Writing Comics, Revealing Practice

When we first open a comic, writing and particularly scriptwriting is not what is often first considered in the reading and making sense of the page. This paper will explore and suggest ways of considering how we engage with comics from the written pre-production stages of their development. With examples drawn from my practice, it will focus on what writing, language and writing for comics may reveal of comics and comics writing.
Writing is often seen as a neutral vehicle in the communication of ideas. The inherent modes and compositions of a medium’s articulation though affect the making sense of content (Hall 1992, Kress 2010) and its meaning intent, and a consideration of these modes may then be used to reconsider this effect on the creative construction of content.
The focus of the practice - here creative and script writing practice - brings unique insight into that which is searched for through practice. When practice is used as a method of research, it can bring insights unique to that form of practice (Kershaw 2009, Nelson 2010). Reflecting on the process and the generated material of practice brings an awareness on (and in) the granularity of the development process.
The early stages of comics development has much to reveal though of the ways in which we might consider comics, and from this perspective, this paper will explore how we think about the practice of writing comics and what writing creatively may reveal as a method of scrutiny and discovery for comics.