The Importance of Inactivity in Storytelling

If you have ever created something or existed in a creative space, it is not uncommon to hear someone mention that a part of a story feels “plain” or “boring.” Our society is driven by action: going to work, being productive, staying constantly in motion in our careers and lives. In recent years, this notion has been more widely perceived as a negative aspect of our culture. Constant action is exhausting and can lead to burn-out quite quickly. In a storytelling sense, this effect is the same. Action- while interesting- is not always engaging, and constant emphasis creates the reverse effect. If every page in your comic includes a battle, it isn’t interesting, it’s monotonous. If every panel is a full bleed, it loses its importance. So, the best way to create tension and emphasize important moments in your story is through variety.

In a 2002 interview with Roger Ebert, Hayao Miyazaki, the co-founder of Studio Ghibli, spoke about the importance of “Ma” in his films, or “emptiness” in Japanese. 

“If you just have non-stop action with no breathing space at all, it’s just busyness, But if you take a moment, then the tension building in the film can grow into a wider dimension. If you just have constant tension at eighty degrees all the time you just get numb.”

 Hayao Miyazaki. Source: https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/hayao-miyazaki-interview

Speaking in reference to American films, but also his own film “Spirited Away”, Miyazaki talks about how including a pause in the tension can build it later on and improve immersion in a film. The fame and success of his films speaks to how successful this idea is. One of the most iconic moments of “Spirited Away” is arguably the scene on the train, where Chihiro waits for her stop. In this scene, she sits with No Face and her smaller companions as they travel away from the bathhouse, the setting in the movie with the most action and conflict. This scene directly follows the conclusion of No Face’s rampage and exile from the bathhouse, which adds to the intensity of its quietude.

Many American films are well-known for emphasis on action. As Miyazaki states in this interview, “the people who make the movies are scared of silence, so they want to paper and plaster it over. They’re worried that the audience will get bored. They might go up and get some popcorn.” He’s not wrong, the action genre has widely dominated the American film industry, so much so that repeated scenes and tropes of some of these films are widely known: coolly walking away from explosions, guns with seemingly endless bullets, and gratuitous non-stop violence.

Although many film-goers are aware of these tropes that have been built into our industry early on, these habits of constant action can be easy to fall into as a creator. 

It’s important to remember as a creator that every part of your work is intentional. In comics, this includes everything from the size of your panel borders to your word balloons breaking out of the panels. If you want a story to feel organic, you could opt to remove the panel lines and instead allow your panels to be organic shapes. If you want a story to feel more cartoonish, you can adjust your line weight and styling, but you can also break the fourth wall or play with character interactions between panels. However, the easiest way to pull a reader from a story is to use these changes without meaning.

While this situation applies to the problem with constant action in a story- that you can lose your audience- it also applies to how you tell your story on the page. Your audience is smart, and will pick up on when things are and are not working properly. It’s important to keep in mind your intention when you utilize different storytelling techniques.  If your word balloon is breaking the panel border, is it because it should be emphasized or because you merely ran out of room in the panel? If you are including a slanted panel border or overlapping panels, is it because you think it would look cool, or because you want to emphasize something in the panels? These are important things to keep in mind as a creator, because readers notice how these details can take away from your storytelling if done without meaning.

Many creators end up in these situations because they aren’t being purposeful in how they use their storytelling tools, but also because it can be easy to worry that your story is not “interesting” enough without something extra. Drawing things that are simple or “boring” can be incredibly difficult to do well. This cultural focus on continuous action often plays into our attitudes towards different types of stories. Despite autobiographical and slice-of-life comics being incredibly interesting genres, I’ve heard multiple times of how others view them as merely “drawing your life” and believe it to be unchallenging. However, it can be difficult to draw something as simple as going grocery shopping while still engaging a reader.
A great example of successful slice-of-life style comics would be the works of Emma J Elliott, also known as Pseudonym Jones online. In her webcomic “The Fanlee and Spätzle Super Show”, she shows the lives of Spätzle, Fanlee, and others as they navigate relationships, build their identities, and work towards personal growth. One of the most memorable strips that shows the importance of simplicity in storytelling is a scene of Spätzle and her partner Lentil at the grocery store. On the surface, this scene is about two people shopping for couscous, but it is also a presentation of Spätzle’s emotional struggle in their relationship. Nothing is said in this single page that would suggest this, but we can recognize it from just two panels.

Next time you’re creating a story, keep in mind how simplicity can emphasize action or emotion. Trust your audience and know that they will likely not step away because you took a moment to let the story breathe before things get more serious or intense. 

The HoneyDripper is the Savannah College of Art and Design’s juried comics and illustration blog, dedicated to publishing, promoting, and showcasing the finest in student work.​