Feb 24 2008
Index: How to Write a Superhero Story
This site provides writing advice. If you're writing a superhero novel or comic book, please also read our superhero writing articles.
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Creating a Superhero Character
- List of Superpowers
- How to Write Effective Origin Stories
- How to Give Your Superhero A Day Job
- Common Superhero Day Jobs, Part 1
- NEW: Common Superhero Day Jobs, Part 2
- How to Write a Plausible Origin Story
- Superhero Creation Questionnaire
- How to Create Weaknesses for Your Superhero
- How to Name Superheroes
- Modern Superhero Naming Conventions
- Questionnaire for Nonhuman Characters
- Random Name Generator for Alternate Identities
- Three Qualities of Solid Villains
- NEW: How to Do Superhero Gadgets Well
Five Common Mistakes of Comic Book Writers
Other Advice for Comic Book Writers
- Experiment With Your Panel Layouts
- NEW: Should You Write a Comic Book or a Superhero Novel?
- Free Comic Book Scripting Software
- Use the Ending of Each Issue to Sell the Next Issue
The Mechanics of Writing a Superhero Story
- How to Write Superhero Fight Scenes
- How to Pick Superpowers that Make Your Story Work
- Common Problems with Superstrong Heroes
- Common Problems with Psychic Superheroes
- Common Problems with Powersuited Superheroes (like Iron Man)
Marketing and Visual Issues
- Easy-to-Fix Visual Design Problems for Superhero Characters
- How to Make Your Story Less “Weird” and More Novel
- Superhero Visual References: Boots
- Superhero Visual References: Gloves
- Superhero Novel Proposals: How to Write the Comparable Works Section
I think this is useful.
Have I mentioned this is helping me write a novel?
Good luck, Mysticgust! Let us know if you’d like beta-reviewers– just leave a comment here or e-mail us at SuperheroNation[at]gmail[dot]com .
What do you think about the name Luxman? Is it apt for a superhero? Is it already in use?
I think that as far as a comic book audience is concerned, it’s not in use. (There’s a Japanese electronics company named Luxman, but I think that none of your readers will have heard of it and you probably won’t have any legal liability issues). For example, the novel Soon I Will Be Invincible features a character named Bluetooth whose ability is remotely controlling electronic devices and, as far as I know, they haven’t gotten sued yet.
I think you’re legally in the clear to use the name, but I am not sure how effective the name Luxman is. It doesn’t seem to me to be very emotionally powerful and the pronunciation seems ambiguous (LUCKS-man or LUKES-man?). What are some of the characteristics you want readers to associate with your character?
Good luck!
[...] How to Write a Superhero Story Superhero Nation is a wacky superhero comedy site. We also have writing advice, particularly for the authors of superhero stories. (tags: supers) [...]
This is helping a lot, but I’m still having trouble with defining my character’s powers and coming up with character names. Do you have any suggestions?
@Necro:
I find that it’s usually easiest to start with the character powers, fill in personal details like background and personality, and then come up with the super-name.
It’s hard to say what powers are best for your story. However, if you’re a first time novelist, it’ll probably be easier to start with generic powers and then add in one or two minor exotic powers. For example, Spiderman has several generic powers (enhanced agility, reflexes, and strength) and then two minor, exotic ones (webs and spidersense).
Likewise, when we wanted to make a character to parody Nick Fury and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, we gave the character a few basic powers that seemed logical for a mutant alligator: strength, claws and regeneration. Then we threw in two exotic touches, supersmell and infrared vision. Because we want this character to come off as an absurd and comical g-man, we named him Agent Orange.
Most main heroes fall into one of six archetypes: the tank (like the Hulk), the gymnast (Spiderman or Flash), the mage (Dr. Strange), the psychic (Invisible Woman), the gadgeteer (Batman) and the elementalist (Human Torch or Captain Atom). I think it’s easiest to write a tank or gymnast, but it really depends on which story you want to write. If you want a high-fantasy story, mages will probably work better. Gadgeteer stories usually feel a bit more believable, psychics lend themselves nicely to fantastical science fiction (or perhaps high fantasy), and I think elementalists are particularly well-suited for comic-books and novels aimed at younger readers.
As for names, again it really depends on what character and story you want to write. If you post a few details about the character, his powers and origin story, I’ll offer a few suggestions.
Yours,
Jacob
The character that I’m trying to name is basically a psychic that can only use his powers while he is fighting. He has five swords from a giant buster sword all the way down to a small blade, because I based him off an artist that draws a picture using his swords as he fights. So the swords are like paint-brushes to him. As he fights, the way he cuts things and destroys stuff will fit into his picture that most likely tells the future. But he blacks out when he fights. Either he or my main character, Necro, interprets the pictures.
He was a child prodigy in his village but went rogue to find out why he was drawing these pictures and their meaning. He joins up with this organization called Sector 13, which took him in and promised that they would teach him more about his power.
What do you think about Dwan as a character name?
Dwan’s fine, but the -dw- sound might be hard for readers to pronounce. However, I like the artistic angle of the character. So I have a few suggestions that try to combine hard-and-protagonistic sounds with soft-and-smooth ones. I got the impression that you’re writing a high-fantasy story not set on Earth, so I went for relatively exotic and unusual ones.
–Orphid
–Delance
–Shayman
–Illid
–Crane
These five, I think, are not conventional names but I don’t think they would trip up readers too badly. Good luck!
I think he is a pretty unique character. He’s one of my favorites.
