- NARRATIVE -

 The process of panel to panel story telling utilizes juxtaposition but the story is the NARRATIVE. If you want to tell a story, project a feeling or simply express an abstract idea you still need to try to direct the 'plot' or story of the jam using constructively juxtaposed images, signs or signifiers. If you're starting a fresh page this is not a problem, just start the ball rolling with a pregnant idea. Feel free to find collaborators who are interested in continuing a specific idea, let them know what you're thinking and really collaborate!  

If you are the next artist in line on a page started by someone else, you need to think about how your panel(s) is going to direct the potential plot and what you can do to help flush out or build upon the work done by others before you. Talk to the first artist and see what they were doing. If they don’t have any suggestions, spend some time thinking about it and see if you can come up with something constructive. Then, when your done your panel, Feel free to find collaborators who are interested in continuing the idea, let them know and really collaborate!  

If you find yourself with a jam that has not yet jelled into a cohesive whole then you should try to find some way to bring the disparaging parts together rather than simply adding a new random element to the page. Use already present elements on the page to bring things together into a narrative structure that can be interpreted by a reader either literally or abstractly. See if the other artists are at the Jam and find out what intentions they may have had. Perhaps you can get the narrative on track and start a new page to continue the story, no reason a jam has to stop at one page. And again, feel free to find collaborators who are interested in continuing the idea, let them know and really collaborate!   

In success you will have achieved the ideal in jamming, collaborating with others to create a finished work of art.  

At times the most difficult moment in a jam is the ending, if every one before you has done well then it should be fairly simple to wrap up the story though you should still take a moment to consider options other than the most obvious ones. A good ending does not need to be a punch-line or a freekout, try to be imaginative and don't be afraid to experiment.  

As mentioned above, If you find yourself with a jam that has still failed to find it's path in the woods then it's up to you to come up with some kind of solution. Using the present elements attempt to tie everything together, don't be afraid to modify other panels on the page if it's necessary to rescue the whole so long as you do it with respect for the other jamers work. Try to add to the page rather than remove. 

Also it’s worth saying again, it is not necessary for a story to end if it reaches the bottom of the page. If the Jam thus far is progressing well and simply won't fit on one page, or two, or three, then finish that page in the most appropriate way you can imagine and start the next one to continue the narrative!  

Whatever part of the jam you do, beginning middle or end, try to maintain a sense of continuity, this can be done in unconventional ways, even with non sequiturs. But to complement the narrative, it's best done carefully, try to build an idea with each juxtaposition of the previous work and your contributions.