graphic novel writing unit

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Graphic Novels: Writing in Pictures and Words

By eric hand and hareem atif khan.

This groundbreaking unit—the first writing unit from TCRWP that focuses specifically on graphic novels—stands on the shoulders of all the narrative writing Units of Study, helping children transfer what they’ve learned of narrative craft into a new medium.

The new Graphic Novels unit asks you to reinterpret your definition of writing. You will teach true writing skills, but they will be disguised in a fun new format that will help your students grow much smarter at reading and writing stories in multiple media. Even though students may not create pages and pages of paragraphs, they will be writing:

• Structuring a well-paced story is writing.
• Zooming in on a moment to highlight importance is writing.
• Showing not telling is writing.

Your writers will do all of this and more in this unit as they tell visual stories.

Unit Overview

Like other writing Units of Study, this unit focuses heavily on process rather than product, and the flow of lessons reflects this. Instead of handing students a printed grid of panels to fill out, you’ll teach them to build a panel layout to highlight what they deem important on that page. Instead of having them cartoon out a preexisting story, you’ll preserve the true writing process by teaching them to doodle the very start to a story idea. This makes for a messier process, but it also makes the process intellectually demanding. In preserving the independent decision making that is the hallmark of the authentic writing process, you are actually teaching true writing skills disguised in a fun new format.

This unit comprises two bends. Each bend takes students through a complete writing cycle, which means children will have written two graphic novels by the end of the unit.

Bend I: Writing a First Graphic Novel

• Students doodle a character into being and set this character up with a challenge or problem, then immediately think up a believable resolution to this problem.
• Kids learn that stories are seldom thought up in the order that they are told, and that plotting a story requires having an end in mind. 
• Students plot a story arc for their character, building tension until a turning point appears.

Bend II: Powering Up Your Visual Craft 

• Students think about inserting suspense through cliffhangers at the end of every double page.
• They decide how to adjust the timeline of their story to maximize impact on the reader.
• Across this bend writers learn to use important narrative craft moves through a rich and engaging new format.

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Graphic Novels, Grades 4-6, with Trade Pack Hareem A Khan Eric Hand

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Graphic Novels, Grades 4-6, with Trade Pack

By Hareem A Khan , Eric Hand

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The new Graphic Novels units asks you to reinterpret your definition of writing—you will teach true writing skills, but they will be disguised in a fun new medium that will help your students grow much smarter at reading and writing stories in multiple media. Even though students may not create pages and pages of paragraphs, they are writing:

• Structuring a well-paced story is writing. 
• Zooming in on a moment to highlight importance is writing. 
• Showing not telling is writing. 

Your writers will do all of this and more in this unit by visually storytelling. Unit Overview Like other writing Units of Study, this unit focuses heavily on process rather than product, and the flow of lessons reflects this. Instead of handing students a printed grid of panels to fill out, you’ll teach them to build a panel layout to highlight what they deem important on that page. Instead of having them cartoon out a preexisting story, you’ll preserve the true writing process by teaching them to doodle the very start to a story idea. This makes for a messier process, but it also makes the process intellectually demanding. In preserving the independent decision making that is the hallmark of the authentic writing process, you are actually teaching true writing skills disguised in a fun new format.

This unit comprises two bends. Each bend takes students through a complete writing cycle, which means children will have written two graphic novels by the end of the unit. Bend I: Writing a First Graphic Novel

• Students doodle a character into being and set this character up with a challenge or problem, then immediately think up a believable resolution to this problem
• Kids learn that stories are seldom thought up in the order that they are told, and that plotting a story requires having an end in mind. 
• Students plot a story arc for their character, building tension until a turning point appears.

Bend II: Powering Up Your Visual Craft 

• Students think about inserting suspense through cliffhangers at the end of every double page.
• They decide how to adjust the timeline of their story to maximize impact on the reader.
• Across this bend writers learn to use important narrative craft moves through a rich and engaging new format.
• Graphic Novels: Writing in Pictures and Words
• 2 trade books to serve as demonstration texts:

1. Stinky,  written by Eleanor Davis (TOON Books & Graphics) 2. Comics: Easy as ABC!, written by Ivan Brunetti (TOON Books & Graphics)

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Posted on Jan 12, 2021

How to Write a Graphic Novel in 8 Action-Packed Steps

Graphic novels have become an increasingly large part of mainstream culture in the past decade. Readers of all ages are paying attention to stories told through "sequential art" — better known as "comics" to you and me — and graphic novels have become the go-to medium for more and more blockbuster hits.

With all this interest, there’s never been a better time to learn how to write a graphic novel. But if all you’re familiar with is superhero comic books, you might find yourself at a loss. First things first: what is a “graphic novel,” anyway?

Graphic novels vs comic books: what’s the difference?

Comics have always thrived as serialized stories — either in newspaper strips or as comic books in newsstands and drugstores across the world. But while they’ve seen their share of popularity over the decades, many readers have passed them by, either out of an inability to dip into a long-running narrative without backstory or from the lingering stigma that comics are only for children.

However, the 70s and 80s saw the rise of the “graphic novel,” which brought comics onto the shelves of traditional bookstores. These substantial, book-length volumes varied between anthologies like Will Eisner’s A Contract with God , collections of serialized arcs like Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns , or complete standalone works like Art Spiegelman’s Maus . With their self-contained narratives, graphic novels appealed to casual readers who preferred to read a whole story in one sitting.

As a result of this history, comic books tend to be:

• Serialized stories;
• Written in small issues, one “chapter” at a time;
• Printed on cheaper paper, and saddle-stitched together.

While graphic novels are usually:

• A longer, self-contained story;
• Printed in “trade paperback” format, just like any other book, and;
• Printed on high-quality, glossy paper.

To help you understand how to write for this fast-moving medium, we talked to three of Reedsy’s expert editors: Beth Scorzato , Cara Stevens , and Jim Spivey . These professionals have experience as both writers of graphic novels as well as editors of graphic novel scripts.

Or if you think short, serialized comic books would suit your story better, check out this post on how to make a comic book .

How to Write a Graphic Novel

We’ve distilled the advice of three editors down to eight general steps. If you’re a budding indie graphic novelist looking to write a graphic novel of your very own, look no further. Let’s break out the ink and get started!

Step 1. Decide what kind of story you’re telling

Because the world of graphic novels is as varied as any other novel, the first thing you’ll need to do is narrow down what kind of graphic novel you’re writing.

