Tips for editors and for self-editing (please add to it)

creativesynergy · 11-13-2006, 12:28 PM

Many creators choose the route of self-editing over hiring an editor, so this thread is designed to provide information that will help in the growth and understanding of the importance of editing in this medium. Also, for those of us who edit regularly/professionally, we always need to grow in our understanding of how to do our jobs better.

To start things off, I'd like to share something that I recently read in The Longman Guide to Technical Editing (pages 13 to 16 for those who have or will read the book) on content, signals, and noise. Content refers to what you want readers to understand from the story, signals are how it's presented, and noise is what prevents the information from getting across fluidly. Let's break it down as to how it applies to comics:

CONTENT:

Structure, clarity, and completeness are key in any story, whether it's a short story or prolonged storyline.

In structure, we refer to more than just the components or parts of the story, being theme, plot, conflict, character, setting, etc. We also need to look at the order in which the information is being presented (not the how, which we will look at momentarily). Are there three acts to the story? Are key characters such as your protagonist and antagonist introduced at the right moments? Are the conflicts appropriate to the characters' growth in the story or are they insurmountable and unattainable, resulting in no growth?

Clarity leads to understanding. If your reader is left with questions that you didn't deliberately design to occur, such as "Wasn't he just at home, and now he's at the meetinghouse??" or "I thought his name was Jim, and yet here they're calling him Duke", then you've got a problem. Anticipate questions that will effect clarity and resolve them.

Completeness wraps everything into a nice package, gives reasons for the inclusion of subplots and props, answers all of the questions, and leaves them wanting more with questions that you've deliberately designed to carry over to the next storyline.

Note: Here's a little tip on completeness with regards to mini-series or any self-contained stories. NEVER leave a question unanswered and NEVER design a question that will carry over to another story. In the first case, imagine getting a Christmas gift that you have to put together, but the instructions are missing or worse, as the second case presents, were taken out by your parents beforehand to be given at a later date. Kinda leaves you wanting and frustrated, n'est-pas?

SIGNALS:

Any tangible methods or techniques that we have of presenting the story in a clear fashion fall under the purpose of signals.

In incorporating dialogue, captions, and sound effects, using the right words to get the message across, using them at the appropriate times, making sure the character sounds like him/her/itself, ensuring the narrative captions are consistently first, second, or third person, and using the right sound effect to represent the noise an object would make are some of the key signals to guide the reader through the text provided.

In the pencils, using appropriate techniques such as distance, angles, light and shadow, viewpoint, border design, transitional methods, presentation of motion and time, splashes and bleeds, amount of content, leading the eye, etc. will all help the reader to understand the specific message intended to be conveyed.

In colors, mood is properly represented, depth is established, color coding has been followed regarding clothes, hair, and such, and that previously established contexts have been consistly followed all assist the art in presenting the message.

And in no way is lettering left out of the mix. Appropriate font type, proper balloon shapes, bolding of necessary text, effective use of font for SFX, size of text, and placement of text and containment (caption boxes, dialogue balloons) all play an extremely important role in the reader's comprehension of the story, its characters, and the power of sounds that occur.

When all of these work in conjunction, you get an effective story. So what happens when they don't work together?

NOISE:

Anything that will distract the reader from the flow of the story is noise. A piece of dialogue that doesn't make sense. A sequence of actions that seems to skip an important step. An image that leads off the page unexpectedly before the sequence is complete. Ambiguous use of color to show rage. An unbolded and/or regular sized font for a scream. All of these and millions more can interrupt the flow of the story for a reader, creating a wall that will stop them dead in their tracks. Now one or two bits of noise may be forgivable to most readers. They will look at it as happenstance and carry on, but it plays in their minds and creates a precedent and expectation for any future bumps in the road. What do you want the reader to concentrate on: The story or any obstacles that may force them off the road again?

