This transcription project aims to create easy-to-read transcripts of comic pages that can be used by people with sight issues and searchable by search engines. The goal is to have a text version of the page that fully communicates the story and jokes. Much has been done already. We are left with two major tasks: creative work to bring the transcription to life, and cleanup. If you'd like to help, here's how to approach each task: ### Creative work ### Judiciously sprinkle the transcriptions with narration, if the dialog isn't enough on its own or if it would make the transcript more lively. Write in neutral American English. Here are the main things you'll be writing: ACTIONS AND SCENE DESCRIPTIONS: To describe a scene or action necessary for understanding the story, use asterisks and put it on a new line, like "*Lucy relaxes on a hill, watching the clouds.*" The sort of stuff you'd write in asterisks if you were in an RP. Keep the tense consistent: "Mike cries." "Paulo, bothered by Yashy, frowns." You can put these in the middle of panels - perhaps it reads better for a Lucy to say "MIKE!", *Mike widens his eyes*, Mike: What? TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: For broader technical transcription notes that aren't really about a character looking some way or doing something, use square brackets and place them at the start of the first panel where text transcription resumes, such as [An arrow, pointed to Paulo: dumbass] [A black panel.] or [The comic shifts to grayscale.] or mid-line like "Paulo: You god damn [censor bar] you are the [unintelligible squiggle] ever!" Try to use actions instead, transcription notes should be used rarely, most pages don't have them. CAPTIONS AND MISC TEXT: Standardize captions as as special kind of transcription note, like [Caption: Two days later]. Remove unnecessary sound effects. Also, if it's the [END], write it like that. "[END]" CHARACTERS NARRATING: If a character starts speaking in "captions" to tell as story, introduce it with an action like *Yashy recounts the story of when she first met Paulo.* followed by "Yashy (narrating): It all began 2 years ago…" The (narrating) can help distinguish the narrator from their own presence in the flashback. And, most of the time, you should write *Yashy's recollection ends.* or whatever to finish the flashback sequence. ##### WRITING TIPS ##### After working with some volunteers, I've come up with a few pieces of illustrated advice. These are common errors so please read through and understand. - Be brief. Avoid complex words and sentences, omit unnecessary info, pare everything down. - Not every panel needs a narrative line, but key expressions, scene changes and gestures can be worth including. If you were reading the page to a friend over the phone and wanted them to have a full picture of the characters, would you note that Mike shakes his fist? Maybe you would! It's subjective but I am sure you can find the right mix with enough experience. - *Lucy and Mike play a fighting game, versus each other.* -> *Lucy and Mike are playing a video game.* - *Mike and Lucy continue arguing, more agitated now.* Delete. It's not giving us any information that isn't immediately provided by the dialogue. It's fine to not write narration where the dialogue is enough. - *Daisy runs around the room, seeking out some kind of help.* -> Don't editorialise - don't describe her state of mind or intention unless that's some kind of secret only unlocked by viewing the drawing. She's running around the room, so only include the first part. - *Lucy opens the front door with a "creeeeeek" and finds Mike standing on the other side.* -> *Lucy opens the front door. Mike is standing outside.* No need for the sound effect, and don't be afraid of short terse sentences. Keep it clear and to the point. - *Screaming loudly and crying, Yashy clamours for attention.* -> *Yashy screams and cries, clamouring for attention.* The subject of the narration goes first, almost always. Blah does this. Blah does that. Keep it simple! (Also, this one might even be better if it was just *Yashy screams and cries.*) - If the transcript reads clunkily due to repetitive narration lines, try to write with at least a little variation. Lucy does this, Lucy does that, Lucy verb, Lucy verb. Maybe you can break it up with a different approach while still being clear and concise. - *Tapping a pencil against her cheek Daisy looks thoughtful.* -> Daisy makes a thoughtful expression, and taps the pencil against her cheek. - *Panel refocuses on Lucy.* Don't do this, it's not an action. In this case, "Lucy continues to wait." does the same job. You can also refer to the first 7 chapters of the transcription as your models for how a good transcription is written. Read a few! Get the vibe. Make yours similar. ### Cleanup ### Understand how transcriptions should be formatted, and check that each page fits the format consistently. PANEL SEPARATION: A group of lines is a panel. So one line break after a line of dialog, action or transcription note, but add two line breaks after a panel ends, so there's an empty line between panels. MISSING TEXT: Transcribe handwritten text for story/joke comprehension. Skip sound effects. LINE ORDER: Ensure dialog is in natural reading order. If a line is out of order, move it. CHARACTER NAMES: Confirm accuracy (some will be wrong) and label any "UNKNOWN:" characters. RARE CHARACTERS: "Lucy's mom:" "Gym teacher:" "Angry teacher:" "Random passerby:". Use descriptive names to aid comprehension, and be consistent. Imagine describing the character over the phone. MANY CHARACTERS SPEAKING AT ONCE: Use "Lucy and Mike:", "Rachel, Jordan and Matt:", or in cases where it fits, "Everyone:" BOLD: Bold with **double asterisks**. Use for loud or emphasized hand-written speech. UNDERLINES: Use __double underscores__ to indicate underlined text. Use __**bold and underlined**__ for bolded and underlined text. If a word ends with punctuation, bold/underline that too, unless it's a comma. IN-DIALOGUE SOUND EFFECTS: If you see sound effects in the middle of spoken dialog like "But I.. *sniff* honestly thought.. *choke*" use single asterisks like I just did. But if it's just, say, Mike with a "*snicker snicker*" beside him, replace it with an action line, like "*Mike snickers in the background.*" SYMBOLS: Use ♥ for hearts and ♪ for musical notes. If many surround the dialogue, just put one on either end with spaces: "♪ La la la ♪" or "♥ Mikie! ♥" ELLIPSES: BCB uses .. as a stylistic thing - ellipses can be either "…" or ".." Do NOT correct double dots to triple ones. Also, put a space after them, if they start a sentence: ".. I've tried." STUTTERING AND INTERRUPTIONS: Use double hyphens to indicate interruptions, such as "Mike: I love you, Luc--". You should do this even if the page has a different number of hyphens. Stuttering is generally a single hyphen like "W-wait! L-Lucy.." and you SHOULD emulate what's on the page. ### How to ### Register with the transcription editor (Link to be given privately) Then use it: https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/backstage/transcripteditor/ It's pretty straightforward. Cleanup is good to do FIRST. Then hand it off to someone to do the creative work - or do it yourself. Work with others to ensure nobody does overlapping work. Some might prefer to do cleanup vs creative work - they can be done separately. Track it on the spreadsheet, write your name in the notes if you are working on something. (Link to be given privately) And if you have questions - just ask in #group-project!