It’s very possible you already have a sense of the story — or at least the target age group and genre . But before you commit to a full graphic novel, it’s worth doing some market research and really nailing down where your book will fit into the publishing landscape.

Just like regular novels, graphic novels come with genre expectations. From the blockbuster styling in Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man to the epic scale of Saga to the home-spun personal touches in Lucy Knisley’s domestic memoirs , graphic novels will give your audience certain preconceptions. These should shape everything from the type of artist you hire to the way you structure your story, so be sure you understand what your audience expects before you begin. The good news: it means you get to read a lot of graphic novels as research!

Of course, you don’t want your graphic novel to become lost in a sea of identical stories either. As you’re hunting for inspiration and mulling over your place in this lush literary landscape, ask yourself: what unique spins can you bring to the table?

Maybe you envision your story being told entirely through pictures, or maybe you have a biting sense of humor not usually found in your genre. An interesting edge could easily make your book stand out, but make sure your ideas still appeal to your target audience — if your readers are looking for a middle-grade novel about schoolyard shenanigans and budding friendships, they may not be receptive to visually intense body horror.

Free course: Finding your target readers

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Of course, you don't just need an idea of genre and plot. You'll also want to establish  who  your story is about early on. Having a solid grasp of your characters, their personalities, and even their physical attributes is important before you even begin writing : after all, somebody's going to have to draw them! For a head start on all of this, try out our free character profile template.

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A story is only as strong as its characters. Fill this out to develop yours.

Step 2. Settle on your visual style

Odds are good that all your favorite graphic novels have unique visual styles that drew you to them in the first place. But if you think the stunning visual language you love is something that just happens, think again! Curating not only an engaging visual style but one that fits your book and raises it to the next level, is a very deliberate process.

A few things you’ll want to keep in mind when deciding on your own visuals include:

⛰️ The overall tone and scope of your graphic novel. This will help you immensely as you search for the right illustrator to collaborate with, but it’s also good to know as you sit down to plot. After all, if you’re going for a gritty, urban feel with lots of monotones and washed-out colors, it’s not going to fit when you then write half the story to take place in toy stores or parks on a bright spring day.

🎭 The themes of your graphic novel. Are you telling a story about the resiliency of the human spirit, the power of love, or the unyielding churn of modernization? Think about the kind of imagery, colors, and design elements that will best support this.

🧑🏻‍🤝‍🧑🏽 Your target audience . Graphic novels written for children will likely have a very different style than, for example, those written for adults looking for violent action sequences. Genre, age range, and even their expected familiarity with comics and graphic novels can play a big role in how the story unfolds visually.

Despite being drawn by the same artist, you’d never find these two pages in the same comic. Each was specifically chosen to match the tone of the stories. (Image credit: Andy Baker. )

If you’re not illustrating the book yourself, you should keep an open mind on this point — but it does help to have some expectations and ideas going into your collaboration. Lay out the sort of designs that appeal to you and your target market so that both you and your eventual artist have a united vision for the graphic novel you’ll build together.

And speaking of which…

Step 3. Look for your artist early

There’s no getting around it: graphic novels are a visual medium. This also means that for many of us, it’s a collaborative craft like filmmaking, where the writer creates the screenplay while the illustrator is the director, editor, costumer, props master, stunt coordinator, and sound effects designer (BIFF! POW!).

In comics, writers get the lion's share of the glory, but insiders know it’s the illustrators who can make or break a title.

You might not be able to hire an artist this early, and that’s okay. But the sooner you can begin building a rapport with your artist, the sooner they’ll be able to bring their talents and experience to the process.

Cara Stevens describes her ideal working relationship as one of mutual trust. “When I’ve worked with an illustrator for a while, we develop a good enough connection that I can tell him or her: ‘make something funny happen in the background for the next four frames as they speak’. The illustrator appreciates the opportunity to get creative, and the work ends up better because it’s more collaborative.”

This is the kind of process that makes the work not only effective but enjoyable, so be sure to pick your artist with care. Once you’ve compiled a list of artists who fit the bill, reach out and talk to them. Ask for some sample pages, as well as the level of description and feedback they like to get from their writers.

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Finally, make sure you have a price in mind and can pay them fairly for their work! Be wary of an artist who’s willing to undersell themselves. It’s good to have a budget, but this is one area where you really do get what you pay for.

Step 4. Get your first draft down

There are a few ways you can approach the drafting process with graphic novels. Editor Beth Scorzato encourages writers to first focus on their strengths:

“Don't worry about your first draft being written in pieces. If you are intimidated by the format, but are strong on dialogue, go ahead and write your first draft as a pure dialogue pass, then step back and figure out how to break it up and add descriptions. Conversely, if you have a really strong sense of what you want your visuals to be, feel free to write it out as prose and then pare it back to panel descriptions and add dialogue later.”

At this stage, you don’t need to stress over formatting or exactly how you’re going to fit everything into a single panel. The first draft is where you’ll explore the story and characters, as well as feeling out your visual ideas.

If you’re stuck with your draft, consider laying out just the structure as best you can. Storyboarding can easily help you visualize how your scenes need to unfold. Don’t worry about the exact angles of your “shots” yet, just map out things like:

• How many characters are in a scene at once;
• The types of locations your scenes are set in;
• How much of your story is action, dialogue, introspection, etc.;
• How many scenes you need to convey the plot effectively.

Step 5. Hone your pacing

Once you’ve got the basic structure of your story down, Jim Spivey suggests writing out a series of “thumbnails” for each page:

“These thumbnails are similar to the outline of a novel , where the writer indicates how many panels they think will be on the page, what specific action happens in each panel, and a rough idea of the text (captions and balloons).”

This will show you how much space you’ll need to get your story across, which in turn helps you assess if your pacing is on point. If your scene takes too many panels, try rearranging things to convey the same meaning in less space. This is a valuable skill that will not only make your graphic novel stronger, but will help you pace regular novels as well. Because, as Beth Scorzato explains:

“At the end of the day, the format may be different, but the fundamentals of storytelling are the same. You could do everything ‘technically’ right when laying out your panels and formatting your graphic novel script, but if the pacing and storytelling aren’t strong, it won't matter.”

Step 6. Fine-tune your visuals

Now that you’ve got your story down, it’s time to really refine your vision.