Now one thing that I see happen too often is the poor selection and combination of art and lettering. Either the lettering is overcome by the art and seems to drown in visual over-information or thicker line weights, or the opposite occurs and the text, containment shapes, SFX, font type and size, spacing between words and from the text to the containment walls, and most of all (especially with the application of digital lettering), the lettering seems to sit on the image instead of being incorporated into the flatness of the page, kind of like a 3-D effect. It's important that everything works together and that nothing will detract from the other "signals".

j giar · 11-13-2006, 12:46 PM

Man, I'm glad you posted this up. I've read briefly what you have up and later I want to go through and read it slower to take it all in. Thanks Creative!

creativesynergy · 11-13-2006, 06:48 PM

Hope it helps, Jim. Thanks for reading.

This thread is designed for sporadic thoughts on editing. As such, there is no distinct pattern or sequence to topics. To continue with this, I'd like to touch on the subject of bolding and italicizing text in dialogue and captions.

Now, accentuating text is an artform in itself as it requires an ear for the emphasis of certain words to clarify the intended message. Here are a few examples where bolding and italicizing certain words bring different meanings to the same sentence, even when applying the same punctuation marks.

What are you doing? (direct)

What are you doing? (scolding)

What are you doing? (questioning intent)

What are you doing? (personal condemnation, sarcasm)

What are you doing? (surprise)

What are you doing? (scolding + shock)

What are you doing? (shock + fear + anxiety)

What are you doing? (lowers the tone of voice on that one word, which could mean distant + uncaring of the response)

As you can see, even though they all ask the same question, the placement of bold or italicized text can change the reader's perception of the character's state of mind. These are helped along by the visual representation of the character's feelings through facial expression and body language. What gets a reader lost is when the text and visuals don't match, or when the context of the reaction (through bolding and italics) doesn't go with the situation, leaving them looking for a reason for the odd usage. Sarcasm, for example, can fit almost anywhere if you are trying to introduce the fact that the character is in fact sarcastic. However, if you never explain that it's a character trait, then you leave the reader with questions or "noise".

When writing dialogue, always read it out loud. It's in hearing it that you will realize the nuances.

Finally, if you aren't comfortable with emphasizing the text, let the visuals speak for them. It's better to not do anything then to give the reader an inaccurate message.

creativesynergy · 11-14-2006, 06:34 PM

I'd like to hear what you think of this thread. What would you, as creators, like to see posted here? What instruction would lead you to become better self-editors of your work? What are some of the areas that are most troublesome for you with regards to self-editing? Spelling? Grammar? Punctuation? Is it in the art? The lettering? The development of characters? Is the plot too weak and you can't figure out how to strengthen it? Bring some points up and we'll see if we can give you some insight into dealing with them.

j giar · 11-15-2006, 12:59 PM

Alright, So I'm going to try and not be long winded about this....
..So I began thinking about word balloons. Mainly because I'm at that point in my book where I'm lettering and placing word balloons. Last night I issued a cry for help on word balloons on creator community. I have templates but after doing a couple they looked so methodical and mechanical that I began to panic...So after a little thought...some contemplation and a little nudge from Scribbly

I decided to do them by hand. I blue lined first to get all my shapes and placements and then did them with a micron.(#5..if anyone wants to know.)
And last nite...other than some touch up areas, I was pretty pleased with the end results.....
..until this morning. Then I began thinking about this thread. About word balloons and what they represent. How they are as just as much a form of icon in and of themselves. Representing sound and emotion, as well as mood. Then I re-thought their purpose in my story. Creative, if you remember, I had stated that my story took place in 2 different realities. I had asked for help on inking pages black to represent one reality. You had asked me at that time, what other methods I could use to represent realities? And it all just clicked. Unfortunately for me I'll have to redo the balloons tonite..but it'll only take an hour or so. I've oppted to do everything on this project, instead of hiring someone. Number one I can't afford to pay anyone..number two I'm an artist as well and workin' for free just sucks so I wouldn't ask anyone to work for free. But I thought this was a good example of self editing...or procrastination.

creativesynergy · 11-15-2006, 08:23 PM

Jim, that is a great example of self-editing and I'm really glad you came to the realization of the "two realities" issue regarding balloon shapes before you got too far into the project. Excellent work.

JerMohler · 11-15-2006, 08:50 PM

One thing I might mention just for you to be wary of -

When drawing your own balloons on the page, make sure that they turn out looking good. If a balloon is lopsided, man that really bugs the hell out of me. It just looks unprofessional. Lettering and balloon design is as important as the art and writing. What it all comes down to is presentation. If your presentation looks unprofessional - people are going to look at your book and see an amateur effort - no matter how hard you worked.