What about Kiru or Riku?
Of the two, I like Riku better.
Thank you for all of this. I’ve been attempting to write a novel, and this site has been immensely helpful. I’m not really writing a ’super-hero’ novel, because the character isn’t really a superhero until the last quarter of the book.
The first third of the book is told from the point of view of his mother, Elizabeth, who had given him up for science after she discovered that she had become pregnant. The biological father, Tyler, tracked the child down, discovering that he had become part of a government operation known as Project Heracles whose goal is to create a ’supersoldier’. At this point, Russel (the main character), is only four years old and able to bend rods of steel with his bare hands and withstand gunfire. Eventually, Elizabeth rescues him from the project’s grasp, and takes the reins over it in the process.
The second part of the book describes Russel’s child and teenager hood, and how he befriends the highly intelligent but emotionally and morally unstable Mark Newman. Also, in keeping with at least some superhero cliches, Russel fights to control his secret and saves the occasional life. At the end of high school, Russel and Marks friendship comes to an abrupt end, and, due to a combination of different ‘injustices’ Mark decides that he hates Russel and threatens to kill him. Mark and Russel go their separate ways.
The final section of the book describes Russel’s becoming a ‘law enforcer’ for the city of New York, gaining technology based powers in the process. Slowly, random terrorist attacks become more and more frequent around the globe. Soon, it is revealed that all of them are the work of Mark, now a world class inventor, who is building on an idea for a ’society of the best’ that he had gotten in high school. It’s pretty obvious how the book turns out from this point, with Russel confronting Mark before his ‘final act of villainy’ occurs.
I was just wondering what anybody though of it. And, in case your wondering, all of the characters do have believable motives. The story is inspired partly by Smallville, and partly (though I hate to admit it) the story of Wolverine.
It’d be easier to evaluate this if you sent me a manuscript, but my initial concern is that publishers might sweat about the book if the first third is told from a different character’s perspective and is largely different from the 20-30%, which I imagine to be a fairly conventional superhero action story. There is a large group of readers interested in superhero novels, I think, but can you interest them in a book that seems at first glance to be about Elizabeth and Tyler rather than Russel and Mark? Can you make Mark’s plot logically flow from the first part of the book? It seems like the second and third parts of your book are coherent, but tying in the first part may be difficult.
“The biological father, Tyler, tracked the child down, discovering that he had become part of a government operation known as Project Heracles whose goal is to create a ’supersoldier’.” It seems like Tyler is a more interesting character than Elizabeth here. He is curious and attached to his child, which are both endearing and plot-driving traits. In contrast, Elizabeth gave up the child (to science!) and doesn’t seem to care as much where the child went, which seems a bit cold and apathetic (neither of which I would recommend for a protagonist). Also, on a marketing level, I’d speculate that the majority of readers of superhero-themed novels are males. It may be easier to sell them on a male character rather than a female?
Do you think it would be better to split it into two books?
That’s an interesting question. Again, I think it would help me to see a manuscript (which you can e-mail to superheronation-at-gmail-dot-com if you’d like us to beta review it). However, without having actually seen that… my instinct tells me that splitting it would be useful.
All right, I’ll consider sending the manuscript to you. Keep in mind though, I’ve barely started, so it may or may not take a while. I think it should go pretty quickly since I have a lot of scenes already outlined. Thank you for your input.
I’m trying to design a female character, but I don’t want her to be a damsel in distress. Can anyone help me?
Hmm. The single best female side-character I can think of in a superhero story is Lois Lane in the TV series “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.” Although Lois repeatedly gets into situations where Superman has to save her, she is wholly superior to the average damsel-in-distress.
1) She’s clever and witty. She frequently knows more about what’s going on than Clark/Superman.
2) The story mostly avoids political incorrectness (women need to be saved!) by occasionally endangering Clark’s male co-workers (Jimmy Olsen and Perry White, usually).
3) I found it extremely endearing that she came from a broken family, which was a useful foil to Superman’s storybook-perfect roots in Kansas. Although broken families can make a character feel emo, I thought that the show did an excellent job of using the detail to make her feel realistic and resilient.
4) She’s not perfect, but she is likeable.
5) She spars with Clark pretty frequently, and sometimes she gets the better of him.
I have a few more thoughts here. Also, if you have the time, I’d highly recommend watching seasons 1 & 2 of the show.
Does anyone know how the copyright law applies when writing a novel that uses an existing world and characters, like a new Ironman or Superman story? I know that people are writing all kinds of new Star Wars stories but I am not sure how to stay on the right side of the copyright laws.
It would be a bit ironic if a superhero out there fighting evil got sued for copyright infringement!
First, I’m not a lawyer, so please take this accordingly. As long as you are not profiting from your work, you are probably in the clear as long as you acknowledge that (obviously) you do not own the rights to the Star Wars franchise.
If you want to profit from your work, I imagine your only option would be to sell it to the publishers licensed to legally produce Star Wars books, because no one else can legally publish it. I think that’s Del Rey. That said, selling what I imagine to be fan-fiction is probably extremely difficult. The publisher for an established franchise like Star Wars can probably pay for pretty much any science-fiction author it wants. Making that sell would be like scoring a bullseye on a womp-rat with a T-16. Gah! I can’t believe I just wrote that.
Hahaha, nice shot!
Thanks for the reply. I was just using Star Wars as an example. I was actually thinking about a very old tv series and modernizing it. Take Dragnet for example. That was an old tv show that they did a movie about many years ago. Kind of like what they are doing with Charlies Angels, Starsky and Hutch etc.