Go over your manuscript again, this time with a fine eye toward your panel descriptions. Jim Spivey offers this tidbit:

“A writer should think of a graphic novel much in the same way you would script a silent movie, such that the story could still be understood even if all the word balloons and captions were to fall off. With that in mind, making sure each panel is a strong visual that moves the story along is job #1 in a graphic novel script; the words should come after.”

Artist Alise Gluškova captures a whole evening in just four pictures.

If you’re intimidated by this prospect, remember the old “ show, don’t tell ” rule and consider the following questions:

• How would you convey that a scene is sad, or joyous, or righteous?
• What sort of images, colors, and settings feel like those moods?
• What actions are your characters taking to reflect their thoughts and feelings?

Above all, don’t clutter your pages. Comics aren’t movies, and the space you have to work with is limited. As Beth Scorzato explains:

“In a single panel, Batman can walk into a room or turn on a lamp in the room. He cannot walk into a room and turn on a lamp in the room in the same panel. You have one action per panel, so pick the most important ones. If your storytelling is strong, people will know what happens in between.”

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with getting a little extra help along the way. The following volumes should give you a solid foundation for how storytelling works in comics:

• Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
• Making Comics by Scott McCloud
• Comics & Sequential Art by Will Eisner
• Illustrated Guide to Writing Comics by Paul Kupperberg

Step 7. Tighten your dialogue

Before you turn your manuscript over to an illustrator, it’s important to make sure your script is as tight as possible. You don’t want to waste time ventriloquizing your entire story, only to have your illustrator come back to tell you that your pages are too cluttered. Learning how to think in pictures will help, but the other big thing you can do is go through and trim your dialogue to be as clean as possible.

The reason? Dialogue takes up a lot of space. As Jim Spivey put it:

“There’s only so much space in a single panel, and the majority of that space should be left to the visual. Ultimately, if the writer ends up stuffing a panel with captions and word balloons, then the visual isn’t doing its job.”

This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t use dialogue, of course. On the contrary, good dialogue is invaluable in graphic novels — but since you have limited space, graphic novels need their dialogue to be pithy, precise, and powerful.

As you’re drafting your script, ask yourself:

• Is there a more concise way for a character to say that?
• Does your character need to speak, or can their expression carry the reaction better?
• Does each line move the story or character arcs forward?

If you’re still having trouble paring down your speeches, be ruthless! Write a version that uses the fewest words possible and see how it sounds. You can always pad it back out later. And these habits don’t just help your graphic novel scripts. Cara Stevens found that:

“My first graphic novel had long speech bubbles that took up most of a frame. As time went on, my editor helped me pare down the epic speeches to a bare minimum. It not only helped move the action along better in the graphic novels, it also made me a better, more concise prose writer in the long run.”

If you ask us, we’d say that’s a win! For more tips on writing dialogue that pops, you can check out for our free course below.

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Step 8. Format your manuscript for an illustrator

While there is no formal standard for comic scripts (hello, chaos!), there are a few templates that have gained popularity in recent years. Final Draft includes a comics template, and there are many available for download as well. Following one of these will make your life (and the life of your artist) a lot easier.

But even if you’re not using a standard template, it helps to understand the terminology of graphic novels. You don’t want to confuse your artist by describing a spread as a page , for instance — that would lead to disaster!

The most basic phrases you should know include:

⬜ Panel: This is the foundation of a comics page. Panels are the boxes that divide up the moments of your narrative. Place them together in a specific sequence and they convey movement, the passage of time, and all the other building blocks of a story.

📄 Page: A full page of panels, which can be on either the left or right side of your book.

📖 Spread: Both a left and a right page, viewed together.

➕ Border: The line that boxes in your panels. Note: sometimes, panels are displayed without a border as well, to relay specific feelings, themes, or motions.

📏 Gutter: The white space between panels.

The better you understand your format, the better you’ll be able to communicate what you’re looking for to your artist, and the easier the collaborative process will be.

As you can see, writing a graphic novel is a very different process than writing a novel — but so long as you cover the fundamentals of good storytelling (with compelling characters, tight dialogue, and appropriate plot twists ) and you’ve got an artist who can convey those ideas in interesting and nuanced ways, there’s no reason why you, too, can’t publish a graphic novel of your very own. We look forward to reading it!

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How to teach ... graphic novels

It’s not all KAPOW! and THWACK! – graphic novels are a great way to inspire students of all ages and abilities about English literature and language

If anyone ever needed a lesson on graphic novels, it’s the publisher who told Stan Lee: “That is the worst idea I’ve ever heard. People hate spiders, you can’t call a book Spiderman.” As you may have heard, that idea ended up working out quite well for Mr Lee who, at 93, is the god of the graphic novel and created The Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four and Iron Man .

There can be a bit of snobbery when it comes to using such texts in schools, but they can be a brilliant way of bringing literature to reluctant readers, and are particularly useful for those who don’t speak English as their first language. The more sophisticated examples contain the kind of complex themes and language (it’s not all KAPOW! and THWACK!) that will challenge even the highest-achieving students. And, of course, the books are beautiful to look at, combining illustration and text in a unique way.

If you’re still unconvinced, this article from the National Council of Teachers of English puts forward a strong case and this presentation looks at ways to use graphic novels to teach the classics such as Little Women, Frankenstein and a surprisingly muscular Macbeth.

Take younger students on a journey through the many worlds of graphic novels with this list of recommended examples for primary classes from Bookspace . This includes Tintin, Asterix and the intriguing Sardine in Outer Space (which has an online activity pack (pdf) available to print).

Graphic novel techniques can also be used to complement texts that students are already reading, like this resource pack on Roald Dahl’s The Twits from TeachIt Primary . It asks pupils to illustrate key events from each chapter, such as the dark and brilliant move of making Mrs Twit think she is shrinking by gluing bits of wood to the bottom of her walking stick.

The next step is to get your classes creating their own comic books. This guide from Sarah McIntyre , illustrator of Vern and Lettuce and Morris the Mankiest Monster, talks students through the professional process – from coming up with characters and adventures, to using Photoshop. This guide and collection of top tips , also from TeachIt Primary , takes your class through a practice exercise before dreaming up their own pieces.

Get your students to create their characters using this How to draw ... characters guide from Jacqueline Wilson, which details the author’s long process of drafting and redrafting. If you want to follow Stan Lee’s example and design superheroes, this guide explains the importance of exaggeration, costumes and a cool name. Or, if you want to get a bit more high-tech, this online comic creator lets pupils create their own colourful graphic novels using drag-and-drop tools. And for a creative homework task, try this printable “Adventures in Cartooning” activity book (pdf).