Everything is about presentation and not just in comics, but everywhere. People believe what they see and most won't even pick up your book if the whole package doesn't look professional.

I'm not trying to be harsh, I just got back from WW Texas and I saw a good number of books that just didn't look good because they let things like lettering, balloons, or even drawing straight edges for their panel borders, go.

If you don't care about these things, why should anybody else?

Anyway, sorry for the rant. I'm sure your bubbles look awesome - I just wanted to mention that.

j giar · 11-16-2006, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerMohler

One thing I might mention just for you to be wary of -

When drawing your own balloons on the page, make sure that they turn out looking good. If a balloon is lopsided, man that really bugs the hell out of me. It just looks unprofessional. Lettering and balloon design is as important as the art and writing. What it all comes down to is presentation. If your presentation looks unprofessional - people are going to look at your book and see an amateur effort - no matter how hard you worked.

Everything is about presentation and not just in comics, but everywhere. People believe what they see and most won't even pick up your book if the whole package doesn't look professional.

I'm not trying to be harsh, I just got back from WW Texas and I saw a good number of books that just didn't look good because they let things like lettering, balloons, or even drawing straight edges for their panel borders, go.

If you don't care about these things, why should anybody else?

Anyway, sorry for the rant. I'm sure your bubbles look awesome - I just wanted to mention that.

No worries Jeremy...Actually I ended up abandoning the normal bubble look of the word balloon for a type I had seen on a web comic by Carla Speed Mcneil called Finder. They are very organic but hard edged which goes right in line with my story...but thanks for the mention.

Smeghead · 11-19-2006, 01:19 PM

Great thread!

This is not so much how to self-edit yourself, but a kinda trick that helps to get your mind in the right place for self-editing. Watch some DVD's that have really good commentary by the creators (directors, writers, cinematographers, etc.) Any Joss Whedon commentary is my fav. Then go and edit your comic. For me, I know this makes my mind extra critical and questioning of everything, just what you want for editing.

*Waves to Steve* Hey there!

scherzo · 11-19-2006, 04:24 PM

Quote:

the lettering seems to sit on the image instead of being incorporated into the flatness of the page, kind of like a 3-D effect.

This effect doesn't bother me. In fact it seems logical for word balloons and sound effects to appear seperate from the primary image, because unlike every thing else within the panel...it does not physically exist within the story world. It's not something the characters can actually see. The words are, by their nature, more artifical than what's around them. Interesting post though, with good stuff to keep in mind.

