General Guidance Writing

Writer’s Room and the Marvel Method

Stan Lee ended up as the editor of Marvel Comics at the age of 19, via a series of weird events. At a certain point, it fell to him to write the bulk of the company’s comics. He used a method learned from Jack Kirby and Joe Simon (the creators of Captain America) which has come to be known as “the Marvel Method.” Rival DC comics, and many other comic companies, used full scripts, but the Marvel Method was simple – Lee told the artists what the story was (sometimes writing a few pages, sometimes more detailed, and sometimes just telling them in a few sentences). The writers drew the stories, and often created a more detailed plot – and in fact, sometimes they didn’t even need the plot from Stan, they could just come up with their own story. And then Lee would write dialog to fit the finished pages.

This Marvel Method makes a 48 hour graphic novel possible, because waiting for a full script is not going to work for the artists, really, and there’s no telling how many pages an artist can finish in the time you have until you see how fast they work. 

The first goal we had with the original GNW (where we started everyone at the same time) was to get the art teams drawing page #1 of the book as soon as possible, so that you as a writer have time to write. Writing takes less time that drawing. 

Learning from TV

As a group, the writers also need to work in the structure of a TV writer’s room. All of the writers will need to sit down, and break the story, and determine where it’s going. These meetings should happen several times throughout the event, as you respond to the new pages, and bring concepts together. 

So, a writer is a member of two teams, and works in both their own team as a leader, and the team of writers as a group of equals.

Gaiman Variation and ensuring an ending 

Neil Gaiman is known for having one of the great early noble failures in creating a 24 hour comic. He did not finish 24 pages. So he stopped at 24 hours, regardless of not completing the pages. Given the number of creators involved, this is essential to a 48 hour graphic novel, because something needs to be finished. So, pay close attention to where there are gaps in the story to try and make necessary connections.