Once your class has mastered the skills of the graphic novel, they can use them to explore any area of the curriculum. Twinkl has blank comic book templates of different sizes available to print. Studying history? Get students to render key moments in graphic form. Looking at geography? See if they can make rocks into characters. For science, this resource book guides students through creating a comic that explores the heart and circulatory system.

There are endless ways to use graphic novels in secondary classrooms, as this list (pdf) explains. The suggestions cover key literacy skills such as summarising, sequencing and predicting, as well as more inventive tasks such as holding a graphic novel tea party. This poster from the Scottish Book Trust explores the features of graphic novels and would work well as a handout at the beginning of the unit.

But which text should you go for? The Book Trust recommends some trusty favourites and interesting newbies, from The Savage, David Almond’s exploration of grief, to the Manga Shakespeare series, which includes Romeo and Juliet, Othello and other curriculum stalwarts (and provides an excellent introduction to the Bard for those with lower literacy levels).

This project-based resource from TeachIt sets students the task of researching the history of comics, sourcing examples of different types and analysing the common attributes of the books’ heroes, before creating their own.

For older pupils, this Ted talk from Michael Chaney , a professor of English at a US university, explores the complexities of the graphic novel form and how caricature and distortion are used to convey messages in a coded manner – an interesting cross-curricular topic for art and literature. Chaney includes two examples that are now considered classics and make for rich study for key stages 3 and 4: Maus and Persepolis.

Art Spiegelman’s Maus tells the story of his father’s survival in Auschwitz concentration camp, mice representing the Jews and cats the Nazi guards. These discussion questions guide students through the book, and this collection of teaching resources includes an interview with Spiegelman on the creation of Maus and the enormous impact its had since it was published in 1986.

Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis looks at the Iranian revolution through the eyes of a young girl, offering a wealth of learning in history, religious studies and politics. This resource bank contains historical background, language analysis, discussion questions and lots of other useful study links.

Finally, get your class to harness the power of the graphic novel to explore issues they feel strongly about with this workshop on grassroots comic campaigning from Cafod which guides them through the process of conceiving and creating their own issue-based comic. Happy sketching!

Do you have an inspiring teaching resource you’d like to share? Upload it here , or email [email protected]

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Want to switch up your narrative writing unit? Try Graphic Novels! Not only do students get to express themselves through writing and tell a story, but they get to illustrate it too! Graphic novels have all of the same things needed in a narrative or story, so they are still learning the necessary concepts, but also doing something that feels like fun!

This Writing a Graphic Novel: Assignment Sheet and Rubric includes: 

• Assignment Sheet in Editable Google Doc form and PDF form
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✨ Writing a Graphic Novel: Character Development Lesson - Print and Digital

✨ Writing a Graphic Novel: Color & Mood Lesson - Print and Digital Included!

✨ Writing a Graphic Novel: How Panel Layout Affects the Story - Print and Digital!

✨ Writing a Graphic Novel: Plot & Conflict Lesson - Print and Digital Included!

✨ Writing a Graphic Novel: Setting -2 Lessons - Drawing & Writing, Print & Digital

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About the Author: Cristian S. Aluas is professional artist and author of It’s a Living: Surviving as a Freelancer in the 21st Century , and has online courses on cartooning techniques at MasterpieceArtSchool.com

Although the term “graphic novel” is only 40-some years old, this form of storytelling has exploded in popularity. Chances are you were assigned graphic novels to read in high school, and chances are you’ve thought about writing one yourself. But, learning how to write a graphic novel isn’t easy, as it combines the essentials of both writing and graphic design.

What is a graphic novel, and how do you write one? What is the difference between a graphic novel vs comic series? This article sets the foundations for the form, guiding you through different graphic novel techniques to create visual stories that move, entertain, and delight the audience.

Writing a graphic novel, a comic, or a manga is not easy. Many first-time comic book creators need help but they don’t know where to begin. The five crucial tips in this article are the perfect place to start. But first, let’s understand the form a little bit better. What is a graphic novel?

What is a graphic novel?

A graphic novel is a complete story told through words and pictures combined. It’s evolved over the years, from hieroglyphs, to cartoons, to comic strips, and finally to what we see today.

A graphic novel is a complete story told through words and pictures combined.

Whereas a novel leaves the pictures to our imagination, in a graphic novel, the artist depicts the narrative in a funny or serious way, depending on style and genre. The style of art is what makes fans linger on the page, and the writing is what moves the story along.

The style of art is what makes fans linger on the page, and the writing is what moves the story along.

Graphic novel vs. comic vs. manga

American cartoonist Will Eisner coined the term “graphic novel” when he wrote and drew A Contract with God in 1978. He had been a comic strip artist for many years, drawing The Spirit in syndicated newspapers, before he came up with his expressive visual language. Frank Miller with Sin City followed suit in the 1990s. With serialized collections of The Dark Knight Returns , Watchmen , and Ghost World , the foundation was set for comic strips to be considered more mature. Collectors became readers. New elements of realism permeated comics, along with their new presentation, making graphic novels in America a popular new format—although, in Europe, the collected graphic novel, in the form of bande dessinée , was already the main form of consumption.

Comics are serialized American strips and manga is what the Japanese call comics. Most manga series in Japan are led by one creator with a team of assistants, while in America companies like Marvel and DC own the intellectual property of the characters and writers and artists alternate as contributors over the course of years. In Japan, the artist is often also the writer and the art style remains the same for the span of the series.

Comics and manga tell stories in installments; graphic novels tell complete stories.

Similarly, in Europe, artists like Hergé, Moebius, or Enki Bilal kept their aesthetics the same throughout their careers. Essentially, comics and manga fall in the same category as serialized strips each for specific demographics, while graphic novels can be collections of those strips into stand-alone stories or new sequential stories done specifically for a paperback or hardcover format.

Graphic novel techniques

Artists rely on many graphic novel techniques to tell visually compelling stories. Here are just a few common ones to get a writer started:

Narration Over Setting : Describing the mood of the locale or characters, while showing the location or personalities plainly.

Same/Same : The writing describes the actions in the panels and the thoughts of characters.

Alternate Descriptions : The narrative can act like a voiceover, with the visuals displaying something else entirely.

Transitional Text : Like in film, the conversation or narration from a previous panel carries over into the next, with the visuals often mirroring each other.