-Mark

11-13-2006, 12:28 PM	#1
creativesynergy Steve Colle, Editor Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada Posts: 1,300	Tips for editors and for self-editing (please add to it) Many creators choose the route of self-editing over hiring an editor, so this thread is designed to provide information that will help in the growth and understanding of the importance of editing in this medium. Also, for those of us who edit regularly/professionally, we always need to grow in our understanding of how to do our jobs better. To start things off, I'd like to share something that I recently read in The Longman Guide to Technical Editing (pages 13 to 16 for those who have or will read the book) on content, signals, and noise. Content refers to what you want readers to understand from the story, signals are how it's presented, and noise is what prevents the information from getting across fluidly. Let's break it down as to how it applies to comics: CONTENT: Structure, clarity, and completeness are key in any story, whether it's a short story or prolonged storyline. In structure, we refer to more than just the components or parts of the story, being theme, plot, conflict, character, setting, etc. We also need to look at the order in which the information is being presented (not the how, which we will look at momentarily). Are there three acts to the story? Are key characters such as your protagonist and antagonist introduced at the right moments? Are the conflicts appropriate to the characters' growth in the story or are they insurmountable and unattainable, resulting in no growth? Clarity leads to understanding. If your reader is left with questions that you didn't deliberately design to occur, such as "Wasn't he just at home, and now he's at the meetinghouse??" or "I thought his name was Jim, and yet here they're calling him Duke", then you've got a problem. Anticipate questions that will effect clarity and resolve them. Completeness wraps everything into a nice package, gives reasons for the inclusion of subplots and props, answers all of the questions, and leaves them wanting more with questions that you've deliberately designed to carry over to the next storyline. Note: Here's a little tip on completeness with regards to mini-series or any self-contained stories. NEVER leave a question unanswered and NEVER design a question that will carry over to another story. In the first case, imagine getting a Christmas gift that you have to put together, but the instructions are missing or worse, as the second case presents, were taken out by your parents beforehand to be given at a later date. Kinda leaves you wanting and frustrated, n'est-pas? SIGNALS: Any tangible methods or techniques that we have of presenting the story in a clear fashion fall under the purpose of signals. In incorporating dialogue, captions, and sound effects, using the right words to get the message across, using them at the appropriate times, making sure the character sounds like him/her/itself, ensuring the narrative captions are consistently first, second, or third person, and using the right sound effect to represent the noise an object would make are some of the key signals to guide the reader through the text provided. In the pencils, using appropriate techniques such as distance, angles, light and shadow, viewpoint, border design, transitional methods, presentation of motion and time, splashes and bleeds, amount of content, leading the eye, etc. will all help the reader to understand the specific message intended to be conveyed. In colors, mood is properly represented, depth is established, color coding has been followed regarding clothes, hair, and such, and that previously established contexts have been consistly followed all assist the art in presenting the message. And in no way is lettering left out of the mix. Appropriate font type, proper balloon shapes, bolding of necessary text, effective use of font for SFX, size of text, and placement of text and containment (caption boxes, dialogue balloons) all play an extremely important role in the reader's comprehension of the story, its characters, and the power of sounds that occur. When all of these work in conjunction, you get an effective story. So what happens when they don't work together? NOISE: Anything that will distract the reader from the flow of the story is noise. A piece of dialogue that doesn't make sense. A sequence of actions that seems to skip an important step. An image that leads off the page unexpectedly before the sequence is complete. Ambiguous use of color to show rage. An unbolded and/or regular sized font for a scream. All of these and millions more can interrupt the flow of the story for a reader, creating a wall that will stop them dead in their tracks. Now one or two bits of noise may be forgivable to most readers. They will look at it as happenstance and carry on, but it plays in their minds and creates a precedent and expectation for any future bumps in the road. What do you want the reader to concentrate on: The story or any obstacles that may force them off the road again? Now one thing that I see happen too often is the poor selection and combination of art and lettering. Either the lettering is overcome by the art and seems to drown in visual over-information or thicker line weights, or the opposite occurs and the text, containment shapes, SFX, font type and size, spacing between words and from the text to the containment walls, and most of all (especially with the application of digital lettering), the lettering seems to sit on the image instead of being incorporated into the flatness of the page, kind of like a 3-D effect. It's important that everything works together and that nothing will detract from the other "signals". Last edited by creativesynergy; 11-13-2006 at 01:18 PM.

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11-13-2006, 12:46 PM	#2
j giar Has nothing to add. Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Elyria, Ohio Posts: 5,968	Man, I'm glad you posted this up. I've read briefly what you have up and later I want to go through and read it slower to take it all in. Thanks Creative!

11-13-2006, 06:48 PM	#3
creativesynergy Steve Colle, Editor Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada Posts: 1,300	Hope it helps, Jim. Thanks for reading. This thread is designed for sporadic thoughts on editing. As such, there is no distinct pattern or sequence to topics. To continue with this, I'd like to touch on the subject of bolding and italicizing text in dialogue and captions. Now, accentuating text is an artform in itself as it requires an ear for the emphasis of certain words to clarify the intended message. Here are a few examples where bolding and italicizing certain words bring different meanings to the same sentence, even when applying the same punctuation marks. What are you doing? (direct) What are you doing? (scolding) What are you doing? (questioning intent) What are you doing? (personal condemnation, sarcasm) What are you doing? (surprise) What are you doing? (scolding + shock) What are you doing? (shock + fear + anxiety) What are you doing? (lowers the tone of voice on that one word, which could mean distant + uncaring of the response) As you can see, even though they all ask the same question, the placement of bold or italicized text can change the reader's perception of the character's state of mind. These are helped along by the visual representation of the character's feelings through facial expression and body language. What gets a reader lost is when the text and visuals don't match, or when the context of the reaction (through bolding and italics) doesn't go with the situation, leaving them looking for a reason for the odd usage. Sarcasm, for example, can fit almost anywhere if you are trying to introduce the fact that the character is in fact sarcastic. However, if you never explain that it's a character trait, then you leave the reader with questions or "noise". When writing dialogue, always read it out loud. It's in hearing it that you will realize the nuances. Finally, if you aren't comfortable with emphasizing the text, let the visuals speak for them. It's better to not do anything then to give the reader an inaccurate message.

