Product Description
99 Ways to Tell a Story is a series of engrossing one-page comics that tell the same story ninety-nine different ways. Inspired by Raymond Queneau's 1947 Exercises in Style, a mainstay of creative writing courses, Madden's project demonstrates the expansive range of possibilities available to all storytellers. Readers are taken on an enlightening tour-sometimes amusing, always surprising -through the world of the story. Writers and artists in every media will find Madden's collection especially useful, even revelatory. Here is a chance to see the full scope of opportunities available to the storyteller, each applied to a single scenario: varying points of view, visual and verbal parodies, formal reimaginings, and radical shuffling of the basic components of the story. Madden's amazing series of approaches will inspire storytellers to think through and around obstacles that might otherwise prevent them from getting good ideas onto the page. 99 Ways to Tell a Story provides a model that will spark productive conversations among all types of creative people: novelists, screenwriters, graphic designers, and cartoonists.
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 Boring and annoying ( babeler )
The same one page action, told 99 times in 99 different ways (aka an exercise in style the Queneau way).
When "99 ways..." got out, I was curious enough to buy it (and obviously read it). Also, I liked the idea at the base, and I usually love "style exercises". But. Matt Madden fails completely at this divertissement. After a few pages, the exercise becomes rhetorical, and it lacks the imagination and creativity it would need. Yes, there are many ideas, but almost all of them are carried out in a rather mechanical (and possibly dull) way. And even the few good ones look highly undeveloped. In the end it was not only boring to read, but worst: it was annoying.
I would indeed recommend this book to people learning to make comics, but only to them. Though, given all the good reviews "99 ways..." got, maybe it's just me.
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 You Don't Have to Love Comics ( altner )
I couldn't disagree more with the reviewer who dismissed this clever, funny, and insightful work as boring and unworthy. OK, it's NOT great literature and there are certainly more scholarly books out there to read if you want to work on enhancing your creativity, but let's not be snobbish about this: the book is a fast, fun read the first time through and delivers even more rewards when you go back to it. Madden is a talented cartoonist, and his purposeful imitations of the styles of other famous cartoonists is used to great effect in some of the exercises.
Did this loosen me up and make me more creative? Am I now ready to write the great American novel? Well, not yet. But it has gotten me thinking about new approaches to plotting and characterization, and I think that's the whole point. Thanks, Matt!
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 Once again, I shake my head at an alleged "masterpiece" ( bear_books )
The promo copy states that 99 ways to tell the same situation may seem boring but, guess what--it is. Repeatedly. The book's copy (and any discerning reader knows that a copywriter never lies to sell product) has said that this book has found a broad audience, which implies that if so many people got snookered into buying this book (many of whom were undoubtedly required as a course requirement) it must be worthy. "99 Ways" has allegedly received wide-spread praise on the Internet--well, what more needs to be said? Such a level of mature, intelligent discourse is not to be discounted easily.
No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people? Once upon a time, would-be writers turned to the great masters to find the elements of style that suited them, that were worthy of emulation. To do this, they had to READ--and still do.
But now, "graphic novels," which are merely highbrow trade paperbacks--substituting as lengthy, more expensive comic books with literary, psychological, allegorical pretensions--are gaining in popularity in inverse proportion to the drop in consumers' attention spans.
I subscribe to the old saw: if you would create good or even great work, then read or view (i.e., books, articles, essays, movies, plays) examples of the same as widely as possible.
If you are a would-be comic book or graphic novelist writer/
artist, then this book may serve you well, especially if you are a young adult.
Otherwise, save your money. They are no great secrets to be gleaned here. But there are great many other works that will help new writers gain tips on craft. Most, unfortunately, have far more text than pictures.
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Great for teaching and learning about comics, and well priced
I teach comic art at the California State University, Fullerton and in workshops. Matt Madden's book is the best I have found to present complex ideas quickly about form in the language of comics. "99 Ways" is a perfect tool to showcase how your visual storytelling would function if you used, say, a close-up vs. a full shot, a vertical panel vs. a horizontal one, or if you used a specific genre, such as film noir, manga, and so on. People studying comics get it right away. They appreciate the strengths and limitations of each approach and device Madden presents, and his examples make the point better than long verbal discussions! What I also found very attractive is the very reasonable price (one that most students can afford). Combine it with McCloud's "Understanding Comics" and you've got a power punch of a combination for learning and teaching comic art (these two books complement each other perfectly).
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Brilliant! ( juliejordanscott )
I need to preface my review with this: I am not usually
a comic-book-reader. It is not that I don't appreciate
the art form, I simply never really think about comics
nor do I consider graphic novels among my preferred
genre.
I picked it off the shelf without looking inside, I
thought, "Hmmm, perspective - let me check this out"
as I had just taught a writing workshop using different
perspectives and was astonished to find the insights,
awarenesses and "a-ha's" the exercises had upon
my students.
Well, they haven't seen anything yet in comparison to
what they will be able to connect with upon experiencing
Madden's brilliance in this simple book.
This book would be excellent for people whose job includes
telling a story - it would also serve and be beneficial
for those who are wanting to increase in problem solving
ability and think differently.
One of the intriguing bonuses is learning a lot of new
words (like "Emanata" - a purely comic book term - read
the sources in the back for a complete definition.)
As a creative person, it opens up all sorts of different
approaches, thus inspiring the reader-creative-maven to
approach their art differently....which is the
foundation of any life or artistic growth and
transformation.
The first word I scribbled on my page as I was reading
this volume was "Brilliant!" and that summarizes this
book perfectly.
Brilliant!
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