Pay attention to each of these techniques in the graphic novel examples we share later in this article.

How to write a graphic novel in 5 key points

Before you set pen to paper (or cursor to Photoshop), make sure you understand these 5 key points on how to make a graphic novel.

1. Genres and demographics

Before scripting a graphic novel, a writer must consider the genres they’re writing in and the age group they’re writing for. There are many to choose from, such as memoir , superhero, political (comedy, farce, or commentary), biography, crime, romance, and many more! Combining genres is a smart choice, like horror/romance or adventure/comedy or steampunk/superhero, etc.

Manga is typically serialized and can be very specific about subject matter (like baseball or academia). The demographics are also younger and very specialized too, influenced by the manga’s themes .

According to the demographics of webtoons.com , most readers of manga read romance and are young girls between the ages of 13-21.

In American comics, there’s a boom in content for adolescent boys and girls, in the vein of Raina Telgemeier’s Smile or the Captain Underpants series.

There’s still a market for boys however, overseas and in America. Action, adventure, sports, and mature themes interest young adult boys, as readers. The nostalgia buffs from the 90s comics boom are being overwritten with new trends in non-superhero comics. The Marvel and DC movies are most popular with this latter demographic.

As a result of the popularity of the Marvel and DC films and manga imports starting in the late 1980s, the style of American sequential storytelling has changed. Comics and graphic novels read more like storyboards now. They are sparsely-written, compared to the 60s Stan Lee comics or the Chris Claremont X-Men . In the 2020s, graphic novels are written with manga and films at their backs. This writing style is also a result of writers having the space to tell a story in whatever amount of pages it takes, rather than being limited to a newspaper page, an eight page short, or a standard 22 page Marvel/DC issue.

2. Structure & Storytelling

Once a writer chooses a genre to write in, they have to outline the story like any other book. Clear structure is even more important in comics and manga, especially if the stories are being serialized. Famous comics writer Alan Moore (of Watchmen and V for Vendetta fame) said that in serialized comics, what people see is your “first draft” so you have to make it count. That’s why his first 32 page issue of Watchmen was sent to the artist Dave Gibbons as a 90 page densely-written script.

Screenwriting (and some playwriting) principles can be useful for learning how to write a graphic novel script—more so than novel writing. Namely, it’s recommended for every story or chapter to have a purpose, characters to have developmental arcs , and stories to follow the general three act structure of introduction, climax, and denouement.

Formatting your graphic novel story is similar to formatting a screenplay. A writer has to break down the story onto the scripted page, not only scene by scene, but also panel by panel. These detailed directions are for the artist to understand what to depict.

The Marvel Way of storytelling is: when the writer gives a one page outline, the artist goes off and paces the paneled story how they see fit, then the writer comes back at the end to embellish the dialogue . This loose method would only be recommended if the writer was collaborating with an artist, or if the artist has more experience pacing the story than the writer. If the writer is the more experienced of the team, they should write the tightest script they can. Clarity is best in all forms of communication, including graphic novels.

A good graphic novel writer acts like a film director who also writes the script and the artist functions as the actors and the sets.

The best writers think in pictures. With graphic novels, both the text and illustrations are meant to work perfectly in tandem—both in service to the story.

4. Page and panel layout considerations

When writing graphic novels, you’re writing for the visual language. The visual symbols chosen in each story hold archetypal meanings to the readers, such as snakes (Biblical reference) or characters’ powers in relation to mythological gods (like Thor or Zeus).

Graphic novels can be influenced by paintings or by films but they are their own artwork. A comic that tries too hard to be a film is a storyboard. There are many art techniques that are only available in comics and deserve to be explored.

If you’re new to writing for comics, it’s recommended that you acquaint yourself with books like Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud and Comics & Sequential Storytelling by Will Eisner , to name a couple very influential authorities on the subject. Their books help you consider the pacing of your comic or manga. A succession of small panels, for example, can slow down time (like the slow drip of a faucet) or can illustrate a series of actions (like a fight sequence).

Book lengths are 22 pages for American serialized comics. Collections of storylines typically compile four or more issues into trade paperbacks. Stand-alone graphic novels are suggested to start at 65 pages, going into the hundreds of pages. And manga webtoon episodes typically need to deliver an average of 30-40 panels per week (or bi-weekly). Colour or black and white art is up to the discretion of the writer/artist. To colour or not to colour is also a choice made based on the mood and literary themes of the story.

Much like film, often a comics writer has to describe the reader’s point of view , as if it was a camera view. When doing this, comic writers must be deliberate and only choose one viewpoint. Knowledge of compositional devices are useful, such as foreground, middle ground, and background. If you’re working with an experienced artist, you can leave most of  the composition to them. You have to have a good eye for understanding what good art is however—good art that conveys a clear story. Sometimes a writer working with a collaborator has to draw thumbnails for the artist, to clarify ideas.

When a writer has a mastery of drawing as well, they become complete cartoonists and their vision is most true.

At the least, a writer of comics should have basic drawing skills, along with an educated storytelling vocabulary. Most writers write comics because they enjoy reading them in the first place. If your drawing skills are non-existent or not up to par, taking art lessons are encouraged. Like a composer, a graphic novel writer is the orchestrator of the full effect on the reader. Therefore, it’s good to know how to play every visual instrument, or at least understand how each visual conveyance will further the story along toward your creative purpose.

The style you choose initiates your audience, as Scott McCloud illustrates in Understanding Comics .

In American graphic novel collaborations, graphic novels have a separate artist that does only the lettering. Comic book letterers play an important part in communicating the story. Although it’s not required to specify in your script what type of word bubble is needed in each panel, it’s important to know the visual language that’s available to you as a graphic novel creator. Here are some fun lettering tips to consider, as you write your graphic novel.

Graphic novel examples

The following graphic novel examples have remained in the zeitgeist since they were written; many graphic novelists have found inspiration from these canonical works.

• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
• Contract with God
• Ghost World

There are several subscription-based and free websites where you can read graphic novels for free. Comixology.com , which is owned by Amazon, has a huge collection of comics (some free). Webtoons.com has a large selection of manga which is all free. And you can read public domain comics for free at Comicbookplus.com . Tapas and Webnovel are other sites to explore. And every year on May 5th, mainstream publishers give away comics on “Free Comic Book Day.”

