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Can Reading Comic Strips Make You a Better Writer?

5/17/2021

6 Comments

 
by Bryan Patrick Avery

For the past several months, I’ve been taking a series of classes from the Academy of the Magical Arts whose headquarters is the famed Magic Castle. For the past few weeks, we’ve been working on a trick that I am certain I will never perform publicly. Still, I’ve practiced it religiously. Why? Because, though the trick itself doesn’t appeal to me, there are some key concepts imbedded in it that will help me in the future. The same can be true in writing as well. If you’re a picture book author, it might be tempting to read nothing but picture books in hopes to honing your craft. While that certainly will help, there’s much to learn from other genres, and forms, of storytelling.

This month, I want to look at a form that is easily accessible to you and also has a lot to teach us about storytelling: the comic strip. In particular, we’ll look at one series in particular: Peanuts, from Charles M. Schulz.
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For those of us who have, at some point or another, labored over a manuscript and tried to figure out how to squeeze or story into 14 spreads or less, imagine if you had to tell a complete story in just 3 or 4 panels. That was Schulz’s task, nearly every day for 50 years. Given the staying power of Peanuts, I’d say he did it pretty well. Take a look at any Peanuts strip and you can see the Schulz storytelling power at work.
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Characters

Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and Lucy, and all the others are household names. The personalities of each character fly off the page and drive the action in every strip. Does anyone ever believe that Lucy won’t yank the football away at the last moment before Charlie Brown kicks it? Of course not. The characters, and their personalities, make each strip unique but also familiar. That’s what good characters can do for your story. 

Setting
Where are these kids. In decades of reading Peanuts, I never once wondered that. Schulz has done an amazing job of building a world that every reader could relate to in some way. That, no doubt, has much to do with how well received Peanuts is around the world.

Plot
Four panels is not a lot of space to tell a story. Still Schulz is able to not a tell a story, but make us laugh, or sigh or even cry. One of my favorites is a strip from the early 70s. In the first panel, Snoopy sits on top of his doghouse and Woodstock kicks a tiny typewriter. Snoopy says that every now and then, his secretary wants to quit. This is the setup or Act I. It identifies the problem and the characters involved.

In the second panel, we jump into Act II. Snoopy continues talking about Woodstock who sits with his arms folder looking really mad. How will Snoopy keep him from quitting?
On to the third panel. We get a close up and Snoopy here. He says he doesn’t think Woodstock will walk off.

Now, we reach the fourth and final panel, Act III. We see Woodstock and Snoopy on top of the doghouse. Woodstock looks defeated. Snoopy is smiling as he says “He can’t leave because I’m standing on his foot.”
(from Peanuts 6/12/1970)
​
Pick up any Peanuts strip and you’ll see the same structure. It’s a large part of why Schulz should be remembered for his storytelling ability as much as for his artwork.
If you haven’t checked out Peanuts in a while, I’d encourage you to check out THE COMPLETE PEANUTS series. Each book in the series covers 2 years of Peanuts strips starting with the debut strip from 1950. The early years are fascinating because they show how the characters and structure of the comic developed into what we’ve seen in more recent years.
​
Well, that’s all for this month. Happy reading and have a magical month!
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Bryan Patrick Avery writes poems and stories for children from toddlers through middle grade. His middle-grade story, “The Magic Day Mystery”, appears in SUPER PUZZLETASTIC MYSTERIES, an anthology from HarperCollins and the Mystery Writers of America. His picture book, THE FREEMAN FIELD PHOTOGRAPH, was published in April 2021 by Clearfork Publishing/Spork. His early reader series, MR. GRIZLEY’S CLASS, will be available in August 2021. Bryan lives in Northern California with his family.

6 Comments
Krista Harrington
5/18/2021 07:12:22 am

The Peanuts comic strips sparked my love of children's literature. I'd sneak down to my grandparents' basement and read old books that my grandfather had. They hold a special place in my heart:)

Reply
Mary McClellan
5/18/2021 09:32:35 am

Of course! Why didn't I think of comics before?! What a great thing to study!! Thanks for this idea. :)

Reply
Marty
5/18/2021 07:03:32 pm

Thanks for this suggestion. For brevity and humor and distinct personalities, you can't beat PEANUTS. Great mentors for PB's.

Reply
WalgreensListens link
5/31/2021 11:11:59 pm

The book has a lot of knowledge, but not everyone wants to spend time writing an essay, and for this, I recommend you a wonderful site reports that will help you write any written work.

Reply
Chance Cook link
8/9/2021 07:55:47 am

I love how comics really focus on making us laugh and cry. It amazes me how these small panels can do so much. Honestly, they can be more emotional then a book ever would be.

Reply
Pelucas link
12/7/2021 06:56:49 am

Excellent post. It is an article and a very good question. I believe that reading any type of book can help you to be a better writer. I don't think it's just being a better writer by reading a specific type of reading. thanks for sharing.

Reply



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  • Home
    • Terms of Service
  • WRITING
    • Craft & Business of Writing Childrens Picture Books
    • The Chapter Book Alchemist
  • ILLUSTRATION
    • Craft & Business of Illustrating Children's Books Instant Access
    • The Pleasures of Procreate
    • Fun with Photoshop for Kids Book Creatives
    • Never a Dull Moment Workshop
  • About Us
    • Why Us?
    • Meet the Faculty
    • Testimonials
    • Our Bookshop2
    • As Seen In
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
  • TECH
  • Blogfish
  • MN Course Access
  • Community
    • Our Bookshop
    • Resources
    • Course Scholarships >
      • Yuyi Morales Picture Book Scholarship
      • Andrea Davis Pinkney MG CB Mastery Scholarship
      • Rafael Lopez Illustrating Childrens Books Scholarships
      • Larissa Marantz Merit & Need Scholarship