TRYING YOUR HAND AT A GRAPHIC NOVEL by Mary E. Cronin

As graphic novels become more and more well known, many writers want to learn more about this dynamic sector of children's/teen publishing.

If you're interested in trying your hand at a graphic novel project, here are some tips and resources.

Author Stacy Nyikos takes us through her exploration process as she sought to learn as much as she could about graphic novels. She leaves us a wonderful trail of breadcrumbs to follow in this post from the blog Through the Tollbooth.

If you want to get a handle on terminology and classifications within graphic novel formats, this article by Ally Watkins from School Library Journal is helpful:

"An important thing to remember at the start: comics are not a genre, they’re a format. There are many genres of comic books and graphic novels, but they’re all written in the comic format." See more here.

Diving into graphic novels, and reading a ton of them is a great way to begin figuring out how you might construct a narrative. Read about some current graphic novels here:

Visionary Graphic Narratives: Celebrate Black History Month and Beyond with These Essential Comics

And here:

Spring 2018 Announcements: Comics & Graphic Novels

Ready to tackle a project or put together a graphic novel proposal? Here are four resources that will help you figure out how to structure your proposal/manuscript:

 Getting a Graphic Novel Published, Part II (How Cathy G. Johnson landed her agent, Jen Linnan) (the pitch)

What's in a Graphic Novel Proposal?  Blog post by Faith Erin Hicks

An Inside Look at the Submission Process, by Gina Gagliano at First Second Books.

Graphic Novel Terminology, podcast featuring Gina Gagliano and Alison Wilgus.

Jessica Abel/Wikimedia Commons

Interested in diving deeper?  Check out these twitter accounts:

Cathy J, Johnson, cartoonist, educator, podcaster:  @cathygjohn

Flame Con, the LGBTQ Comic Con:  @FlameCon

First Second Books, "All Graphic Novels, all the time":    @01FirstSecond ‏

Brittney Williams, comic artist, animator: @AnotherBrittney ‏

Jen Bartel, illustrator, comic artist:      @heyjenbartel ‏

Melanie Gillman, cartoonist:         @melgillman ‏

Kat Fajardo, artist, illustrator, anthology editor:       @katfcomix ‏

Faith Erin Hicks, cartoonist:   @FaithErinHicks ‏

Good luck and have fun!

COMING OF AGE, COMING OUT: TILLIE WALDEN’S SPINNING by Mary E. Cronin

 The intense world of competitive figure skating serves as the backdrop of SPINNING, a coming of age graphic memoir by author Tillie Walden. Although this is a YA book, it has much to offer middle grade writers in its recounting of Walden’s early years as a skater who was both fully participating in and yet questioning/resenting the strictures of the life of a competitive skater. The fears of competitions and tests, the tensions within the culture of skating, the grueling schedule of pre-dawn practices: Walden gives us a vivid look inside this world.

There is another element of the book that I think is superb: the coming out of a young lesbian. Through Walden’s skillful narrative, we see that Tillie knew she was attracted to girls/women at a young age. This is woven into the story as she moves through her middle school years and has a relationship with her first girlfriend. In a passage that speaks to PB, middle grade and YA writers, Walden discusses this in an interview with YA Pride:

It’s rare to see underage female desire depicted in literature. It’s often desexualized to appear more innocent. In Spinning you recount early memories of realizing you are a lesbian that feel very honest. Were you conscious of this while making the book?


It is rare! That drives me crazy too. As if kids feel no sexual desire, what bs. I was very conscious that I was putting that in SPINNING. I really wanted it in there. I wanted people to know that I felt desire towards women and girls at the age of 6. I never understood why feeling that way would make people think I was less innocent. Of course I was innocent, I was 6! It was an innocent kind of love. Just because I was too young to have the words to explain how I felt doesn’t mean that I didn’t feel it. People are so afraid of sexuality, especially when it creeps into the LGBTQ spectrum. I want to wash that fear away, and I want kids to know that its normal to have desires.

You can read the rest of this excellent interview here. Thank you, YA Pride!

A peek at the back cover of SPINNING

Finally, there is another element that will spark conversation and ruminations among young readers, and fodder for middle grade writers: how an athlete can spend years immersed in practice, competition, and the culture of a sport... and then decide to walk away from it. This tension between being really good at something and beginning to doubt its core principles could apply to young athletes, dancers, or thespians. How those cracks progress, how Walden’s critical thinking about figure skating develops, will provide food for thought for many, many readers.

Author Tillie Walden

SPINNING is an important book that will speak to many readers. You can listen to a wonderfully in-depth interview with Tillie Walden on the All the Wonders podcast, hosted by Matthew Winner, episode 400. 

From the Macmillan website:

Ignatz Award winner Tillie Walden’s powerful graphic memoir Spinning captures what it’s like to come of age, come out, and come to terms with leaving behind everything you used to know.

