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kujago
Aug '15

Hello there! I'm Jet, and I'm new around here but I've been a long-time artist on Instagram (@kujago) and Reddit. I am currently writing a novel-sized story based loosely within the Assassins Creed modern day universe. Proper credit will be given, so no worries on that. The story is a completely original cast of characters save for one, who only makes a minor appearance.

This isn't me going "im writing a huge story guys" and then I quit 20 pages in. I have the entire thing outlined, and 120 pages written completely so far. I am nowhere near halfway. I will be posting the story on a subreddit (a personalized section of Reddit) where there will be weekly updates. This story will not be completed for a long while but I am VERY committed to it and would like to possibly post here as well to get a bigger and more art-centric audience.

My problem is that while I can draw fairly well and enjoy drawing/making comics, turning this story into a comic is too daunting of a task for me since I am also in college. A lot of parts are just dialogue too, which makes for boring sections (panels upon panels of a shot of a character with their mouth open haha). My question is: If I transfer written pieces onto let's say a blank black background with white text and post that, would that be violating anything? I COULD do something where it's 80% written and there's little doodles here and there explaining what's going on.

I know tapastic is comics, but it's also just a place for people to share creative pursuits. I hope this type of submission would be allowed, and if anyone would like to know more about my story, find me on instagram under "kujago". I frequently post drawings of the characters and little blurbs from the story.

Thank you for your time!

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    Aug '15

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    Aug '15
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UzukiCheverie
Aug '15

To give you the honest answer, no, you probably wouldn't be able to post that. You've said it already - Tapastic is a webcomic website. That's the only straightforward answer you need and you already know that.

Have you ever tried places like WattPad or FictionPress.net? (the latter being the original works sister site of FanFiction.Net lol). They're built for written works like your own, unlike Tapastic.

If I can be even more honest here, and frankly, a little bit harsh to kick you into shape lol if you really, really want to do it as a comic, and you have the skills, what's stopping you? Having other commitments like college is just, dare I say it, an excuse. There are people on here who are in school, working part-time/full-time jobs, and still find the time to make their comics because they care that much about the project they're doing. My own series, Time Gate: Reaper, is a 10 year project so far, and I probably won't be finished drawing it for the next 20+ years (and since I started it, I've been updating it every day, despite college and my job as a barista at Starbucks). Is it daunting? Yes. Is it intimidating? Of course. But I have a story I want to tell using the skills that I have, and by god I'm going to do it, and I think you can too smile

Instead of looking in the future, focus on the now. Maybe do one page a week to start. It doesn't have to be full color either - black and white or greyscale is also an option. There's no rush to jump into the ocean of webcomics right away, especially if you have other commitments at the moment. Set a schedule that works for you, and just go for it. It's one thing to not be able to do a comic because you lack the artistic skills, but if you already have some former training and know what you're doing, the only thing that's stopping you is yourself. And then when you're finished college, or are able to free up time, or maybe even some day, get to the point that you can make a living off your stuff, then you can consider changing the update schedules to twice a week, or three times a week, or every day, whatever floats your boat and doesn't run you ragged.

If you don't decide to do it in comic form on Tapastic, then that's your decision. You pick what works for you and you only. If you choose to do it as a novel, then do check out places like WattPad, do some "internet-browsing" of other writing-based websites. If you do it in novel form, those places will undoubtedly offer you better tools and a better experience than Tapastic will, as a website that's made for comics.

I hope that was able to motivate you in one way or another, haha. Whatever you choose to do, good luck!

puppetbomb
Aug '15

There's also an option to straddle the line by having a picture-book style piece, where there's a panel per X number of sentences.

After that, you can choose to slowly add more and more panels in future or existing chapters.

kujago
Aug '15
UzukiCheverie

Yeah thanks! I'll look into those. It's not a matter of anything stopping me from doing a comic, it's more that the story makes a lot more sense written than visually imo. I know my limits too, and I know that it'd be too big of a commitment for my current situation. It's not my like... magnum opus of all stories. I'm probably most definitely going to do a "main" thing down the line; this is just writing practice. So yeah, thanks for the reply, really appreciated!! smile I was interested in tapastic mostly because it's great for lesser known artists or writers to get noticed because of the great feature system. Not sure if those writing sites are the same but I'll check em out. Thanks!

RiverKai
Aug '15

Maybe it could be narrated above/below the panels illustrating the sentence? You could leave everything in there in terms of descriptions and split it up by sentences.

12 days later
qcbl
Aug '15

You might be able to do it but people on tapastic are expecting comics since that's what the site is designed for so the reception you get may not be worth your time. Having some images you might get away with it but figure out your goals with the project and find the best site to meet those goals. Pretty sure tapastic won't be the best.
I am not a writer but I assume there are other sites that are more designed for creative writing which would have a much better target audience already established. you'd get better feedback and recognition elsewhere I suspect.

Jrej
Aug '15

Your project does look interesting!

I think building your own website would allow more flexibility.
Nothing would stop you from posting an illustration with the text every now and then.
And you can still open a thread here in the Tapastic forums to see if anyone would be interested.

You seem on the right tracks to an amazing adventure anyway. Good luck to you!