Hmm, that’s an interesting question. Again, I’m not a lawyer, but I think that you should probably talk to the people/company that owns the rights to the TV series, then. Then you’d have to convince them that it could be rewritten to play for 2008 readers. My initial impression is that it would be a tough sell, particularly if you’re not an established author with a track-record of strong sales.
You would probably find it dramatically easier to write a similar story by changing the setting and characters as needed. For example, Seaquest DSV was absolutely excellent (and legal!), even though it was pretty much Star Trek underwater.
Thanks B. Mac. I know that the original author is dead. I have to find out who owns the rights to the story and characters.
Ah. You may find this link to John August useful.
Good stuff, B. Mac. Thanks.
I’m writing a story about a superhero group right now. The group was put together by a government organization. I want the organization to have an acronym for its name. Any ideas?
Also what’s a good number for a superhero team, besides 5 members because that’s so cliche? And what should be the female/male ratio?
I’d recommend 3-4 members. Five is very common, especially on anime cartoon shows, but in a novel you’d probably be hard-pressed to develop five characters, particularly if you plan to do anything with their origin stories. On television shows, viewers are more tolerant of characters that are grossly simplistic carciatures. (For example, each of the ninja turtles only has a single trait). But novel-readers expect more character development.
As for acronyms, I looked through the dictionary for some interesting sounding nouns, with an emphasis on words with a defensive connotation (like SHIELD). Some of the ones I liked were Epoch, Ward, Aegis, Guard, Slake, Acre, Rush, Sabre, Omaha, and Manhunt. What tone are you trying to develop for the group?
Alternately, if you’re not a fan of defensive words, another conventional theme for a government-themed supergroup would probably be a patriotic-themed word (like FLAG). You could try Star or Eagle, I guess. [I assume this is a US agency, but it wouldn't be hard to adjust that for another country].
The gender ratio kind of depends on your target audience. If your story is likely to appeal overwhelmingly to females (a la Sailor Moon), then you’d probably want (assuming you went with a 4 member group) 3-1 or 4-0 females:males. Conversely, your story might appeal overwhelmingly to males, particularly if it’s heavy on fighting and doesn’t feature very much interaction between characters. In that case, I’d recommend 3-1 or 4-0 males:females.
Besides marketability, I think the main consideration is what you feel comfortable with. You can make a good story with all males, all females or anywhere in between. However, if you use a team that’s either entirely male or entirely female, it may be helpful to have a character try to offer some in-story explanation for that. That would probably help readers of the other sex feel like the story hadn’t forgotten that they exist.
Thanks so much! You were definitely a big help. The only thing is I created a number of different heroes and its really hard for me to pick and choose. So I was thinking of creating a Justice League type of team with about 7-10 members. (Some members would join throughout the book, not all at once.)
In the end, through a series of novels, I want to create an entire universe. I plan on starting with the core super group, then doing some single character stories, and finishing with a novel that includes all the characters together. Any ideas on big enough events that would require a large amount of superheroes to overcome?
Good luck with your group. I think that 7-10 heroes might be hard because your readers aren’t as familiar with your characters as Justice League’s viewers are with most of the big 7. I think a really large team is quite ambitious for a novelist building a world and mythos from the ground up.
Introducing the characters gradually over the course of the novel is very shrewd. For example, over the course of the first Harry Potter novel, the author introduced us to Harry Potter, Hagrid (about 80 pages later), Hermione and Ron (about 30 pages later) and then finally minor heroes like Dumbledore and Neville. You don’t have to spend 80 pages developing your main character, obviously, but 1-2 chapters will help solidify the character in your readers’ minds before you introduce the next.
I like that idea. I was planning on introducing the characters somewhat like Heroes did. Random stories that end up flowing into each other.
And the agency is a branch of the government that is supposed to produce and back a superhero team. Train them, finance them, a provide them with transportation, science, medical help, etc.
Could you help me with an acronym for the word ALPHA? I’ve made several attempts but they all sound campy.
Hmm. I think I could offer some suggestions for ALPHA (nice word, by the way), but I’d like to ask a question first. What does your agency do? For example, SHIELD handles mostly national security, but Hellboy’s bureau handles paranormal incidents.
Ah. And what sort of villains are you looking at? (For example, mostly terrorists, straight-up supervillains, paranormal monsters, aliens, etc).
The main villains are a terrorist organization with ties to some of the heroes. But I’m also going to throw in other supervillains, monsters, etc. I’ve decided to do a series of books about the team. Because I have a lot of content and it won’t fit in one novel without being confusing.
OK. In that case, I’d recommend something that sounds like generic national security. Whether it’s a supervillain or Godzilla attacking, it’s a threat to national security. (Also, would you want to bet the country on whether the National Guard can take down a supervillain? Questionable).
But I’m really blanking. The best I can come up with are the Association of Paranormal-Hunters and Analysts and the Agency for the Prevention of High-Powered Aberration.
The Audit of Paranormal [Homeland] Adversaries.
Agency for the Location and Prevention of Hazardous Anomalies.
Thank you so much, guys! I really like Cadet Davis’ idea. Thank you for all the help.
XoXo Phyre
Haha, B. Mac. I win again!
Hello,
Just found your site and I see that it has some very useful information. Thank you.
