Q:

I have writer’s block. I’ve been trying to write a manga story and I keep getting stuck. I come up with awesome ideas, create the character and the story, and when it comes to writing them, I lose my train of thought. My mind goes blank and I will never be able to finish something if I go on like this.

A:

I’m interested in asking… do you have trouble with writing manga stories only, or do you have trouble with writing in general? I ask because the problem here seems to be translating a story into pictures onto paper, but then it isn’t so clear from what you’ve described. You say you’ve created the characters and the story, but you have trouble actually “writing it down”. Does that mean you’ve created the beginning of the story, but not the middle or end, so you have no idea how the story develops? Or are you saying that you’ve got the beginning and end, but have trouble filling in the middle? Or do you have the entire story, but have trouble with structure and putting it into dialogue and then pictures?

If it’s actually trouble with writing stories that you have, then I suggest you start by writing stories that have a definate beginning and end. Alot of people start writing long, epic stories with a beginning but no end in sight, meaning that there’s also no middle because they don’t know when or how it ends. If you’re one of these people, I suggest you come up with a complete story first, just to get the hang of finishing a story. In other words, have a beginning, create an end, and then create the middle. It’s the best way to set a milestone for yourself, and making sure you accomplish that milestone. You can write in paragraph form, or point form - they are both writing forms that is very helpful for structuring a story. If you do things this way, then it makes sure you won’t lose your train of thought - because you know where your train of thought starts and where it’s supposed to end. The trouble, as always, is figuring out the journey in between, and if you’re writing a short story, it shouldn’t be too problematic.

If it’s translating words into dialogue and pictures where you have trouble, then once again, it’s a matter of breaking it into stages. Take your paragraph story, and break it up into parts. Once again, this is all the written part, and write panel-by-panel how you would want the dialogue and pictures to be. It’s a long and complicated process, but you’ll find that as you do more of it, the better you’ll get at it. There are no short cuts, I’m afraid. For alot of people, it’s a uphill slog, but the end results is very rewarding. Once again, I suggest you do a short story, to get the hang of finishing something.

Last updated on: Friday, 28 December 2007
Filed under: Manga