My 2015 Caldecott Quandary by Jim Hill

It has been a fantastic, groundbreaking awards season for graphic novels. El Deafo was named a Newbery Honor, and This One Summer earned both a Printz Honor and a Caldecott Honor.

*Record scratch*

Wait, what? There’s a book that can get both a Printz–the YA award–and a Caldecott? The Caldecott? The one for picture books? For little kids? You’re seriously telling me this? Shut up.

Right? I thought the same thing. I hadn’t yet read This One Summer when the awards were announced. I had seen the cover, and thumbed through it at the bookstore, so I knew it to be a beautifully illustrated book. As soon as the snow stopped and the libraries opened again (hash tag snowmageddon), I got my hands on it.

The illustrations are fantastic. Evocative, well paced with an artful use of splash pages that break out of the panel format to mark chapter endings and important story points. It’s blue–a choice made in production by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki that, in my opinion, elevates the art and the emotional stakes while at the same time softening a sometimes difficult story by providing a little psychic distance for the reader. Blue is a calming color after all. It’s also entirely appropriate as it relates to the setting at Awago Beach, and the importance that water plays in the story.

So why don’t I love the idea that it received a Caldecott Honor? Age range and subject matter.

Let me try to explain. Um, justify. Er, rationalize. Crap, this is awkward.

The material in this book is not easy stuff. It’s a coming of age story that deals with newfound sexual desire, teen pregnancy, infertility/miscarriage, parental disharmony, and even touches on class/socio-economic issues.

So, first let me say, holy cow, well done Jillian and Mariko. This is great stuff, handled authentically, honestly, and experienced deftly through the eyes of the main character.

Slap two Printz awards on the cover, and call it a day. I am all in.

But the Caldecott? You’re killing me.

To me, and I’m willing to bet to most people, the Caldecott is the picture book award. I fear there will be censorship/banning discussions fueled by parents who are upset that this material landed in their children's hands by virtue of a sticker. One look at the negative Amazon reviews reveals exactly that. What boggles my mind about those negative reviews is the objection to language, not subject matter. But that’s an argument for another day–tentative title, “What’s Wrong with You? Words Are Not the Problem, You’re the Problem.” But I digress.

Technically, This One Summer totally qualifies for the Caldecott Honor. But emotionally? Instinctually? I think the committee misstepped.

Yes, the Caldecott's second criteria says, "A ‘picture book for children’ is one for which children are an intended potential audience. The book displays respect for children’s understandings, abilities, and appreciations. Children are defined as persons of ages up to and including fourteen and picture books for this entire age range are to be considered." But has there ever been one recognized that pushes that upper limit so hard?

Parents, teachers, and librarians are confused. That doesn’t help the credibility of the award. The negative Amazon reviews and this post (with subsequent discussion in the comments) on the Hornbook blog illuminate the issue nicely.

I don’t know. On the one hand, I am over the moon that graphic novels are getting attention, sales, and shiny award stickers. Cartoonist Dani Jones might have said it best on twitter:

In my wildest dreams of winning an Eisner, Caldecott, or Newbury, I thought I had to master 3 disciplines. Turns out I can just make comics.
— Dani Jones (@danidraws) February 2, 2015

And Matthew Winner, of the excellent Let’s Get Busy podcast, nails the reason we should all read El Deafo in his Washington Post op/ed piece.

Graphic novels matter. This is great. In an online discussion with alums and students of VCFA about this issue, it was suggested that maybe it's time for a specific graphic novel award. Not to eliminate graphic novels from contention for other awards, but to shine a light on them alone. Skip age ratings–that’s a big ol’ can of worms that almost no one can come to consensus on, but celebrate the writing, the art, and the storytelling for what it is by virtue of its unique format.

David Elzey suggested an excellent name for it: The PILKEY YANG award (for Dav Pilkey, Gene Luen Yang, naturally). Sounds good to me.

My thanks to that secret board of VCFA’ers for helping me clarify my thoughts, and a special shout out to Robin Herrara for rightfully turning me around on my second (undisclosed) problem with this award for This One Summer.

Do yourself a favor–read the book and make up your own mind.

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So You Want to Write a Graphic Novel? Great!

It seems like every conference has at least one workshop on writing a graphic novel. I bet you’ve even tinkered with the idea yourself, right? Of course, how to write one is the follow up question that causes problems.

Been there. Done that. Slipped in the gutters.

That’s a graphic novel joke (not a good one), because gutters are the spaces between the panels in sequential art, and…

*crickets*

Okay, bad terrible jokes aside, the idea of writing a comic or graphic novel appeals to a lot of us. Heck, my own writing journey started after taking a “creative vacation” that included a week-long class on writing comics taught by Peter David. Yes, the Peter David of the Eisner award winning run on The Incredible Hulk (all the fan boys just perked up…).

