Do you have any personal rules that you follow?

[Zetsubonii]

For Jim's Days, I kind only have 1 rule :U It's basically to stay consistent :U Plot wise, I hate when stories aren't consistent with their writing like how Spider-Man has natural webbing one issue and the next, it's like the thought of it never came up anywhere :U Retcons, rewrites and retellings (if done poorly) are things I hate in stories, thus, I try to keep my own consistent :U

[Kura]

Don't cover characters with word bubbles. If it can't be avoided at least make sure nothing is in the way of their faces.

Don't let myself get stuck on a page redrawing the same panel over and over again, accept that sometimes I'm just going to have iffy panels, they're not all going to be perfect. Settling with it and moving on to the next task is far better than not moving on at all.

Don't let blue screens and other forms of data and progress loss stop me. Sure it sucks and will slow me down and sometimes I need a short break, but just get back to redoing the work as soon as possible and don't rage quit, despite how much it sucks it still needed to get done, the sooner it's done the sooner I can move back to progressing.

Be happy with what I am able to accomplish, take into account that I am crippled and because of my health cannot perform as well or as fast as other people, comparing myself to people who can do things outside of my physical limitations will only cause me to overlook everything I was able to accomplish despite it. My work is not the best and will never be the best, nor should I expect it ever will be, but it's still good, it's still MY accomplishment, and despite what it's lacking I am still happy with it.

[KoreanTacos]

For my series I like to make sure that if I post a strip that I find it either A) humorous or B) makes me question something. The other is making sure each character gets a chance to show up in one strip a month.

[phen]

Personal rules are awesome self-motivators, I love having them. Plus, they keep your work in check. And for most indie comic creators, it's always good to have some self-discipline regarding your work. Personal rules can double as work checklists that keep you organised and focused. Now after that parade of words, I only have a few tiny ones. X]

• Bubble-less page prep. I try to make every page with full-on illustrative quality so that I can offer bubble-free versions with just the panels and art. Working art behind speech bubbles is so easy and fast now in digital programmes, there's very little reason not to. Plus, it sharpens those drawing skills even quicker~
• Two to tango. Even with really tight deadlines, after thumbing chapters, I insist on working one at least 2 pages in one sitting. Since I plan on printing in the future, it helps better organise them for spreads and I can get a flow going across page compositions that create a solid rhythm. It seems no matter how much planning I put into my thumbs, they change a lot when I start gridding out panels and gutters in Photoshop.
• Devil's in the details. I mention this a lot because it is so fun: I ALWAYS work a tiny little devil head into each page after I've finished it up. Somewhere, as I go over the dialogue, the art, and the overall feel, I'll find a nice little hidden place to paint in my devil. Proof that I've looked over the page twice, thrice, etc. for mistakes (since like many others I am my own editor, aaa) before moving on!

[AnnaLandin]

v i s u a l c l a r i t y .

A reader should never be looking at my page and wondering which panel is supposed to be read in which order. Speechbubbles should always be easy to follow. There should be no confusion regarding the characters' position in relation to each other - no breaking of the 180-degree rule unless absolutely necessary - and the action of the page should work together with the reading-order. Most of the movement should be from left to right, etc.

[mariusthered]

i try to break up speech so no more than 20 words in a bubble.
when it comes to writing i have decided to keep religion out of it, i might hint here and there but that's all. on the whole religion causes too much argument so best left alone in my book.

i try to keep everything done for drama, so consider "camera angles" when it comes to sensitive scenes ( such as people undressing and the like)

[joannekwan]

1. Like @Savannah, I have to have my speech bubbles in a clear cascading order, or very little down to up eye movement.
2. If I can't fit a wide angle shot into a page, I have to vary the camera distance and angle, unless used for comedic effect.
3. I try to avoid covering important art with speech bubbles, unless used for comedic effect.
4. With each new scene/location, have at least a small establishing shot with background or furniture/objects indicative of the setting.
5. I must finish a thought segment in a page or page-set.

[jurinova]

My personal rules are:

• Cut down on the dialogue. My scripts are always way longer than what ends up on the actual pages. I know some people enjoy long pieces of dialogue but I try to keep it shorter, so the story can keep moving forward faster. For me there's really no point in conversations that don't add to the plot or the character development. I also tend to be more of a visual storyteller, so I try to tell us much as I can in pictures rather than words.

• Choose colours carefully. I try to use colours to my advantage as often as I can and so I try to pick colours that best serve the story. For example my comic takes place in several different locations, so having different colour schemes for each one helps readers to identify locations easier. (At least I hope so.)

• If something doesn't work, redo it. Of course, not when the page is finally done but in the process. I've often drawn really nice looking panels but they didn't flow right, so I re-did them. It hurts to erase large efforts but the final result will be better for it. I've also re-written entire scenes right before I got to them because I realized that it didn't work as well as it could. It takes time to redo something but I think it's worth it.

