Matt Fraction recently answered a process question over on his Tumblr, which I thought I’d share here:
When you’re writing a script, do you do visual breakdowns, sketching, or any other visual preliminaries, or do you go straight to “Page 1 (6 panels)?”
FRACTION: i actually don’t do the (6 panels) bit. i dunno if that pisses my guys off or what but i don’t do it.
i sometimes do box doodles — like, i’ll draw a page and rough out the shapes of the panels but don’t fuck with what’s inside ‘em.
I have a weird sort of synethesia thing with the boxes, i can hear ‘em, i can feel em. kelly sue watched me in dublin fill page after page of typing paper with SEX CRIMINALS boxes. totally empty rectangles holding lots of other smaller rectangles, me, and a sharpie. i was learning how it sounded. I tossed ‘em all out afterwards — they were like doodles of doodles but it was how i found the… i dunno, whatever that is. that tool. how i found the page.
then i turned it into this and a list, and this and a list became the script.
Perhaps that visual will help some of you in terms of page/panel breakdowns as well.
In the meantime, I highly recommend following Fraction’s Tumblr— either by bookmarking or “following.” It’s entertaining, inspiring, and informative– honestly, what more could you ask for?
Some really exciting stuff coming up for the Script Archive this year. Gotta keep mum on a lot of it, but I can say: New Scripts coming up very soon!