That week awakened my interest in writing. Not specifically writing comics, but as they say, “write what you know.” And so, like many an aspiring writer, I started buying craft books (we should have a support group), and mine included more than a few on comics and sequential art. At VCFA, I spent much of my time researching words and pictures as storytelling tools, and in this past May I presented a talk at NESCBWI on that topic. All of which is to say, I may not be the world’s biggest expert, but I have some bona fides in my corner, and a short list of craft books you might find helpful when approaching your graphic novel. Ready?

Before I start that list, I want to make one more point (or maybe my first point, I’m tired and need more coffee). It helps to become familiar with the medium you’re writing for. Makes sense, right? So do yourself a favor and read the best ones out there. Here's some links to help ferret them out:

Kids Comics Awards 2014
Kirkus Graphic Novels & Comic Books Reviews
School Library Journal Graphic Novel Reviews

Bookmark those for future reference, because here come the craft books.

Craft Books for Graphic Novelists

Writing for Comics and Graphic Novels with Peter David

A very nice overview of the comic writing process that looks at everything from story structure to word balloon placement to script format.

The Everything Guide to Writing Graphic Novels

A real nuts-and-bolts approach to every aspect of independently producing and self-publishing your graphic novel. If you're a motivated, self-starter this book will be a valuable road map for you to follow.

Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels 

Scott McCloud's follow-up to Understanding Comics is even better, in my opinion, for the writer of comics. I love his books on comics, and can lose hours at a time re-reading and unpacking everything McCloud puts into them. This book will raise your writing game, no matter what format you're writing.

The Ultimate Spider-Man Script Book

Speaking of format, that's very often the first question new graphic novel writers ask. This collection of actual comic scripts from Brian Michael Bendis is invaluable for granting access into one writer's specific way of doing it. Better still, with a little digging in your local comic shop or in trade paperback collections, you can find the published comics and see how the illustrator translated the script into a completed comic. 

Words for Pictures – the Art and Business of Writing Comics and Graphic Novels

More Bendis, and with good reason. He's been one of Marvel's top writers for well over a decade, and he brings a Whedonesque approach to his work. Epic conflicts, fueled as much by small character moments as cataclysm, are a hallmark of his writing, and that always works for me. In this brand new book, Bendis not only discusses his approach to writing, but also interviews other top creatives in the field, including illustrators, and editors. It's a terrific guide to the craft and the business.

Excelsior!

My list of craft books tends to lean heavily into the superhero genre, but that doesn't mean they are the be-all and end-all of graphic novels, not by a long shot. What it means is that I think anyone looking to write graphic novels can learn how it's done from the industry professionals that have driven the format's popularity. 

Learn the format, then tell your story with it. 

Up, up, and away!

Sweet Tooth, Anyone?

The Princess Candy Series

by Michael Dahl

Tales of a Sugar Hero Blurb:

On her eleventh birthday, Halo Nightly receives a mysterious collection of candy jars from her Aunt Pandora. The sweet treats inside fuel her with the powers of fire, water, earth, and air! As the worlds newest sugar hero, Halo must defeat the evil sour-villains who threaten to rid the world of fun and flavor!

The Green Queen of Mean Blurb:

Look out litterbugs! When friend-to-the-planet Flora is paired with classmate Halo, things look good for her science report on pollution. Unfortunately, when Halo eats a little of her superhero candy and flies out for a breath of air after finishing the project, Doozie Hiss steps in to sabotage their work. Little does she know that Flora has a secret identity and the power to avenge any nongreen attitudes.

  
The Marshmallow Mermaid:

After an elementary school has closed for the day, a dangerous monster comes out of the school's swimming pool looking for food. He eats marshmallows and goes back in the water. Complaints are made to the principal about the marshmallows being stolen every night from the kitchen. After eating some of her Aunt Pandora's Cody turns into Princess Puffer fish.

The Evil Echo:

Halo Nightly (Princess Candy) is back, using her super powers to fight the Evil Echo, a shape shifter out to win Cody Phinn's attention. As a shape shifter, Echo is able to make people believe she's Halo—or at least the dark side of Halo. Echo goes around doing things that are uncharacteristic of Halo who is shocked when even her grandmother accuses her of doing something wrong. This female superhero will, undoubtedly, appeal to young girls.


These books are not only a ton of fun for MG readers, they combine great storytelling with the madly-popular graphic novel format. Readers of Dragonbreath, Bone, and The Amulet series will enjoy them. I know my daughter currently gobbles up anything structured in graphic novel form.

As a middle grade author, I balked at the rise in popularity of graphic novels, feeling like they weren't "real" literature. I didn't think they counted as quality reading time for my kids. And yes, I was a butthead for thinking that. As an educator, I have watched as reluctant readers have become less reluctant, as vocabularies and fluency have improved, and as graphic novels have been the doorway to other, more traditional books. They are the best of both worlds for kids--great stories and awesome graphics.

What are your thoughts about the 

graphic novel vs. the traditional novel?