But most important rule for me is:

• Don't be afraid to push your limits! By this I mean drawing things I've never drawn before or things I know I suck at. For example I absolutely cannot draw snowy scenery at all. It always ends up looking flat. So what did I do? I include snowy scenes in my comic. It's the most difficult scenes and panels that usually become my favourites, because I put so much effort into them and it paid off.

[cleo_san]

Well, I've been drawing comics for several years now and aside from some technical rules I follow, the most important one is:

1) Have fun and love what you draw.

If you don't feel or like what you're drawing it will probably suck. At least that goes for my drawings. =)

Aside from that I only follow a few simple rules to make it easier to read my stories:

1) Make the horizontal spaces between the panels broader than the verticak ones
2) put the speech bubbles in the left or right upper corners to support the rearing flow and make sure they don't come out of anything inappropriate like a butt! XD
3) and I agree with @jurinova - push your limits! If you're not working FOR anyone you can use every scrap of paper to experiment, to learn and to basically run wild on your paper playground! =)

[monotone_ink]

My rule is to make sure the entire page looks nice and pretty, and also has a comfy flow to read.

: )

[neonmeres]

There are three essential rules I follow when I work on my comics:

It needs a theme or a message which drives the story.
It needs a simple story which can be resumed in one sentence.
It needs a clear source of tension/ conflict which pushes the plot stakes.

[KSlinger]

I don't have a list on my desk or anything but here's what I try to consider while working:

1. If you can say it without words, do that.

2. Try to include a very minor cliff hanger at the end of every page to keep things rolling, even if it's just a hand turning a door knob.

3. Go with your instinct with regards to dialogue/conversational pauses. Even if it looks ludicrous written down on paper conversations are NOT perfectly timed and people don't always say what they mean. Trust your experience in this.

4. Get your initial ideas down as fast as you can then put them away for a bit. If you can look back on them later without going 'wah?' it's probably good stuff.

5. Roll the dice with designs unless you already have a theme in mind. The readers are at your mercy when it comes to how your characters will be remembered and what looks weird on the first page might be their crowning feature two chapters down the line.

6. Get out your head and into the characters shoes for tricky action scenes. Literally try and do it. Consider where you are standing, what is in reach, how you feel, and where the danger is. Are you burdened? Does it hurt anywhere? The reason I do this is becsuse it helps with weeding out plot holes you may otherwise overlook, like whether or not a character is using their non-dominant hand by mistake or is being shown to reach something that would be impossible at their height.

7. The source of light changes everything. If I stood next to a blue light my skin would not be the same colour as the foundation on my bathroom sink. The sun, the grass they're stood on, even the colour of the wallpaper will reflect off of them in some small way.

8. If you're lost without a reference just go get one, it's perfectly normal and okay!

[Mharz]

Here's some of the rules I do my best to follow

1. Save frequently. You can't predict what might happen whether it's a power outage or just your PC decides to troll you.

2. Be flexible and open to changing the layout to a better one even if you already did the thumbnails.

3. Variation. Try to avoid stiff standing pose with hands on both sides doing nothing. Make the character do small things like hand gestures instead of just standing there. If there are 2 or more character in the scene they should have different poses and not just standing together stiff unless the scene really calls for it.

4. Camera angles. If a scene involves a lot of talking. Creating panels with different angles will add variety to the scene even if they're not doing much.

5. If it doesn't work one way try the opposite way. This is actually more on the posing when I think the pose won't work or it'll look too stiff I change it like for example the if head looks at the left then the body will facing slightly to the right will be a more interesting pose rather than both the head and body are in the same direction. (of course there are exception to the rule)

6. Don't cramp too many speech bubbles in one page.

7. Use every trick you know to finish the work fast and efficient. Even if other's say it's cheating like using 3D models for bgs if you can make it work beautifully then it's okay. (of course things like stealing other image or art is still a no no)

that's pretty much it.

[WakaXO]

My number one personal rule is: work smart, not hard. I put a lot of effort into the planning of each page, so when it comes down to making the page it's faster. That includes checking the composition, making sure the word bubbles flow, making sure all the directional cues have the correct movement, checking character placement and making sure all little details are in their proper place. I absolutely hate having to go back and fix things I've forgotten or did wrong, so I put a lot of effort into the planning of the page/scene/chapter and so on.

[Kamikaze]

The team I work with on Kamikaze has a few rules that we do our best to follow:

• Save. Save. OMG SAVE. Losing files sucks.

• Break pages into as much of a beginning-middle-end format as
  possible.

• Leave space for conversation.

• If you can SHOW it don't TELL it. We don't always get away with this,
  but we do our best to make sure it happens. 95% of the time we're
  successful.

• Stay away from flashbacks as much as possible.

• Splash pages are paired with full pages. So when we have a splash
  page both go up.

• Something must be posted up every release day, Even if it's just a sketch.

• Continuity is a thing. We do our best to make sure the details stay
  right, from character design, blood spatter, stains on clothing, and
  even back ground details. Again, not always successful, but 95% of
  the time we are!