As a longtime fan of comic books, and supers in general, I find the most intriguing aspects of such characters to be the ethical choices regarding the use of their powers. The recent Civil War story line, and especially the Penance: Relentless mini series are fascinating for their look into the mindsets of the super-powered, and the possible responses to the results of their super-actions.
Do you plan on writing any articles on the ethics of superpowers, and how these might be used as plot devices and tools for character development?
Whoa, you sound smart, Stannum. I’m Ragged Boy, the devoted demoniac of Superhero Nation. Nice to meet you.
I don’t think we’ve addressed that in an article yet, but a few of our guests and I had an interesting conversation about superhero ethics here.
I can probably write an article. Until then, I’d recommend trying to keep the following guidelines in mind.
1: Violence, coercion and intensely threatening behavior will likely make the character seem menacing and nasty. (This should be obvious, but many authors are kind of surprised when I find their hero unlikable). I’d recommend having the character at least TRY a nonviolent solution, or that his violence is proportionate to the threat he faces, or whatever. Also, a hero that takes special effort to knock out his opponents rather than kill them will seem more likable (just don’t spend too much time on this detail. Readers will feel like you’re preaching at them that “killing is bad!” Uhh, yeah. We already knew that).
2: Some jobs do not lend themselves well to people with superpowers. For example, sports are not fair for superpowered people. At one point Superman was a Heisman Trophy winner in college football. What the hell!?! It’s no more fair for him to compete in a sports event than it is for me to participate in a writing contest for first graders. Another career that’s questionable is journalism, particularly if the character directly cashes in on his alter ego (like Spiderman). It’s a huge conflict of interest for a superhero to take a job as a journalist when he’s secretly the biggest story in town. If you end up making him a journalist anyway, I’d recommend putting him in one moral dilemma after another (”how do I report this in a way that’s accurate but does not make Superman look bad? How can Clark Kent get himself taken off the Superman story without making anyone wonder?” )
3: Too many superhero stories (Batman, particularly) get bogged down in moral arguments about who created whom. “Well, Batman created the Joker/the Riddler/whoever, so he’s a monster too!” Erm. Morally speaking, that’s not a very serious argument, unless the creation of supervillains is an obvious consequence of his decision to be a superhero.
4: Is your hero see himself as a messiah? If so, he might strike objective observers as a megalomaniac. Case in point: Batman in Dark Knight: “Don’t swear to God. Swear to me!” Or Jack Bauer deciding that it’s up to him to decide when and how far to torture criminals to save teh day. And most modern superheroes have a rocky relationship with the police. One could argue that the superheroes want/need to make the police look bad because, if the police were successful, then the superheroes would not be as popular. Is your hero acting in good-faith as a supplement to regular police efforts, or is he so convinced that the police are useless that it seems like he’s trying to replace the police?
5: Has your hero done any of the following? 1) Spent an afternoon filling out a deposition or police report. 2) Testified in court. 3) Provided useful evidence to the police, even though that might blow his own investigation. If he hasn’t done any of those, the police should be upset that the hero isn’t doing anything to help them win cases. He’s just a gloryhound with better public relations.
The typical superhero “citizen’s arrest,” where Spiderman ties a random thug to a streetlamp with spider-web, is a slamdunk non-conviction that will surely leave the criminal back on the streets in under two days. Spiderman hasn’t given the cops enough evidence to actually convict the guy! If Batman gets a confession out of a criminal by beating the hell out of him, not only is that evidence unusable in court but if he passes it on to the police, then he’s making them into a beneficiary of the crime. (Considering how closely he works with Harvey Dent and Gordon, he is exposing the government of Gotham City to a MAJOR civil rights lawsuit). Maybe that’s OK, the lesser of two evils. But there should be consequences if everyone breaks the rules to get the job done.
In answer to this, Batman Begins avoided the “superhero citizen’s arrest” issue by having Batman give the DA useful evidence to prosecute Falconey. And there were no legal strings attached.
Also, the “who created whom?” thing I believe is most glaringly apparent in Tim Burton’s “Batman” (1989?)
Joker: “You made me remember? You dropped me into that vat of chemicals. That wasn’t easy to get over, and don’t think that I didn’t try.”
Batman: “I know you did. I made you, but you made me first.”
Joker: “Ha. I say you made me, now you gotta say I made you! How childish can you get?”
Come to think of it, he had a point there…
Man this site is helpful. Thanks bro!
Deion
That’s a long whole name made up of first names.
These are exactly the type of questions I enjoy exploring.
Would the testimony of a masked avenger be acceptable in court? This is the core of the registration act movement in Civil War.
What exactly are the civic and ethical responsibilities of the police/government in regards to superheroes? It would seem to me to automatically set up an antagonistic environment. Police hate vigilantes more than they hate criminals. Successful vigilantes erode the civil power structure by encouraging others to follow suit. A super powered vigilante would be subject to extreme prejudice by authorities in my opinion.
On the other side of that, what is the responsibility of the super if they exist in a repressed society (or worse, simply disagree vehemently with the current power structure)? Is it their moral obligation to become a criminal and/or vigilanty? This question isn’t exclusive to supers. However, it does become more potent because the super is more likely to have an impact than the average person.
What about the example of the super hero commiting a crime, even up to murder, under the influence of a super villian or other plot device? In current society, while the sentence might be ameliorated, someone who commits a crime “under the influence” is still subject to prosecution and incarceration. We just don’t see that overall in comic books. To me, it’s a great tool for conflict development.