Crafting the Graphic Novel

Graphic novels are a part of our popular culture. That’s why they get compared to film and art. But they are not quite film nor art. They stand more strongly as their own art form. As an author, learning how to write a graphic novel is a choice based on your love of the medium and what it has to offer that’s different from other media.

There are authors, there are writers, there are writer/artists. The combination makes cartoonists. If you can do both, that’s what you are. If you do one or the other, you simply love the medium and you love to collaborate.

There are many factors to a well-written graphic novel. Having the right illustrator with a complementary style makes a big difference.

The beauty of graphic novels, as opposed to serialized comics or manga, is that there isn’t the time pressure of a monthly deadline. A writer can take their time, like an author, and craft (through numerous drafts) the best graphic novel they can possibly make. After all, the term “graphic novel” came to popularity by comic book and manga creators that desired this art form be lifted to the prestige of literature.

10 Comments

So much detail, so informative. I’m thankful for coming across this read. You can tell Mr. Cristian Alaus has years of experience in the graphic novel genre, and he was so generous in sharing his expertise in illustrations. Thank you

Amazing amount of detailed information step by step!

Complete and complex yet understandable

The article looks like a great starting point. Thanks!

Nice job. As a cartoonist, I can can vouch for the articles accuracy.

Thanks guys for the positive feedback on the article! I’m still very proud of it. It was great to get my ideas together on the subject of writing for comics and manga and I’m happy it’s helping you! If any questions came up in your writing process that I didn’t cover here, just let me know. I’m around. 🙂

Great article. I can attest to it’s accuracy being a cartoonist myself. I look forward to seeing your work.

Thank you, Dale! I’m happy you appreciated the article! I’m writing and drawing a couple of comics for indie clients. So we’ll see when those come out. 🙂 And writing my first novel. Hoping to release that next year. Good luck with your writing too! Please keep in touch -LinkedIn or IG!

Thank you for all the info!!! I was hoping to find some graphic novel page sizes or template suggestions for my first foray into this new medium(for me).

Hi Jesse, you’re welcome! The standard comic book size is 6-5/8 inches wide by 10-1/4 inches high. You can make your own template in Photoshop or Procreate, as I do. Search google and click on Images. Ka-Blam has a good template that I use as a low opacity layer so I can see the margins. This if for print. For webtoons, it’s a scrolling page and different size. I highly recommend getting and reading the full book if you’re a beginner. It’s made for you! https://www.amazon.com/CARTOONING-TECHNIQUES-Drawing-Comics-Manga/dp/B0B5KNTTC5

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• May 2, 2020

Graphic Novels in Middle School: 9 Key Critical Thinking Skills of Focus

Let's face it...kids LOVE graphic novels and many teachers are starting to embrace them more in their classrooms. Many may wonder how to utilize them properly, especially in middle school. In high school, the possibilities are endless as their are some fabulous historical fiction graphic novels that are not appropriate for this age group.

However, some teachers still have issues with students reading these types of books. I will dive into the benefits and also the cons of graphic novels, but most importantly, how to use them to get kids THINKING.

Graphic Novels are Important to ME

Those who know me know I am a big nerd. I grew up reading comics regularly. I would not classify myself as a TRUE comic guru by any means, but there were plenty shared between my brother and me.

As I grew older, I learned to love the culture around the comic world even more. I've always loved science fiction and fantasy and comics satisfied that need! When I met my husband, we started going to comic conventions together. He was a budding cartoonist and it was his education into that realm.

Fast forward to today. My husband IS a cartoonist for children ( check out his work here ). His resume is chock full of comics for kids and he runs in lots of circles that promote comics for kids. Many times I have collaborated with children's authors, writers, and cartoonists to help them bridge their work into the classroom. I have been given lots of great freebies due to all the conventions he and I attend.

So, there is a real special place in my heart for comics and graphic novels. I've always known I wanted to use them in the classroom in some capacity.

The Pitfalls of Graphic Novels

Let me preface this with saying these pitfalls are only if graphic novels are not being used correctly in the classroom. Like any other book, graphic novels are a GENRE . Yes, the stories will fit into other genres, but to utilize them properly, they should be studied as a GENRE.

The pitfalls, then, revolve around when they are being read. For example, during my Deep Study of Character unit, I had one student who refused to read anything but graphic novels. I let him because, well, reading. I found it to be a struggle throughout the unit, though. When we did lessons on visualization, he could not do that because everything is visualized on the page. When we did lessons on characters' thoughts and inner feelings, he could not do that because he was unable to find those inner thoughts since, many times, graphic novels don't provide that inner dialogue or first person perspective. Stamina is also a struggle, too, because oftentimes kids, especially early in the year, breeze through them and they shouldn't. When trying to get students to build stamina in prose, graphic novels put a halt to that.

So, there are some reading skills that just don't work well with graphic novels. In the beginning of the year, I really want to build their stamina and critical thinking about character and setting based on the LANGUAGE. I avoid them early on and try to get them into hybrids if they are really reluctant.

The Benefits of Graphic Novels

Many avoid graphic novels because they think it's "easy" reading. Notice I didn't mention that in my pitfalls. Sure, some graphic novels are much easier to read than prose, however, if chosen carefully, graphic novels require MUCH different reading strategies than prose.

Let's start with pictures. This is the obvious benefit. For struggling readers, the pictures help drive the story. The pictures are more than just that, though. Pictures have specific functions and reading them properly needs to be taught. Not only that, they have to be read in correlation with the words! I can't tell you how many times my students JUST read the pictures and cannot recall or retell properly.

The words are just as important as the pictures and in a graphic novel unit; you can teach students how to connect the words with pictures properly. Dialogue is a big part of this, as well, so they are perfect for working with dialogue. Sometimes, though, they may not even have words and students have to read pictures only...sounds easy, but again, lots of room for error.

Graphic novels are also ripe with setting and setting plays a huge role in the story-telling. Additionally, emotions and character feelings are expressed a ton in comics.

A must-read for those teaching graphic novels is Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. This book reads like a textbook! It's amazing the thought and research that went into this book.

Teach it as a Genre: What I Do

Here are the major skills I teach with graphic novels:

Importance of reading the words and the pictures together.

Humor in short comics.

Common comic "language".

Symbolism and use of color.

Analysis of panels, pictures, and words.

Interpreting emotions and senses.

Setting and how it plays a role in story-telling.

Dialogue versus wordless.

Fantasy components (archetypes, quests, and hero's journey).

For my classes, I make this a fantasy unit , but I don't really dive into that until the end. The reason for this is that the unit that follows is fantasy writing.