• Social media is a thing and we have to keep up with it. Every comment needs some kind of response. Even if it's a simple thumbs up. The team wants to make sure our readers know we see them.

• Every 'volume' of our work is made up of 5 acts.

• Give a chance for the reader to breathe. For every high stakes scene we do our best to give a quiet moment of what Hiyo Miyazaki describes as 'ma'.

• Characters cannot be designed arbitrarily. Everything from shape to
  color language and props need a reason to be there.

• Stick to color rules established for setting and themes.

• Keep playing with everything from composition, color space, layout, writing. We cannot get better if we don't allow ourselves to experiment.

• SPELLCHECK

[Houndstooth]

1. clear flow of energy in characters and composition. In characters, it's mostly talked about in animation but it's really important to make it clear which way the characters' energy is flowing and to use composition of the scenery to draw the eye towards the key actions and the next panel.
2. work in page batches of 3-5 depending on scene length, this prevents mistakes in inking and colouring objects in the scene and forgetting where characters/objects are in the space. And lighting direction.
3. Kill Your Darlings: if you've been struggling on the lineart for the panel for so long you're getting frustrated and upset, erase it all. Take a break, work on something else for a little bit, then try again rather than trying to salvage something just because you'd already spent time on it.
4. back up pages and work!!! Save regularly, save externally, save in different file types and names. The last thing you want is a nearly-finished page to get corrupted while you're adding the final touches.

[Shanny8]

1) I always try to keep the action of the panel & page clean- I want my readers to be able to tell what is going on with the page. Even if I remove the lettering & sound FX, I want them to at least have a good idea of what is transpiring...

2) Yeah, I'm a lettering nut, so I try to keep the lettering easy to read as well. That involves cascading balloons & easy connecting balloons so that you know who said what. When using sound FX, I try to use a font that reflects in the sound itself, as well as make sure it is well placed and not covering important patches of artwork. I try to limit the amount of dialogue that is spoken, but make it just as meaningful; however there are a few occasions when I have to get pretty wordy.

3) I try to keep the page interesting- ESPECIALLY when I'm doing "quiet scenes". I change angles, hand gestures, shift facial expressions- to make the flow of that quiet action somewhat exciting.

4) Save save SAVE- I dont have this issue anymore now that I have the new laptop, but with my old one I had to. There were a couple of times during working on Ray Thunder before I found out that I need to eventually get a new laptop, that the old one would freeze up when I was trying to color pages on Photoshop & listen to streaming music. I ended losing large chunks of progress & had to start over again.

[TristanJensen]

1. No unnecessary nudity (so far it hasn't been necessary, of course it's always an option)
2. Run all jokes past people before making/posting them
3. I has to be easy to read in general, if it's not I'll go back and make sure it's clear and concise.
4. spell. check. the. comic. before. posting. it.
   ... Yeah, that's it. Anything else goes ^^

[digitalvalium1]

Never ever ever ever EVER narrate unless absolutely necessary.

Don't use thought bubbles to explain an emotion. Learn to draw it first.

Those two are my main directives lately as I have a tendency to over-analyze, and beat a dead horse until it's in the glue bottle, and then once more just for good measure.

[tomatobird]

Idk how hard and fast my rules are but i do realize i do like to keep some boundaries for myself

-CUT down on dialogue!! I used to write out a full text script but i've found it more useful to plan out scripting while thumbnailing, that way I can coordinate visual info as well as verbal info. Usually it turns out that i can cut the amount of words in half due to using visuals/body language/etc to convey the same meaning. Also, make sure dialogue isn't repetitive! People speak repetitively irl but when reading its very irritating to see.

-Try to make it clear WHERE the characters are, spatially. This one is...harder to follow and i feel like I've gotten slightly better at this since i started my comic, but I try to make a point to establish the setting as well as I can so I know where people are positioned, esp. if there are multiple characters.

-Basic composition rules–make sure that there's a good direction to the panels, that the space is filled in a satisfying way... i could talk more abt composition because its one of the things I do think i'm actually decent at but thats a whole 'nother issue haha.

-CONTRAST! I work in grey scale and its all to easy to get lost in a sea of middle gray, so i try and make sure that there's variation ahah

• Content-wise, there's keeping things fairly restrained in terms of sexual/violent content I guess. This one is weird bc its less of a "personal rule" and more like... something that kind of automatically happens whenever I make a story. My comic definitely has some serious implications to it (lol a kid gets beat up by an adult offscreen on the second page) and when planning I did originally think about out some....more angsty parts to it, due to some of the grimmer things I learned about while doing research. However, while actually making the comic I ended up cutting a LOT of that out, for one due to being kind of a sensitive soul and secondly because I realized that, well, my story could function perfectly well without it and sometimes leaving serious stuff implied can have a better effect than trying to be /edgy/ and explicit. Also, I kind of make work with my younger self in mind, thinking about how i really liked stories that addressed serious issues without necessarily being gratuitous.

those are the only ones i can really think of at the moment, but yess!