Writing a Graphic Novel: The Truth About Execution sounds like a dream. You have the story, the characters. You have scenes playing out in your head like a film reel you can’t switch off. The problem is getting it off the page — or rather, onto it. Because writing a graphic novel isn’t just about storytelling. It’s about execution. And execution, as I’ve learned the hard way, is where most of us quietly give up.
This is my honest account of trying to do exactly that.
The Idea Is the Easy Part
Every writer has ideas. If you’ve read my work — gritty thrillers, survival fiction, stories that live in the uncomfortable spaces between action and consequence — you’ll know I’m not short of material. The military gave me a head full of scenarios that most people never have to think about. That’s fuel.
So when I started sketching out a graphic novel concept, the story came quickly. Strong protagonist. Moral ambiguity. A setting that lends itself perfectly to visual storytelling. I could see it and feel the pacing. I knew exactly how the splash page should land.
And then reality arrived.
What Nobody Tells You About the Visual Side
Here’s what the writing guides don’t make clear when they talk about writing a graphic novel: the script is only half of it. You’re not just a writer. You’re a director, a set designer, and a cinematographer — all at once, on paper, in words, for someone else to interpret visually.
A graphic novel script isn’t like a prose novel. You’re writing panel descriptions, page layouts, splash pages, gutters, camera angles, expressions, body language — and you have to do all of that while keeping the story moving. Get the pacing wrong and even the best art falls flat.
The terminology alone can stop you dead: full bleed, splash page, tier layout, worm’s-eye view, establishing shot, action-to-action transitions. If you don’t already think visually in this language, you’re learning a second dialect while simultaneously writing the novel.
I found a great breakdown of graphic novel script formats over at Script Magazine — but even knowing the format and understanding it are two different things.
The Problem With Panels
Panels are deceptively simple. A box on a page. How hard can it be?
Very. Deeply. Hard.
Each panel is a frozen moment in time. You’re choosing what the reader sees, for how long, and what emotional weight it carries. Too many panels on a page and everything feels rushed. Too few and you’re wasting real estate and killing momentum.
A splash page — that full-page image meant to stop a reader cold — has to earn its space. You don’t throw them around carelessly. They’re emotional punctuation. And deciding when to use one, what goes in it, and what leads up to it? That’s craft built on experience I simply didn’t have.
I spent time studying how established writers handle this. Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics is the gold standard reference — it breaks down the visual language of comics in a way that genuinely rewires how you think. But understanding it and executing it are still miles apart.
AI: The Shortcut That Isn’t
Like most writers right now, I looked at AI image generation tools. I tested several. I want to be honest about what I found.
The technology is genuinely impressive for certain things. Concept art, mood boards, loose visual references — AI can deliver something usable. But for a graphic novel? For consistent characters across dozens of panels, each with specific expressions, angles, lighting, and continuity? It falls apart almost immediately.
Character consistency is the killer. Your protagonist needs to look like the same person on page 3 and page 47. They need to age, scar, tire, and change — all recognisably. AI tools in their current state cannot do this reliably. The facial structure shifts. Clothing changes. Lighting is inconsistent. And the style — that essential visual identity that makes a graphic novel feel cohesive — drifts constantly.
I’m not writing this to dismiss the technology. I’m writing it because I spent real time on it hoping it would solve my problem. It didn’t. Not for this.
Artists Are Expensive. Here’s Why That Makes Sense.
The alternative is a professional artist. And yes — they’re expensive. A quality comic artist can charge anywhere from £100 to £400 per page for pencils, inks, and colours combined. For a 100-page graphic novel, you’re looking at a significant investment before a single copy is sold.
But here’s what I came to understand: when you hire a skilled comic artist, you’re not just paying for their time. You’re paying for years of learning to think visually. For their understanding of storytelling through image. For their ability to take your panel description and make a creative decision that improves on it.
That’s not a skill you can shortcut. It’s not something a prompt will replace. Not yet. And possibly not in the way that actually matters to a story that deserves to be told well.
Sites like Reedsy connect authors with professional illustrators and cover designers. It’s worth exploring if you’re serious about taking a graphic novel to market.
Where That Leaves Writers Like Us
So what do you do when you have the story but not the means to produce it visually?
A few honest options:
1. Write the prose version first. Your graphic novel concept is also a novel concept. If the story is strong enough to work visually, it’s strong enough to work in prose. Get it down. Build the readership. Then revisit the graphic format with some commercial momentum behind you.
2. Learn the craft properly. If you draw — even badly — rough storyboards can help you communicate your vision to an artist. They don’t need to be good. They need to be clear. Tools like Clip Studio Paint are used by professionals and learners alike.
3. Collaborate intentionally. Find an artist who connects with your material. Not just technically skilled — someone who gets the tone. That partnership is what makes the best graphic novels. The writer-artist relationship in comics is often closer to co-authorship than commission work.
4. Be patient. The story isn’t going anywhere. Neither is your vision. Sometimes the right moment finds you when the resources catch up.
What I’m Doing About It
For now, I’m focusing on what I can control: prose. My novels — the kind of dark, gritty, morally complex fiction I know how to write — are where my energy is going. The graphic novel concept isn’t dead. It’s waiting.
If you’ve read The Operator: Genesis, you’ll recognise the kind of story I’m talking about. Tight. Atmospheric. Visual in its own way. That same instinct drives the graphic novel idea. It’ll get there.
And if you’re in the same position — story in your head, vision clear, means uncertain — know you’re not alone. This is a problem almost every writer who tries to cross into the visual medium hits. Hard. Usually more than once.
The Takeaway
Writing a graphic novel is genuinely one of the most technically demanding creative projects you can attempt as a writer. It requires visual literacy, an understanding of pacing that works differently from prose, and — unless you’re also an artist — either significant investment or significant patience.
AI won’t solve it yet. Wishful thinking won’t solve it. But clarity about what the problem actually is? That’s a start.
And starting, even when the execution is still out of reach, is the thing that keeps the story alive.
If the story is what matters, start with the prose.
My books are the kind of fiction that doesn’t look away. Survival. Conflict. The uncomfortable truth of what people do under pressure. If that’s your kind of read, you’re in the right place.
Browse the full range of books — from military thriller to sci-fi to memoir — and find your next read. Or if you’re a fellow writer navigating the same terrain, drop me a message via the contact page. I’m always open to a conversation with someone who takes this seriously.