So, we start with newspaper comics or the "funnies" as I call them. These are fun to kick off the unit. You can actually get this activity free from my store.

We then talk about common comic language, symbols, and colors . Much like we introduced books to little ones when they were young, we need to introduce graphic novels to our big kids. When they were younger, we would explain what a title is, page numbers, table of contents, etc. Same goes for graphic novels; they need to know what panels are...and more.

From there, we get into color and symbols. This is the basics. In some comics, illustrators use symbols to represent feelings or expressions. These kids have no issue with this because of their exposure to emojis!

We need to give credit to the amazing artists in graphic novels. Their color choices are IMPORTANT. It creates mood and atmosphere.

Then we get into the real nitty-gritty. I love LOVE these next lessons because the students have to analyze SO closely...they never imagined they had to think so critically about graphic novels!

The book Understanding Comics opened my eyes to the need to really look at panels in a different light. The panels serve as a transition between events . Some panels depict small moments or very large moments. It's important for students to notice these transitions.

Additionally, students need to look at the words in graphic novels in a specific way. Sometimes the words go directly with what the characters are saying. Sometimes the words are narrative. Sometimes the words are telling the story and the pictures aren't connected. It's important to notice these differences.

For each of these lessons, we start with a sample comic and then they have to look in their own texts to apply the skill.

For emotions , we spend time looking at line work, colors, facial expressions, etc. and discuss how/when/why emotions change. There isn't too much difference with this than with any type of reading.

Next up is setting . As mentioned, graphic novels are full of setting. As usual, I get them to think critically about the setting. How is the setting playing a role in the telling of the story?

It's always fun to play with dialogue with graphic novels. I like to spend some time with wordless comics during this time. We discuss using all that they learned to read pages without words. I also like giving them wordless comics and having them add their own dialogue. It's also a great way to practice writing dialogue properly in prose!

We wrap up the entire unit with a few lessons on fantasy components . In 5th grade, in my school, students do a fantasy unit, so I don't spend too much time on the specifics.

I mostly like to spend time on the Hero's Journey . Students write a fantasy story after this unit and they must use the hero's journey to craft their story.

I also wrap up the unit with watching the movie Spirited Away because it's just amazing and a great kickoff to fantasy writing. You can read about my fantasy writing unit here .

Just another component I like to add to this unit is Doodle Time ! At the beginning or end of each class, I give the students some time to doodle based on a prompt.

Bottom Line

Consider using graphic novels as a UNIT. As passionate as I am about them, graphic novels do not work for every reading skill. It's best to them for specific themes and ideas.

You can get my Graphic Novel unit here !

As mentioned, I follow up this unit with a Fantasy Writing Unit !

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Top 3 DON’Ts: Teaching Kids to Write Graphic Novels

1. Don’t assume every child is familiar with the comic book medium.

The Vocabulary of Graphic Novels & Comics

2. Don’t limit the narrative genre that kids write within.

Graphic Novels: Writing in Pictures and Words is innovative for a writing unit of study, because it focuses on a medium rather than a genre. In all other TCRWP Writing Units of Study, the lessons teach kids how to write realistic fiction, literary essays, or research reports. This is important, because the writing genre is the nucleus around which the lessons rotate. In this Unit of Study, however, our nucleus is a medium. The comic book medium, or format, in inclusive of multiple genres. Smile by Raina Telgemeier is a memoir, Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi is a fantasy story, and Leon The Extraordinary by Jamar Nicholas is a superhero story–but ALL of these stories are told in the graphic novel MEDIUM. There are even non-fiction graphic novels. Hareem and I decided to zoom-in on narrative writing so as to be able to unify the teaching within the lessons more clearly. It would be exciting to think about the ways in which the graphic novel form could be extended into writing about science or social studies concepts after this unit. During this unit, you might have young writers creating true stories, realistic stories or even fantasy stories. Here are a few strengths of the new unit:

• It allows for more student choice than other units. They get to choose their own genre. The more choice a student has, the more engaged they will be.
• It provides an opportunity for writers to revisit a favorite genre from earlier in the year. Our scope and sequences are usually bursting at the seams. Very rarely do we have a chance to allow kids to write another fantasy story, if they love writing fantasy. This unit provides the time to do just that!
• It creates the chance for kids to collaborate. Group the kids writing within the same genre together into a publishing house! Publishing houses could support each other as they work on their stories. At the end of the unit, your publishing houses could combine their pieces to create sci-fi or memoir anthologies.

I think it would be a mistake to tell all of your writers to write, for example, realistic fiction stories. By doing this, you remove a facet of this Unit of Study that makes it unique and even more engaging.

3. Don’t limit kids by using pre-printed comic book pages.

I am all for graphic organizers when they are a scaffold and not a limit. When they provide access to a skill that otherwise would be off the table for a writer. The goal is to eventually remove the scaffold, because scaffolding is not meant to be permanent. The wall is meant to eventually stand on its own.

You may feel the desire to give your students pre-designed comic pages. Please restrain this desire. So much of the craft of comics is connected to creating the page. The size, shape, and number of panels on a page contribute to the pacing and emotional impact of the story.

By providing a pre-designed page, you are preventing your writers from making important choices.

Should I start with a large panel to establish the setting or begin on a close-up on the character’s eyes and then zoom out in a series of panels? Should I make this panel lean forward to mimic the action happening with the panel to create some momentum? Should I break the panel here to really show how hard the batter hit the ball?

These are the kinds of questions I want your creators to wrestle with. By asking these questions, they will learn so much about what works (and what doesn’t!) in visual storytelling.

Embrace the imperfection of student-drawn panels. When Hareem and I met with Art Spiegelman, he described a graphic novel as being an artifact in a way that a prose book isn’t, because the creator crafts every part of a graphic novel. It’s much more personal in that way than most prose.

You can provide some support to help your students. You might cut panel templates out of cardstock for writers to trace around. Rulers will also be a big help. Some teachers also used graph paper for their graphic novelists to create their pages. The rows and columns aid them in being neater. If a student has a need, as determined by an IEP or needs OT support, then you should provide whatever will allow access to writing graphic novels.

For most of your students, I recommend that you allow them to fully experience the work of crafting their pages by hand.