11-14-2006, 06:34 PM	#4
creativesynergy Steve Colle, Editor Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada Posts: 1,300	I'd like to hear what you think of this thread. What would you, as creators, like to see posted here? What instruction would lead you to become better self-editors of your work? What are some of the areas that are most troublesome for you with regards to self-editing? Spelling? Grammar? Punctuation? Is it in the art? The lettering? The development of characters? Is the plot too weak and you can't figure out how to strengthen it? Bring some points up and we'll see if we can give you some insight into dealing with them.

11-15-2006, 12:59 PM	#5
j giar Has nothing to add. Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Elyria, Ohio Posts: 5,968	Alright, So I'm going to try and not be long winded about this.... ..So I began thinking about word balloons. Mainly because I'm at that point in my book where I'm lettering and placing word balloons. Last night I issued a cry for help on word balloons on creator community. I have templates but after doing a couple they looked so methodical and mechanical that I began to panic...So after a little thought...some contemplation and a little nudge from Scribbly I decided to do them by hand. I blue lined first to get all my shapes and placements and then did them with a micron.(#5..if anyone wants to know.) And last nite...other than some touch up areas, I was pretty pleased with the end results..... ..until this morning. Then I began thinking about this thread. About word balloons and what they represent. How they are as just as much a form of icon in and of themselves. Representing sound and emotion, as well as mood. Then I re-thought their purpose in my story. Creative, if you remember, I had stated that my story took place in 2 different realities. I had asked for help on inking pages black to represent one reality. You had asked me at that time, what other methods I could use to represent realities? And it all just clicked. Unfortunately for me I'll have to redo the balloons tonite..but it'll only take an hour or so. I've oppted to do everything on this project, instead of hiring someone. Number one I can't afford to pay anyone..number two I'm an artist as well and workin' for free just sucks so I wouldn't ask anyone to work for free. But I thought this was a good example of self editing...or procrastination.

11-15-2006, 08:23 PM	#6
creativesynergy Steve Colle, Editor Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada Posts: 1,300	Jim, that is a great example of self-editing and I'm really glad you came to the realization of the "two realities" issue regarding balloon shapes before you got too far into the project. Excellent work.

11-15-2006, 08:50 PM	#7
JerMohler Peace in my mind... Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Topeka, Kansas Posts: 448	One thing I might mention just for you to be wary of - When drawing your own balloons on the page, make sure that they turn out looking good. If a balloon is lopsided, man that really bugs the hell out of me. It just looks unprofessional. Lettering and balloon design is as important as the art and writing. What it all comes down to is presentation. If your presentation looks unprofessional - people are going to look at your book and see an amateur effort - no matter how hard you worked. Everything is about presentation and not just in comics, but everywhere. People believe what they see and most won't even pick up your book if the whole package doesn't look professional. I'm not trying to be harsh, I just got back from WW Texas and I saw a good number of books that just didn't look good because they let things like lettering, balloons, or even drawing straight edges for their panel borders, go. If you don't care about these things, why should anybody else? Anyway, sorry for the rant. I'm sure your bubbles look awesome - I just wanted to mention that.

11-19-2006, 01:19 PM	#9
Smeghead Registered User Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 127	Great thread! This is not so much how to self-edit yourself, but a kinda trick that helps to get your mind in the right place for self-editing. Watch some DVD's that have really good commentary by the creators (directors, writers, cinematographers, etc.) Any Joss Whedon commentary is my fav. Then go and edit your comic. For me, I know this makes my mind extra critical and questioning of everything, just what you want for editing. Waves to Steve Hey there!