A graphic novel is a format, not a genre. It refers to a long-form work of sequential art, often with complex narratives and developed characters. The term "graphic novel" is used to describe any book in a comic format that resembles a novel in length and narrative development.

"Graphic Novel" is a format, not a genre. Graphic novels can be fiction, non-fiction, history, fantasy, or anything in-between. Graphic novels are similar to comic books because they use sequential art to tell a story. Unlike comic books, graphic novels are generally stand-alone stories with more complex plots.

Graphic novels are generally stand-alone stories with a beginning, middle, and end contained within a single volume. Comic books typically come in series, with stories spread out over multiple issues that can run indefinitely. Another notable difference is the narrative scope and complexity.

A single comic book is essentially a short story, while a graphic novel is a complete, novel-sized story. Otherwise, graphic novel design follows the same basic format as a comic. The pages will use panels to tell a visual story. The vast majority of the text will be dialog using speech bubbles associated with the characters in your panels.

Perhaps the biggest question of all is the format of your graphic novel. You can use one, two, three, or even four realistic panel pages, two, four and six abstract image pages, pictured novel pages in varying arrangements, or even a combination of all five formats to create your book.