Simple and Direct
Inspired by Jason Novak’s wonderful comics.
What you need:
Pencil or pen
Paper
Post-It Notes
A good, true story
Instructions:
Write down a story you like to tell. It can be anything, but one you have told before and know well.
Now, rewrite it with as little text as possible, the bare minimum you can get away with while maintaining clarity and what you like about the story.
Remember that this a comic, and that the pictures can tell the story too. Let the pictures do story work so you can simplify things even further.
Then make your comic. Keep your images loose and fast, but use materials you are comfortable with. Try to draw the bare minimum, just what you need to tell your story clearly. Use a spot blacks (ie, fill in around your images) to make your shonky drawings seem like bold graphic choices!
Example:
Thoughts:
Do you know Hemingway’s “Iceberg Theory”? It’s the idea that when we read fiction, we only see a small piece of a much larger world, the way only 10% of an iceberg is visible above the water. That unseen depth is what gives a story weight, that wonderful feeling that a few words (and pictures) on a page represents something much larger than itself.
How about the Rule of Efficiency in storytelling? It’s the idea that everything in a story is there for a reason, that everything has purpose. When we tell a story, we enter into a contract with the audience that we won’t waste their time, that if we are showing or telling them something that it will pay off. When we stick to what the audience needs to know, we honour that contract.
That’s what I hope this exercise helps with, understanding what should be left out, left below the surface, and how to tell a story efficiently.
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