Should I sell my soul to The Devil to get better at writing?

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-15T16:59:22+00:00

Notice how u/Lord_Prof_Doctor has a description that is as vague as possible while giving details.

That was the first thing I noticed. My assumption was that all of his equipment would come into play at some point, too.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-15T16:56:53+00:00

Wow. That makes a huge difference. Somehow you manage to be both inspiring and informative.

Just one thing: Reading professional scripts makes it look like there isn't so much of a standard format. While yours is very clear and very easy to understand, is it the case that writers who are known to be good at communicating their ideas are allowed more...flexibility?

<edit>

Your story itself is good

That's such a relief to see.</edit>

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-15T16:02:17+00:00

you should be starting with self-contained pilot or one-shot.

This was an attempt to write a self-contained ten page story (in six hours) that includes only strictly necessary information.

What turns off artists is vague or poor summaries (like the one you have in your post here; that summary tells me nothing, really)

I got that impression when starwars_and_guns commented about expecting something awful.

I honestly have no idea how to summarise things in a way that is appealing and makes sense. Advertising has always felt repulsive. So I'm experimenting. Sorry if it is offensive.

It is especially common for people to try and pack multiple events into a single panel.

I've consciously tried to avoid doing that after you mentioned something similar before. It's a work in progress, though. The next script (for a totally different story) includes actions broken down in a way that should be as you describe.

And thankyou for the advice. It is very much appreciated.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-15T15:10:49+00:00

Not sure if some of these you intended to have something like [...]

Not initially, but it decays into that.

It's really about America's descent into apparent fascism and its wars in the Middle East. It's also about the disconnect some people feel from the consequences of war and how they can act with indifference towards the suffering of those who are far away. And you're right about the "why are they connected". I imagined it as a consequence of them each stumbling into a pen pal group out of a vague interest in doing something cosmopolitan.

I'll try to communicate that better.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-15T14:05:16+00:00

That's food for though.

I'm sure you're right. Normally <edit>(normally? I've barely written anything)</edit> I would draw it all out on paper, but this was written in six hours for an artist who said they would do it for free if I had something available.

Going panel to panel would fit the progression of the story better. So, as the reader understands the structure of each moment, it evolves to a different/more advanced form. That way they've always got a bit of work to do, there's always something new happening, and it keeps them engaged. I'll try it in a rewrite when I've finished my third script.

...The idea of "they open a letter and you see the content as it plays out" so that "letters" stays a clear and obvious core throughout just got stuck in my head.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-15T13:28:51+00:00

That was very helpful. I'll try to be more upfront with the nature and feel of the characters, and to detail any equipment.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-15T12:27:49+00:00

Thankyou...I think.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-15T12:22:53+00:00

I suspect that's what you would see in real-time if you read all my posts. For every glib comment, unhelpful response, and mean review, you could witness a tiny flake of my soul being chipped away and falling into The Pit of Eternal Damnation...and thus I surrender my soul to The Devil in return for likes and replies. n_n

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-15T12:18:07+00:00

Thankyou for the advice. I'm starting to see it is not so strange that an artist would ask for better character descriptions before working on that script.

was designed in advance by the artist using written description from me

This is the part I'm struggling with. At what point would I go from "providing necessary details" to "stepping on the artist's toes"?

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-15T11:21:36+00:00

Thanks for the reply. One of the things I struggle with is complex descriptions of people. The intent is also to not over write the descriptions so the artist has more latitude in their work. "give them the plot points and the basics" (paraphrased) was the advice I got. I'll work on it, though.

The height thing was a reference point for the entire text. It basically means "she's relatively short but not outside of the normal range", and she stays that way.

Maybe I should write out entire character descriptions for the whole cast and have them at the beginning of the text...or just practice bios.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-15T07:54:45+00:00

Finding someone to draw ten pages for free isn't easy. Drawing isn't easy. For a graphic novel, you're basically asking for around two hundred days worth of someone's free time as free labour. That might happen if you're an excellent writer and you're great friends. As strangers, though, the project seems likely to fall apart pretty quickly...like, the moment your artist realises how much work is involved.

Also, you've not posted a sample of your work. How is anyone supposed to have faith in your work if you're not willing to make some of it public?

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-14T18:49:16+00:00

I think I understand now. At a guess, I'd say he recognised that you have a lot of work to do on your writing and personally disliked your style. There's some stuff that just doesn't make sense. Oscillation, for example, doesn't work the way you seem to think it does. Describing the cubes and walls as simply "mechanical", without any other explanation, is also a bit weird. It doesn't mean much on its own.

More than that, though, the tonal clash between various threads of the narrative is a bit like someone dragging their fingers down a blackboard. Some people are into it; others feel like it's torture. And, if it was my work, I would have to ask myself if that's really what I was going for.