What are the legal liabilities of a superhero? Let’s say he saves someone’s life, but destroys 10 cars in the process. Again, in today’s society, he is likely facing civil suits, class action lawsuits, and possible criminal prosecution. There would likely need to be a whole new set of laws created just to handle superpowers and their use and misuse.
In regards to ethics, why shouldn’t a super-powered being profit from their abilities? We, as a society, seem to have no problem with star athletes and celebrities making millions through their extra-ordinary abilities. Should we begrudge the same to those with “other” super-powers? If I, Earth-Thing, can construct a brand new concrete dam within 30 minutes, am I obligated to perform this task for free? If so, why? What if I don’t? What if I won’t unless I get paid the equivalant value for such a construction project? Do I have legal recourse if I perform such a service under contract and don’t get paid?
How would a masked super even open up a bank account to handle his transactions? Or found a company?
The real question is: How much of this subject matter would actually make for interesting writing? I personally find it fascinating.
Hi Ragged Boy
The Constitution is quite explicit about being able to face your accusers in open court. However, in a few cases (usually related to racketeering and the mob), civilian courts* have allowed witnesses to testify when it was plausible that the witness’s life would be endangered by testifying publically and that their testimony would not necessarily give away their identity.
So I think the typical superhero would be able to argue that his safety requires him to testify secretly. However, the typical supervillain could probably argue the point because the typical superhero’s secret identity is usually relevant to his public identity. For example, Superman is largely unable to admit to being Clark Kent because that would reveal that his journalistic career has been based on dishonesty from day 1. (Reporting on yourself– secretly!– is about as bad as it could possibly get for a journalist). So the villain, if he had some reason to surmise that Superman was CK, could say that Superman actually wanted to testify secretly to protect himself from investigations into his professional ethics.
*(Military tribunals are more open to anonymous testimony for a variety of reasons, but that’s probably not too relevant to the average superhero story).
As for the vigilante question. This has already been used pretty heavily, I think. Many, if not most, modern superhero stories use the police as an obstacle or a minor antagonist. A few more ideologically charged comics use the government as a villain. I’m not a fan of governmental villains because they usually feel too political, but you could mix this up by changing the government from a conservative villain (hating on minorities! registration act! national security overreaction!) into a more liberal villain (social control! nanny state! recycle or else! anyone that disagrees with me hates mutants/minorities!)
Would any of this make for interesting writing? I agree that’s the real question. If you market your book as “ethics and political philosophy… with superheroes!” I suspect that it will fail. The people that want to read about ethics and political philosophy aren’t in the market for superhero stories. I think that a superhero story with ethical undertones will go farther. You could market that as a fresh and intelligent twist on superhero stories. I think that could work. (With the caveat that most superhero readers aren’t looking for an ethical treatise).
Dilemma. I just hit a big action scene and I finished it. Then I went on to the next chapter, where the main character is recovering from the fight. But now what? Do I immediately go into a buildup for another climax? I know there are supposed to be non-action points in the book but they’re tiresome to write. You know I mean, I’m down with writing them but they’re long.
Great site and content! I’m really impressed! I’m a big superhero fan and have always toyed with the idea of writing some stories.
Also, I pimped your site on my blog today. Hopefully it will generate a few hits for you.
http://onceuponageek.com/2009/01/07/writing-for-superheroes/
Keep up the great work!
The Irredeemable Shag
http://onceuponageek.com
Hmm, Dallas. A action story that rolls from one Punisher-esque action sequence to another will probably get pretty tedious. I’d recommend spending a chapter or two describing what happens in the immediate aftermath of the fight. If the character has been wounded, he’d have to figure out a way to get himself fixed up without going to a hospital (because doctors will report gunshot wounds to the police). It might also help to develop the character by showing his progression from a rookie into someone who’s a fairly competent killer. If the story is in third-person narration, you could also focus a chapter on a few of the villains. How do they react to someone new waltzing in and blowing up their stuff? Where do they begin looking for him?
Over the course of the book, it will probably be most dramatic if the gangs start an inept, bumbling hunt for him and only gradually begin to put it together. For example, they might think at the beginning that he’s working for a rival gang. They might think he’s a cop. Or actually a group of people. One way to ratchet up the tension is that they narrowly get closer and closer to discovering who he really is. (”He couldn’t have been older than 20.” “He’s hit three of our clubs on 110th street. He probably lives nearby.” “We know who his mentor is.”) As the gangs get closer and closer to discovering the truth, it will become more urgent and dangerous for your hero to finish his mission before the gangs can kill him.
I’m writing a novel myself, as well as a comic. How long are novels usually and how do you do chapters?
Also, I’ve sent an updated story for review.
Novels can be any sort of length – it depends on the audience you’re writing for and how much of a plot you have. Books for younger audiences can be 50,000 words and under, but I think older readers expect a longer work than that. I’m not sure what sort of page-count you’re looking at there, though.
I’d recommend that you keep chapters fairly short, however. I think my average is about 1,500 words. I’d definitely suggest that you don’t go over two thousand.
Yeah, for an adult novel I’ve heard many different guidelines but around 60,000-80,000 sounds pretty conventional. However, the manuscript itself will probably be slightly longer to compensate for what the publisher will edit out.
I’m not quite sure what you mean by the question “how do you do chapters?”. Could you clarify that a bit? What sort of information are you looking for?
Yeah, I had that kinda planned.
Like he stumbled his way home and what do you know, the elevator is out.
So he remembered the night in great detail as he made his way up. And like on the third floor, he passed out as his roommate helped him up the stairs.
