Writers Workshop General Discussion

[Ennuiwolf]

@Coryn: That would be great! I'm mostly aiming towards the writer section of this forum as I feel that many writers, especially those who are new and come to this site seeking artists have no idea about storyboards. This came up when I had a conversation with an artist the other day, and he told me that it's better for writers to storyboard because then they will have a general idea what can and cannot be in manga. Most of the time, they write things that can't be in manga. That bit was such an eye-opener for me...

And shifting between genres would be amazing! We'd get to see how different art styles and storytelling styles compliment each other across genres. To me, it's as important for a writer to know how to storyboard as it is to know how to write, especially in manga forums.

[legomaestro]

I'm all for that and would love to see it happen. Go ahead and do it I say. I'd be participating for sure

[Ennuiwolf]

I've posted it. Would love it if you checked it out and see if anything needed changing.

http://forums.mangaraiders.com/index.php?topic=15679.msg253650#msg253650

[legomaestro]

Late to reply but yes we've checked it out for sure. If you Ennui or anybody else has suggestions for writers' workshop that'd also be great! So feel free to pitch your ideas here and stuff.

[Muppette]

As the guy who was away for a while, I feel like I'm the LAST guy who should be making demands for how I'd want a workshop to go, but (narcissism mode: activate):

1. As a writer, what kind of workshops are you looking for?

Tough question. It really depends on what kind of writing you're looking to improve. While pretty much any kind of writing practice will raise your capabilities across a multitude of mediums, MR deals with just about every kind of writing at the same time. What I'd like to see are a few more writing workshops specific to storytelling in sequential art. No huge or convoluted projects, but more focused mini-projects. No pressure to draw anything complex here, but comic/manga writers really need the kind of experience that comes from working in a visual medium. I'll throw out a few suggestions:
a) A challenge to scare or surprise a reader in 1-to-3 pages
b) Write a short, 2 page story with a consistent cast of characters, but every panel is set in a different location
c) Write a short dialogue between any two non-human "characters" (humanoid creatures don't count)
d) A short scene of a character talking to himself. No thought balloons allowed
e) Adapt a scene from a Shakespearean play into modern language. Regional slang is accepted and actively encouraged.
f) "Write" a silent short story in under 10 panels
g) Write a 3-4 panel joke comic, similar to Western newspaper funnies or Japanese Omake
h) Write a brief action scene that includes (meaningful) dialogue in every panel. Then resolve it without having a clear "winner"


2. What motivates you to do them.?

Having the free time. Feeling sufficiently inspired by a topic. Seeing a challenge that I think might benefit me to do. Seeing somebody writing/drawing close to my level and wondering if I could do as good/better. A mixture of shared enthusiasm and guilt that I call "collaboration."

3. If there was an arbitrary point system for the writers section alone (Let's say I post a topic with badges given to those who've completed workshops) Would you feel more motivated to write?

I dunno. You included "arbitrary" right there in the initial suggestion. I do think there's some merit to a workshop participation score system, though. Maybe not numerical points, though. It's hard to judge the value of a number without a reference, and it'd be strange to even track after a large number after so many workshops.

Badges, though... It puts me in a Pokemon mindset. Lord knows that people love collecting parts of a set, too. Wait- how many excercises did I suggest earlier? 8? Okay, here's my suggestion: We make an MR workshop league. 8 workshops, with a new one going up every (couple days/week). No time limit for anything, and no particular order to complete in. Every workshop gets you a new badge in a set, and all 8 badges gets you membership to the league of the "region." Different regions could even focus on different ways of writing/drawing. That's my suggestion. No need to stick with it, or the lessons I suggested. We're still just workshopping workshops.

This guy has everything down pat. I really like these idea's it's a challenge and learning experience, amateurs need.

[legomaestro]

I added a 4 koma thing and started on the merit badge system for the writer's side, but I'd rather you make the rest of the workshops Nair since those were your ideas too.

In any case this is still a sticky because I still want to know what'll interest writers in terms of participating more.

[rook210]

I work full time and I wish I could write full time. With that in mind I struggle with finding time to sit down and write. Once I sit down the creative juices start flowing but it's actually sitting down and starting that I have trouble with. Anybody got any suggestions for me. Thanks for your time. 

[Grimmjagger]

I have a quick question regarding story creations and stuff,  I try to write stories up but I always feel like I miss something up, could you guys explain to me what is required to describe a place or a scene?

[Forlorn Serpent]

I have a quick question regarding story creations and stuff,  I try to write stories up but I always feel like I miss something up, could you guys explain to me what is required to describe a place or a scene?

Don't talk my advice as scripture.

When describing a place or scene, only describe what is important to the story. Like how the setting is interacting with the character. You don't need to info dumb paragraphs of prose to describe a "scary forest" or apartment bedroom. However, some readers enjoy vivid (long) descriptions, but that is not important in manga, maybe novels. Just know the bare bone facts about an area and make sure you don't change them. If there is a monster somewhere, give hints that there is a monster, don't tell us. You can also use a setting to reveal facts about a character on how the character interacts with the setting. If he goes in a scary forest and acts scared, we know he's a major pus.y

If you are writing manga scripts, a two sentence descritption is enough to describe a setting. It should be enough info for someone to illustrate it.

EXT. Forest - NIGHT
MC enters a dense but overall dying forest. Dead trees have already fallen. The moonlight illuminated everything due to the lack of leaves.

MC stops and looks around,

                                             MC
                                  F:ck this, I'm out.

MC walks away the same way he entered.

A wolf's HOWL is heard as he is exits.

                                               MC
                                    I knew it. I knew it was a bad idea.

[Grimmjagger]

Thanks for the heads up, I think its well explained thanks again Forlorn