Offset Narrative

This exercise was Inspired by a section of Charles Forsman’s, I Am Not Okay With This.

For this exercise you’ll need:

paper
Post-Its
something to draw with.

Instructions:

1. Think of a few distinctly positive, negative, or interesting memories from childhood.

2. Pick one and write about it for five or ten minutes.

3. Put that writing away and do some more brain storming, this time listing a few everyday situations or activities.

4. Pick one and turn it into a six panel comic using Post-It Notes.

5. Stick the Post-It Note panels down (in order) on a piece of paper, leaving a bit of space above each panel to use later.

6. Read back over the writing you did earlier about a childhood memory. Now write six (or fewer) sentences that clearly capture the most important parts of the memory.

7. Apply your six (or fewer) sentences to your comic, writing the lines on the paper above each comic panel.

8. Read it. Does it make sense? Ideally the two narratives (the textual narrative and the visual narrative) should create or imply some new meaning.

9. Rejig, rewrite, redraw as needed.

Example:

Thoughts:

The goal of this exercise is to create a comic in which the narration and events depicted visually happen at two different times; one in the present, and one in the past. The trick though, is not letting the reader in on that knowledge until the end. Hopefully, when that information arrives, there is a satisfying payoff that both clarifies the story, and prompts the reader to revisit the story they just finished reading.

I like having to work as a reader, I like having to piece things together and build meaning, so long as that hard work is rewarded.

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