Graphic Novels , Grades 4-6, with Trade Pack b y   Hareem A Khan and   Eric Hand

Topics: Units of Study , Lucy Calkins , Graphic Novels , Writing , Eric Hand , Teaching Writing

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10 Ideas for Planning Engaging Novel Units

Believe it or not, but some of the novels and texts I hated the most in high school are now my favorite to teach. (Hi, The Great Gatsby and “The Crucible,” I’m looking at you!) Why?! Because I’m on a mission to make my novels engaging and relevant for my students. It’s my way of being who I needed when I was younger. Now,  Gatsby and “The Crucible” are often my students’ favorites, year after year, because of my obsession with planning engaging novel units. Each year, I make it a priority to transform a few of my most “boring” lessons from the previous years so I can add to my collection of favorite lessons. With this mindset, I’ve been able to collect a number of tried-and-true engaging lesson ideas, many that I can reuse for different novel units. If your novel units are getting stale, make engagement your goal for 2019. Commit to changing up at least one old lesson a month, and by the end of the year, you’ll have yourself a small but mighty toolbox of engaging lesson ideas.

If you’re ready to ditch the PowerPoint lectures, chapter reading guides, and boring worksheets and make 2019 the Year of the Engaging Novel Unit, then read on! In this post, I rounded up some ideas from a few fellow ELA teacher friends (because a few English nerds are better than just one). I’ve sprinkled in my own strategies, too. I hope these ideas help you plan engaging novel units for your students!

1. CURRICULUM MAPPING

Before you start penciling in all of these engaging activities, sit down to map out the “big picture.” Amanda Cardenas from Mud and Ink Teaching says that the first thing she does for every novel unit is get a clear picture of what direction the map for the unit is.  On her free curriculum map , Amanda lays out a plan for all of the most critical components of the unit so that nothing is missed. 

2. LEARNING STATIONS

Learning stations will enhance your novel units in ways that traditional whole-class teaching just can’t! Searching for a engaging pre-reading activity to preview setting, characters, and context? Want your students to analyze key excerpts from the text? Desperately in need of some small-group discussions because your whole-class ones are flopping? Looking for a way to tackle symbolism at the end of the text? Stations are the answer, and they will be your best friend during your novel units if you give them a chance. For more information on learning stations, check out my series of blog posts here:

• 10 Reasons to Implement Learning Stations in the Secondary Classroom
• How to Create Learning Stations to Engage Students
• How to Facilitate Successful Learning Stations

If you’re already planning and want to save time prepping your stations, check out my bundle of pre- and post-reading learning stations for ANY text.

3. ONE-PAGERS

A one-pager is a creative response to reading that students enjoy and that doesn’t take teachers eons to grade. But it must be scaffolded for many students. Read about how you can do that in this post from Melissa at Reading and Writing Haven  here . If you are interested in reading about more ways to assess comprehension without making students hate reading, check out this post .

4. “WHAT STUCK WITH YOU?” ACTIVITY WITH STICKY NOTES

Need a quick engaging activity or informal assessment? Grab the sticky notes! Lauralee from the Language Arts Classroom asks her students to find what is meaningful or what has “stuck” with them regarding the novel. If you need more specific questions, check out this post.

5. MINI-LESSONS & COMPREHENSION ACTIVITIES

Melissa from Reading and Writing Haven knows how important it is to monitor comprehension (not in the “I got you” kind of way, but from the “I really want to know what you understand” mindframe). Reading guides can be cumbersome, so she began focusing on specific standards and reading skills through mini lessons. Melissa models the skills for her class, and then they practice. She does this both with class reads and during choice reading units. Check out her  favorite reading activities  that work for any text.

6. SOCRATIC SEMINARS

Ashley Bible from Building Book Love believes that Socratic seminars are the perfect engagement tool to use with any novel. They are little to no prep for the teacher, foster independent reading skills, and allow student voices to be heard. You can read all of her tips and tricks for hosting varied and successful socratic seminars here: How to Liven Up Your Socratic Seminar

If you’re in need of ready-to-print Socratic seminar materials that work for ANY text, check out my bundle of everything you need for this student-led discussion that makes the kids (not you) do the hard work!

7. GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS

An easy way to transform a boring chapter guide or worksheet is to turn it into a graphic organizer. Not only does it make the task a little more engaging, but it’s great scaffolding, too! Lauralee from the Language Arts Classroom loves using graphic organizers to help her students show what they know during novel units or choice reading units. Check out her collection of graphic organizers here.

8. LITERARY LENSES

Another tool Ashley Bible likes to use when teaching novels is her Literary Lenses . She thinks it’s very important for students to learn to see a single text through various lenses in order to form a more well-rounded theory of the novel. You can read more about how she teaches critical lenses in this post: Creative Ways to Teach Critical Lenses

9. QUESTION TRAILS

If you’re looking to ditch your chapter study guides and find a more engaging strategy to quickly review comprehension, practice identifying vocabulary in context, or even work on analysis, then consider trying out a question trail in your next novel unit. This unique kinesthetic activity will help you break up the monotony that can sometimes sneak up during whole-class novels. A question trail gets students up and moving around the room on a trail of multiple choice questions. At each station on the trail, students answer a multiple choice question that sends them to the next station on the trail. If students answer each question correctly, they will travel to all stations and complete a full circuit with the correct sequence of stations. If you’d like more information on creating your own question trail, check out this blog post. For a create-your-own question trail template, check out this resource , and for a collection of all of my favorite ELA question trails, take a look at this bundle.

10. CHARACTER FUNERALS

If you teach a novel in which a character dies (nearly all of literature, right?), then this idea is perfect for hitting the standards in an engaging way AND mourning a beloved literary character. Whenever I host a character funeral, my students write eulogies or elegies to demonstrate mastery of the skills we are working on. Writing a eulogy or elegy can help students cite textual evidence, analyze point of view, analyze author’s choices/purpose, analyze theme, analyze symbolism…the list goes on! For example, when we read “The Crucible,” I host a funeral for John Proctor so that my students can analyze the purpose of Proctor’s death and how it connects to Miller’s allegory. Similarly, when we hold a funeral for  The Great Gatsby , my students must write a eulogy from Nick’s point of view in order to analyze his complex attitude toward Gatsby, and ultimately, Fitzgerald’s purpose in writing  The Great Gatsby . Their eulogies help them contemplate Fitzgerald’s symbolism and commentary on the American dream.

I hope these ideas have inspired you to plan engaging novel units that your students will love!

What are your favorite tried-and-true activities for whole-class novels? I would love to hear about them in the comments!

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