Welcome to #EditorialWeds with a surprise guest host of #Melinda #TheCopyEditor - this week we are going to go over the copyediting process for graphic novels!
One thing to keep in mind is that so much of the copyediting process for graphic novels varies from project to project, depending on the status of all the pieces. Based on what is available and when, a copyeditor might be looking at different stages of the comic process.
Note: It's always good to have a copyeditor see things sooner rather than later, just in case!
Sometimes, only a manuscript (the script) is available at the time the project needs to be copyedited, in which case the process would be identical to copyediting a traditional novel—using Track Changes in a Word doc to copyedit the text, which is often drafted in script form.
However, it’s ideal for a graphic novel copyeditor to review the manuscript and art simultaneously since so much of the storytelling happens through the art. In this case, the text and art are typically copyedited in layouts.
When copyediting in layouts, the copyeditor will look for all the usual things: syntax and grammar issues, chronology inconsistencies, typos and errors in factual information, etc. But then there’s all that art! It needs to be checked along with the text in each panel –
- to be sure that the art makes sense with the text and that the places and characters are consistently depicted from panel to panel. If a character is wearing one bracelet on her left wrist in the first panel, she shouldn’t be wearing three bracelets on her right wrist -
- in the fourth panel. If colored art is submitted with the text for copyediting, the copyeditor will additionally check for consistency in skin tones, hair color, eye color, clothing color, etc.
In addition to the art, there are the basic elements of a graphic novel that need to be checked. A copyeditor will look for missing borders on frames or messy frames/gutters that might need to be cleaned. With the bubbles, specifically, a copyeditor –
- will check that the tails are pointing to the correct speakers, that the number of tails makes sense with the art, that an empty bubble is intentionally empty, and that different types of bubbles (whispers, thoughts, speech, captions, etc.) are consistently styled throughout.
So as you can see, there is a lot that goes into it when it comes to copyediting a graphic novel, but the main goals are always to make sure that the book is consistent and the language is comprehensible.
Thank you so much for joining us this week for #EditorialWeds! If you have more things that you would like us to go over, feel free to DM or respond below and we'll add it to the list! All the best! Your guest host, #Melinda
