just go listen to people talk and tell stories for a while

Like Brian says, all these things are just observations about how people tell stories naturally because that is how it works/is successful--it's just weird how we forget all the storytelling experience we have from talking with people when we go to write something, like we think it is different when it really is not.

Mariana B.

@Fey-Realme I listened to the episode however I must admit I didn’t give it my undivided attention, but for what I understood the armature is the theme, the spine, or the true reason why you want to tell a story, the message that you want to teach.

I really liked the analogy of armature with clay, because everything in the story is to build or add body to the main thread which is the theme.
Sometimes is easy to go on tangents, and start exploring other thematic questions that maybe don’t necessarily build on the main thread, I see it as a tree with branches, you can spend all your energy adding branches but the trunk will lack substance and will feel weak, so for me it is a good thing to write down the theme right away, to not get lost as I add characters and plot.
The plot events and the characters must be in service of the armature or theme to build a robust sculpture, otherwise you end up with a lot of “parts” that don’t really make a whole.
I don’t remember if it was mentioned in the podcast but it’s good point you say the “central message you are proving”, challenges, questions, dilemas are all tested against the theme, and that’s something also to keep at the forefront of your mind, to avoid having conflicts that are not consequential or feel unimportant.

I didn’t watch the movie, but I liked learning from the podcast that all the characters that Dorothy meets in Oz are representations of the characters she already knew back at home.

Your illustrated summary is so cool!

Fey Realme

@Mariana-B I love podcasts because you don't have to pay 100% undivided attention to get the point of whatever they're saying! I like how it is listening to a conversation, not like listening to an audiobook where you have to pay attention to all the details and decyper stuff.

That is a great way to think about it! I believe that stories are living things like trees, and so it is a good metaphor. To take it a step further, if a tree had too many branches and not enough roots and trunk it would not be able to support the weight of the branches, but also it would not be able to sustain the branches with the nutrients they need to stay healthy, and the tree would get sick and die--even if it didn't fall over. I'm glad you got to listen to the episode, and thank you for sharing your insight!