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Jan 9

Hello everyone! I'm illo! I haven't visited the forums for a long time! Do you guys think that a collab among an artist and a writer where the work of the writer is getting adapted is possible?

I have given up on adapting my work into comic/manga but I honestly wonder if someone has actually make it work!

And even if the collab is initiated are things going to last? I personally if I was an artist I would find it kind of hard to commit to the collab

If anyone has made it work please feel free to comment

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    Jan 9
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    Jan 16
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I'd love some other responses on this but I would say more often than not no it cannot work. Especially if it is a one-sided collab like 'a writers work getting adapted'.

Hiring an artist to draw your story and paying them to do so? Sure I imagine that usually works to some extent, but it's not a collab at that point in my opinion.

For a collab to work, it would need a strong foundation. Both parties interested in the story, contributing to it and executing it. Creatives are strong-willed by nature I find so at the end of the day if you are not on the same level you're going to butt heads and it will dissolve from there.

If you really want to see it made just do it yourself. Learn the skills you need to make it happen and it will. That's my policy anyway, but I am a control freak. LMAO!

I made it work:

when it comes to collabs i often take the role of the writer.

-In these cases i check artist's skills, work ethics and if their style fits my project. If the artist fulfills this criteria, i check if they are available for freelance work, and if that's the case, we agree a price and i hire them and pay them for drawing and/or coloring my comic.

When negotiations are ready, i give them a sketch/script so they have a clear idea of what i need. Sometimes i write down which details are important and i am always willing to answer any questions they have.
There are occasions in which they give really cool visual and artistic suggestions and if i like them i accept them.

After they do the drawing, i check to see if there's any mistake or adjustment needed, and if there are not any fixes or after after fixes are solved, i transfer them the money as soon as possible.

To make sure i can pay them, i save some cash and make a budget estimating the cost per page and pages needed.

Hope this helps!.

Well, I believe it can work.

There needs to be clear communication, understandable liberties, depending on the aspects of the agreement like payment or not, then the terms for commitment and such should be discussed and respected. You cannot pressure much a person that is assisting you as a favor, not as an employee.

To me personally, for a proper collaboration to work, the people involved need to be either friends or motivated by a cause. Like the DCBBB (DeanCas BigBang) where authors write fics for the pairing and then they are matched with artists that apply to draw for their selected stories or what its left, commitment is there already by the rules of the activity and the penalty if not delivering things on time, demanding payment or clashing with the other party its to be blacklisted from participating again.

There is also very important as well of adaptations, and its that if its a novel, then ideally an artist will require the story to be written in comic script format for a better understanding. Not the narrative text that will end up in a very tiring task, some writers need to develop the skill to write a comic script or even cooperate with storyboards / references.

The easier you make the work for the other half, the more possible it is for you to receive your creation.

I would say unless you pay the artist, no it won't. The amount of work of a writer is not comparable to an artist. I can write a script in 2 days with dialogue rewrites. Those 2 days are not full days. Usually going back and forth to it a couple times a day to reread and tighten it up. Takes 4 days to rough the layouts, rough pencils, inks, and then color. That is a significant difference.

Actually, probably on the rare side of things, I did have a collab finished with an artist on a novella. It was both our first time, and looking back at it, I am peeved at my script writing. But, it was a learning experience.

Nothing long in webtoon size. It made me realize how hard it is to be an artist. There was another very short one with just the storyboard. I plan on taking a Crack at it again tomorrow.

It can work with very small projects which don´t require much time
and even then one team member will have to do most of the work.
Collabs for bigger projects don´t work

You need to be an artist in this kind of collaboration to understand the answer to what you're asking. It doesn't matter how good you think your story is, illustrations can carry a terrible story very far. And the thing that sucks for the artist is they aren't the author therefore the general audience don't care about the artist. This is a slap in the face for their efforts put into a story they "never" wrote. The best way to avoid emotional damage for the artist would be financial compensation. If the artist is making money they don't need to care whether people recognize them or not, after all you're the writer, people will look for you more than the artist.

So if you're passionate about turning your novel into a comic, you better make sure you're passionate about finding an artist.

I'd say it depends.

I think it's unbalanced and doesn't work when it's an author wanting their writing to get adapted into art for free, especially since the artist probably doesn't have the same love for the project as the writer. And I feel like a lot of comic artists write their own stuff!

However, I think collabs where an artist is looking for someone to help them with their story can work. That way, they're making the story collaboratively, and it may be the case that an artist loves making comics but struggles to get their idea into a cohesive story.

Ngl I've been wanting to help artists write stuff as a collab, but I only ever apply for it if an artist is looking for a writer. You have to be willing to adapt and accept input from the other person. Haven't gotten to do a collab like that yet, but it'd be fun to one day hopefully :hohoho:

(also it very much helps if the writer knows to make comics I reckon, esp as storytelling through art is an important skill)

Honestly, no. The collaborations that I've heard of that "work" are things like song duets or projects where both artists get equal footing: Simon and Garfunkel, Hall and Oates, or even Spielberg and Lucas.

The collaborations work because everything is laid out on paper and people know what they're contractually supposed to do. Even professional productions have everything planned and structured out.

Unless the writer has the money to pay the artist and a plan to recoup their money and the artist has a strong work ethic and good morals - I don't see a collab working in the long term.

A collab will work if both parties agreed on what they want to work on.

I am a novel writer and I don't draw. I work with an artist [paid] but I am also open to work with an artist [unpaid] if the artist wants to adapt my novel into a comic series, and credit it to me as the author based on the genre I have created.

I believe if both trust each other and have that commitment to reach a certain goal, then why not.

I hope I am not off topic about this. ^^