Then I have Hammond (the hitman) sitting in his employer’s living room. His employer is all like “WTF GTFO” but Hammond turns on the tv and the employer watches it. It’s a news report on the fire that Vir caused. They mention that there was a man with a gas mask kicking ass, but there wasn’t much detail.
Right now, I’m writing that Vir wakes up and he discusses what happened with his roommate and what his next move is. (He will go out and take down a dealer. In return for mercy, the dealer tells Vir that the boss is going to meet his brother in Surry. Vir will follow them, hide in the darkness, follow them some more and then blow up their weapons stash).
OK, Dallas. I think that sounds good.
My chapters are usually about 1,000 – 1,200 words long, but a few are about 800.
These are usually where I have to cut to what Isaac’s girlfriend is doing, like stealing his diary or walking back into her house after a date to plot her next move.
Out of 65 chapters, 13 are told in third person where Amy-Belle is the central character, but I may lengthen those or add more where I can. After all, Isaac getting blackmailed is one of the main plots in the book.
Just writing to say this is a great blog and I’m glad I stumbled upon it. I’m not much of writer and my art skills could use work (I’m still a student), but I’m a comic book fan.
I’ve had ideas floating around for awhile and this site helps in getting them down on paper in case I do something in the future. I’m nowhere near done but this site really does help.
Good luck. Let me know if you have any questions.
Small dilemma, guys.
My main character has to go on a vigilante spree fighting drug dealers for a bit before he does anything else significant. He already made his first and second appearances when he blows up the other bad guy’s home. So now he’s noticed by the really bad guys, and the other gang is noticing that he’s there, too.
I’m kinda at an impasse. I need to expand on him more. Using the rpg scale, I guess he’s a neutral good character.
Do I go into specific, like a play by play of maybe 2-3 chapters about each time he goes beating people up and expanding on his character each time? Or should I do a quick summary (maybe 2 pages)?
I like the first one better, since it has more detail. Like how he experiments with a cape, tries fighting with a knife, tries a different outfit, etc.
Eventually I want to get to the point where he has to make a choice between finding out information about the crime bosses’ operations and stuff, and saving a girl who is being violated. He has to make a choice between either letting her get raped or let a guy that he’s been hunting for months to get away.
Of course he chooses to save the girl, but still.
I need buildup.
I guess I’d recommend drawing out each scene. I think your novel (it’s a novel, right?) will be competing mainly against comic books like The Punisher. The main advantage of your novel is that you have the ability to draw out scenes more. Also, I think that getting up to 60,000 words (about as short as a novel for older readers can go) is going to be hard for this work, so fleshing out scenes is a good place to start.
I’m writing a story about a character transformed into a supercomputer with nanotechnology and genetic enhancement.
Physically, he has increased speed, strength, durability, agility, healing and senses. Mentally, he has supercomputer intelligence and psychometry.
He was created to be a superweapon. He originally grows up paralyzed in a wealthy circle. His father is a world renowned scientist / inventor. His parents split up. The mother runs out and abandons her son and husband. And an very wealthy manipulating uncle acts as a mentor surrogate father. His uncle’s worth billions due to a lucky pick of lottery numbers when my hero was 10 for 250 million dollars (after taxes) which then turn to a lucky street of stock investments, and a well known habit of being a gambling addict. All the while, he has maintained a high-stakes political and military career in defense and technological innovations. The uncle is the Secretary of Defense. He gave his brother a laboratory of unlimited financial resources to conduct research, and invent anything he wants for the world, in return dedicate a covert private testing operation for a “cliche” super soldier program using biomechanics, gene therapy, and nano technologies.
The uncle is my starting villain. His luck turned him into a greedy, calculating, power hungry, mad man secretly plotting world domination.
My hero the uncle’s nephew. Since 15, he’s been paralyzed from the waist down after a car accident in his uncle’s limo when some asshole was driving drunk. With all the government funding, his father made many breakthroughs. The father is held by guilt… he feels he owes his brother an unpayable debt for being there when his wife left. So the uncle manipulates the father into embarking on a mission to create human “perfection.”
I’m looking for advice on a name for my hero.
Does the origin seem plausible?
Should I make it a secret government recruiting project, where they take soldiers to undergo testing… eventually funding is pulled when early testing fails, due to a rare miscalculation by the father. The father is pressured by the uncle to continue on schedule, and speed up development. The uncle gets investigated by the President’s officials for funding such a farfetched idea.
When funding is pulled the uncle spends his own money to continue anyway, and in a even secreter location set up as a fail safe. His test subjects are on prisoners and inner-city runaways, because military subjects aren’t available.
The father then stumbles upon an epiphany, and grants superhuman abilities to those he experiments on.
The uncle idealized his nephew being the ultimate failsafe weapon. Implanted with nano technology, and a super computer chip fused with his cerebral cortex, the part of the brain responsible for feeling and thought… with his army of super humans the uncle wants to become president.
When the father learns of his brother’s plans, he confronts him and threatens to stop the project and expose the uncle. The lab needed an abnormal amount of electrical power to start the process for the son. When the lab comes to life the continent of North America blacks out for a few seconds before the son can show signs of movement. Meanwhile, during the blackout, some of the other test subjects break loose and fight their way to freedom. While that’s happening, the uncle kills his brother to silence him for good and awaits the results of his nephew. The uncle doesn’t know that the son was able to bounce a signal off a satellite back to the lab’s security cameras and watch the murder. He breaks loose, the uncle escapes and the son tends to his dying father…
What do you think so far?
