MANTRA 14
Alan Moore (from Mort Weisinger) quote:
“If you’ve got 6 panels on a page, then the maximum number of words that you should have in each panel, is 35. No more. That’s the maximum. 35 words per panel. Also, if a balloon has more than 20 or 25 words in it, it’s gonna look too big. 25 words is the absolute maximum for balloon size. Right, once you’ve taken on board those two simple rules, laying out comics pages – it gives you somewhere to start – you sort of know: “OK, so 6 panels, 35 words a panel, that means about 210 words per page maximum” …and if you’ve got 2 panels you’d have 105 each. If you’ve got 9 panels it’s about 23-24 words – that’ll be about the right balance of words and pictures.” *
Comments
Comment from E. Ann Bardawill
Time July 14, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Thank you for this.
Interesting and useful.
Comment from M Kitchen
Time July 10, 2007 at 11:31 am
Warren Ellis (from Stan Lee) quote:
“There’s an old rule-of-thumb to be applied to dialogue when starting out. I think Stan Lee came up with it. It works. Hold yourself down to a maximum of twenty-five words a panel. That’s 25 words for everything, dialogue and captionwork. (Alan Moore still uses 29 words per panel as his guide, I think.) Try it. See how it works for you. Once you’re comfortable with it, and you’ve got it working, start playing with variances. But not until you can make the rule work for you.
And that doesn’t mean pack 25 words into each and every panel. The biggest mistake new writers make is not allowing silences in their work. There are times when you just have to shut up and let the art work for you. You’ll learn when.” *
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