Review: Writing for Comics with Peter David
This is a really bad book and you should not waste your money on it. I mean just skimming it in the book store I should have known it was going to be total crap, but I wanted to have a little faith in David and gave it a try.
The biggest problem is that there is no order to the book. Most writing books start with smaller concepts and build on those. David wrote his like a stream of conscious where it just keeps shifting into the next subject without any real connection. The book has chapters, but you only know that from the table of contents. You could never tell by reading it.
The second problem with the book is that David has nothing important to say. Every concept he talks about is done very lightly and better covered by other writers. At one point David it admits this saying, “Scott McCloud has written about matters such as these at far greater length, and with far more expertise, than I could hope to achieve.”
Everything David writes about is a diet-version. At one point he talks about the traditional three act structure. He does his best to explain plot points and pacing, but it’s a generic point of view that can easily be found on numerous websites. It would have been nice if David elaborated or added his own view/twist to these types of things. Instead, if you want to know about plotting, structure, or pacing you’re better off reading anyone of Syd Field’s screen writing books.
I love the part where David talks about character arcs. He tries to explain how characters need to grow from the beginning of their journey till the end of their journey. He also makes a comment about mentor figures being popular, but doesn’t really spend time explaining archetypes. It was so frustrating to read because he was clearly talking about Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, but he did a hack job of explaining it. If you want to really know about this stuff than you are better off reading Campbell's "Hero with a Thousand Faces" or Christopher Voight's "The Writer's Journey."
Another odd thing David does is constantly makes pop culture references. I understand the need to reference well known material to make your points, but he over does it. There are times when he says “Look at Pirates of the Caribbean where they did blah blah blah..” when it would have been better if he had taken the time and elaborated more.
“Writing for Comics with Peter David” is too watered down for anyone over the age of ten to read or gain from. Do not waste your time buying it or even skimming it for free when in a bookstore.