I need help with names.
Hmm. Long post. Can you give me some time to think about this? Also, what are a few superhero names you’ve liked in the past? (That’ll help me figure out what your style is like).
Well, I was inspired by the Chronicles of Riddick, Star Wars, Superman, and The Matrix. I’m also a big fan of DC, Marvel and Dragonball Z.
This story is set in the future. It bridges with another hero that’s an alien.
What would you think about something kind of hard like Gridley, Ridley, Rail, Railer, or Troy?
is it possible for an article or two be written about superhero vehicles and how to design one?
^^ I second that ^^
Hmm. That is a good question, Dean. I will think more about it. In the meantime, here are a few suggestions.
1. Don’t give it a goofy name. For example, both Spiderman and Fantastic Four drew so much ridicule for their Spider-Car and Fantasticar that even they ended up making fun of the names. (In Ultimate FF, Reed Richards says “I was eight!” whenever Johnny brings it up). You don’t even have to give the vehicle a name. For example, the latest Batman movie never names the Batmobile. Batman just refers to it as “the car.”
2. When it comes to appearance, I’d recommend trying to keep it as utilitarian-looking as possible. That will make it feel more serious. (Unless you’re going for a goofy look, in which case I recommend something like a bright sports car with massive jet-engines in the back and missiles on the sides). Other than that, I’d try to make sure that the appearance fits the mood. Don’t use bright colors and sporty curves unless your story can handle it.
3. If you’re planning on doing fight scenes with the vehicle– and really, why else would you have one?– I’d recommend giving each passenger something useful to do. For example, someone manages the rear missiles, someone manages the guns in front, someone’s assigned to deflect incoming projectiles, etc. (This last job would probably be best for someone with forcefields, wind-control, telekinesis, or a power that can tear up debris to make a wall).
4. Fight scenes in cars are usually most interesting in close spaces. That will make the fight more challenging, which will force your driver to try interesting stunts to get around obstacles. Cities are quite good for this.
5. Lastly, I’d like to talk about two common features of superhero vehicles. One is the ability to split into separate parts for each teammate (a la Teen Titans). Unless you’re doing a TV show or movie, I don’t recommend it; I think it would be hard for a comic book writer or (especially) a novelist to choreograph a fight scene with 3-5 separate heroes whizzing around in their vehicles. Second is the ability to change terrains (from air to ground to underwater, etc). That could be really useful if you have an aquatic or aerial battle in mind. That said, I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed an aquatic battle. I guess I still have nightmares from that TMNT bomb level where you have to swim through the lake and get butchered by electric seaweed.
Hey, I’ve been working on my story, and I’ve been thinking about writing from two 1st person perspectives (the anti-hero and the hero). But I’ve realised that, if I do that, the hero might come off as stupid if he blunders into a trap. How can I show him falling into a trap that the reader knows about without making him look stupid?
Thanks, B. Mac.
I have another article suggestion; this time it’s with superhero gadgets. Endless possibilities, the Do’s and Don’ts (if any).
Some superheroes, like Batman, rely on tools like grappling guns, body armor and hearing devices rather than unknown origins.
–Dean
Hello, Yogi. “But I’ve realised that… [my] hero might come off as stupid if he blunders into a trap.” If he blunders ineptly into the trap, I think he’s going to come off stupid whether or not his perspective is the only one we have.
I would really recommend showing that he triggers the trap not because he is incompetent, but because his villain is (in this situation) more competent. For example, his antagonist sets up an urgent crisis that forces the hero to move faster (and less carefully) than he normally does. Or the antagonist disables some tool that the hero usually relies on, so the hero isn’t playing with a full hand. Or the antagonist otherwise changes the rules of the game so that the hero isn’t operating in his element. The hero probably tries to adjust to the new conditions in an intelligent way, but the villain was just too well-prepared.
What kind of trap are you thinking about? Where is it sprung and what brings the hero there?
Also. You describe the two characters here as a hero and an antihero. Is the antihero the main antagonist of the piece? If so, I think it might be clearer to call him a villain even though he’s probably not purely evil.
Hello, Dean. I like your suggestion about superhero gadgets. Unfortunately, it’s 5 AM here and I have a meeting in 3 hours. I’ll try to get on that later today. (If I haven’t posted something within a day, please remind me).
one thing i would say about gadgts choose a few gadgets and keep them as is dont have unnessery gadgts that make only one conveinet appernce i think someone said batmans bad for doing this
another thing is dont name them after your chrater aka Batbome batarang bat shark repelents as such
what you could do is have your chrater have a heap of cool gadgets but only able to carry a cereint amount what he thinks he will need for his missions and id say not all gadgets have to be high tec or state of the art
thats my thoughts anyways
Hey, B. Mac. I’m just reminding you about the superhero gadgets thing like you said to do. I also have not so much of an article suggestion but an idea that’s kind of out there. I’ll explain that in a minute.
David, thanks for your thoughts. I will keep them in mind.
Now, I used to be good at writing stories and creating all kinds of things. But I’ve lost it. I’m trying to write a story, but the words aren’t coming out and I think it needs visual help for the story to make sense.
I’ve been thinking about whether a novel or a comic book was the way to go and I have also considered a serial type of story, which would not give so much pressure on my shoulders. So, anyway…
Some special features of DVDs have a storyboard feature that goes through the storyboard of a scene with the sound effects added, etc. I actually thought of a comic book style way but with music and effects, like a TV show. (I listen to a lot of music and I think that fits my story).