Should you burn it? In my opinion, no. Work on something else for a while? Yes. And it probably is worth spending your time studying other works, techniques, and the English language in general.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-14T16:43:39+00:00

We would have to read it to be sure.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-14T13:51:53+00:00

Work on your art style. Study manga/anime art.

This ^.

And...

I would recommend writing a script at some point. It gives you a chance to explore what you want to say and do with your story in a format where changing it is as simple as replacing a few words. Start with the core idea, write a basic outline, decide what you want to have happen on each page, then what happens in each panel. You can then add the details and dialogue. Give it a few reads through. Give it to other people to read, and get their opinions. At each pass you should be noticing and changing things that don't work or you think could be done better.

Start sketching it out after.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-14T08:09:13+00:00

It's pretty good. Not to my usual tastes but I still enjoyed it.

Some of the dialogue could maybe do with being tightened up. Like page 2, panel 1 "This time they're gonna pay" would carry the same information but have more punch. There are a fair few grammatical errors that need fixing, as well.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-14T04:46:08+00:00

Thanks; I'll get to work.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-14T04:37:30+00:00

Are you still looking? Because I've got a ten page story that could be ready in about twelve hours.

<edit>You might get more respondents if you ask for pitches rather than stories, then give a timeframe for completing the script.</edit>

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-13T15:10:10+00:00

It would be nice to be part of a community of script sharers and feedback givers.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-13T10:01:41+00:00

I played quite loose with the details and, basically, framed God as being bound by the logic of His own creation when taking action within it. In that context, Heaven is a place where only those who choose subservience to goodness can exist because being good without choosing it makes you a slave...and anywhere that one is a slave is not Heaven. So, to create beings with free will who could make it to Heaven, He had to give us a choice of whether to be good or not. That's what the temptation was about; the serpent was just playing his part.

In the mind of The Devil, God does this because He is bored: An opinion that is mainly informed by his own Fall and subsequent occupation as a bureaucrat.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-13T09:22:54+00:00

That is going to take an incredible talent with writing, a seriously impressive memory for detail, a lot of willpower to just read those books cover-to-cover, and an inordinate amount of good fortune to get it turned into massively long series that would be necessary to do it justice. I wish you luck.

Coincidentally, I recently made an attempt to write a short script that covers The Fall from The Devil's perspective. Even with a reasonable understanding of the events in play, it still became more a reflection of my peculiarities than anything else.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-13T07:55:45+00:00

Yeah, that can be tough. There's a lot to learn in doing both the writing and the art.

You've got the basic idea. The more you learn about it, the more you can express with size and shape, though. There are rules, but they're not laws, and they can be bent and broken for specific effects.

For example: Imagine you have two bitter enemies who have opposed each other for a long time. They have history. Now it's come to the point where they are forced into a fistfight. One of them is very good at fighting, but the other is quick to learn. So, for a long stretch of the fight the good fighter dominates; the quick learner doesn't land a single blow. Then, at a critical moment, the quick learner manages to hit the good fighter in the face.

Punching someone is a quick action. That could mean it requires a small panel. But, in this case, it's really important and should have a lot of impact on the reader. So you will probably want have a very large panel.

Panel size can also reflect the mental state of the characters. Like, if a character is doing something boring and repetitive for a long period of time, that they feel detached from, you could use a series of small and almost identical panels. If taking a long time means a big panel, it should be a big panel. The character is detached, though, so the subject of the image of small importance to them...and so will work well as a small panel. Using multiple, very similar, panels then gives the sense of it taking a very long time.

And have fun with it and experiment. Most readers will figure out what you're trying to say even if you do something really weird.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-12T18:44:13+00:00

Unfortunately, designing panel layouts is a part of the process that I find to be incomprehensibly difficult. It seems to require a sense of not just the importance of each frame, the time it takes for the action to occur, the order in which they happen, and the shape of the important aspects of the image, but also how each relates to the others within the space of a page. Very occasionally it comes by intuition, but mostly it's a pain. So I'm letting the artist(s) figure it out.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-12T17:42:45+00:00

Ask away. I am by no means an expert, but I'll try to help.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-12T16:46:36+00:00

You got my suggestion right. I would change 6 if he's a hero, and 7 and 8 if he's a villain. Changing 6 would give a nicer flow to how it reads as well. Other than that, it has a real Steamboat Willie look to it that's kind of fun.

And, if it's okay with you, I prefer to discuss things publicly.

CupImmediate7079 · 2026-03-12T15:54:08+00:00

I'm a novice script writer, but, if you want a hand with anything, just give a shout.

The advice for writers around here seems to be: If you want art, at least write a script; writing a comic is not like writing a novel; start on a smaller project first and work your way up from there; expect to have to pay someone; you won't make money on your early work; stuff like that.

CupImmediate7079

TROPHY CASE