The author is a veteran comic book writer who writes for a comic books website that provides comic book news and reviews.

If you like to work in the comic book format but you don’t want to draw a comic yourself, the simplest solution is to write a comic book script for an artist to use. But you can also write a comic book script if you’re going to draw the work yourself and you want a solid plan before you begin. Or if you’re not sure yet!

However, if you do know who will be drawing your comic book, the script should reflect his or her preferences. Some artists like to work with a lot of detail in your descriptions of the art, some with only a little. Some like a lot of suggestions. Some prefer that the script only put in what’s required.

And there are personal quirks you can write a comic book script around. One of my artists is very good at figuring out action scenes, but needs a lot of research help when it comes to cars and fashion, so my notes for him are very minimal for the former, and much longer for the latter. I like to write to his strengths when I can, but sometimes the story just really needs a car, and our characters have a habit of wearing clothes, so I give him help where he needs it.

All of the above also applies if “your artist” is you! If you have trouble blocking a fight scene but know cars like the back of your hand, you might want to do a car-focused story. But when your characters do fight, it helps to write more of your comic book script around what they do in each frame, and where the camera is.

If you don’t know who’ll be drawing it, though, it’s best to write your comic book script with a “middle-of-the-road” approach. One famous comic book writer, Stan Lee, has used only a short paragraph to describe what’s happening on an entire page. Another, Alan Moore, is known for using several long paragraphs to describe a single frame—or “panel,” as it’s known in the biz. You can learn more about these famous authors by checking out comic book reviews. Great reviews can be found on comic book websites.

Most of my panel descriptions are about two or three lines on average, except for introductory panels. Introductory panels bring in some new, important element of the story: a new character, device or setting, for instance. In those cases, my line-count is closer to 8-12, divided into two or three paragraphs.

Dialogue for each panel is placed underneath it, with a clear attribution for who’s speaking. Unlike TV scripts, comic book scripts aren’t particular about format. As long as you hit these three details for each panel - what’s happening, who’s talking and what they’re saying - you’ve written a comic book script any artist can work with. Before you know it, you’ll be on your way to creating a popular comic book – so popular that people are writing comic book reviews and news on your great work!