I don’t really want to (or have the ability to) make a TV show or a movie– and I’m sure it sounds like that’s where I’m headed– but I see it as a new way of reading a story.
It is a bit out there and I’m not quite sure where I’m headed with this. But i feel like if I just leave it to writing to show my story then I think it won’t show the story so much as tell it, if you know what I mean.
Your answer on superhero vehicles was informative and I’d like to know your opinion on this. It does overshadow it a bit, the gadget thing, but I needed to bounce the idea off someone.
I’m sorry if it doesn’t make sense, you (and anyone else) may have to read through it a few times to make some sense out of it and I know you’re busy. I’d appreciate whatever help you could provide.
Thanks.
Hello, Dean. It sounds kind of like you have a motion-comic in mind. Those are similar to comic books, but they have voices and music added. They also include minor visual effects (like pans and zooms).
I’ve never written or pitched a motion-comic, but it seems to me that preparing one for submission would be a bit more expensive than a comic book. If you’re interested in doing a regular comic book, a publisher only needs to see five sample pages of art and possibly a cover before they decide whether to publish you. That would probably cost you $400-600 from a freelance artist. I’m not sure how you would go about pitching a motion comic specifically, but I imagine it could only be more expensive. (In addition to the regular 5 pages, you’d probably include at least one character voice and possibly an opening soundtrack).
Is that the kind of thing you’re thinking of?
Here are a few suggestions about gadgets.
Stick with versatile, general tools. A hero is only impressive when he uses a gadget in an interesting and unexpected way. No one will say “wow, he had shark repellent!” But they will be impressed if your hero comes up with a clever way to apply a general tool.
Good tools often draw on the scenery. For example, a rope-like device lets the hero work with the setting in a way he couldn’t before. A cutting tool will let the hero implement new tools out of the scenery. (A shirt + a knife = bandages or an extension cord + knife = crude electrocuting weapon).
I recommend sticking with gadgets that are easy to understand. They don’t have to be supersexy or impressively technological.
thats what i said…more or less lol
Not sure where to ask this question, so here it goes.
I was wondering what you people think about a protagonist who kills someone.
Is it possible for the hero of the story to have killed someone, by accident; or do you think that murder is a line that should never be crossed by a hero.
I’m of the belief that killing someone is a definite no-no, but thought I’d ask.
The reason is that I had a character accidentally kill a security guard when his powers first manifested.
I am thinking that perhaps it would be better for the hero to only seriously wound the security guard rather than kill him. This thought led me to this question (obviously).
So what do you think? Can a hero in a superhero novel ever kill someone and still be sympathetic? Things are different for sci-fi and fantasy novels, I’m sure, but superhero novels are supposed to be a little closer to our society.
If it’s presented as an accident and your character is suitably remorseful and regretful it should be very easy to maintain sympathy for him. It could even earn him more as it highlights how dangerous his new powers could be to those he loves. You could also use it to fuel his actions later in the story. For example, he doesn’t want more innocent people to die because of people with powers or he is much less likely to take risks in case he kills again.
What you definately don’t want to do is have him kill recklessly or show pleasure or complancy when he does kill him. Psycopathic killers are rarey sympathetic although I don’t get the feeling this is the route you’re going down so there shouldn’t be any problems.
You can sell readers on a murder. For example, if the police cannot prove that the supervillain is about to blow up a city, and the hero’s evidence is inadmissible in court, then I think that murdering the supervillain might seem reasonable. The hero would probably retain his likability if it was clear that he was reluctant to do so and that he had exhausted all other options. In contrast, characters like the Punisher usually come off as psychopaths.
…
Accidentally killing someone is fine, but it raises wangst issues. The problem isn’t so much the act of killing (which he had no control over), but what this means for the character down the line. If he’s going to feel guilty/remorseful/sad/worried about the accident, that will probably put off readers. Your readers will probably feel that he is not responsible; he will probably feel that he is. This disconnect usually annoys readers. “Goddamn it, stop crying about something that was totally beyond your control!”
If you’d like to give him something to feel guilty/reflective/sad about, I’d recommend making it something that says more about his choices. Killing someone intentionally says much more about a character than an accidental killing.
…
I think it would help to have him seriously wound the guard instead of killing him.
Wangst is a definite danger, I agree.
The story is about a group of teens who are the grandchildren of supervillains from the 1960s. The idea is to see what happens when young impressionable ’supers’ are guided towards a career in villainy instead of heroics (like the X-Men etc).
The main character becomes a hero while some of the others do embrace the villain side of things. I think that if I did have him kill someone, even accidentally it would end up being wangsty (and wanky). I think I will stick with an injury. Thanks BMac and Mr Brit. And I am planning on him being reluctant to use his powers and rely more on outwitting the bad guys with his brains.
I’ll keep you informed. Thanks for the feedback – very quick.
Hmm… For an excellent example of how to make a character sympathetic I’d recommend “I’m not a serial killer” by Dan Wells. The main character is a socipath, but is really likable as he makes an active effort not to hurt people, and even goes out of his way to make several rules to reduce the likelyhood of him becoming a serial killer.
Okay, I’ve taken your recommendation and bought a copy of Wells’ book today. Should make for some interesting reading – I like the angle that he has to embrace his ’serial killer side’ to fight a horde of demon invaders.
Thanks Sandman!