First comic experiences

[surin]

yeah definitely, I recently discovered about myself that I am a discovery writer (someone who writes their story as they go, without a plot outline and etc) and before that I have been trying to force myself to know the middle and the end of my story before starting which in return made me stare blankly at my story (for months) and feel hecka insecure but now that I have discovered there are more ways to write I am actually quite nervous about the scripts and getting stuck, xd about the characters I am actually quite excited cause I feel like I will bring my ocs to life and honestly they are my babies i really hope I will be able to do them justice in my comic ^^

[surin]

thank you again haha I hope I will able to write my whole story before starting so I can know where I am going cause I can’t outline for the life of me xdd
I honestly admire people who can and have the self discipline to start with a small project, tried that became too emotionally attached to my characters and the story got bigger too fast haha~

[Inspector_Spinda]

It depends on your personality and how much you tend to self criticize. Other issues can arise depending on your level of skill. Some things I've struggled with is the pacing panel to panel, showing not just talking heads and using a variety of shots, finding good colors for the background that don't overwhelm the foreground colors, scripting and coming to a moment where you're not sure what line to used to connect to the next plot point, etc, etc.

[surin]

Thanks
There are so many things to learn but ngl i find it quite exciting ^^

[rajillustration]

my biggest fear with my first comic was that people would be mean to me--but then I posted and no one saw it. So it was like "oh sweet! No one was bothered!" followed by "oh. Kinda disappointing" so like...my advice is to just go for it, and know that most of your readers will be really nice and supportive, even if they don't comment or leave a like or sub. The views that you get on this website aren't eternal, and it doesn't define your hard work. Just keep at it and enjoy the process. Do it for you.

[surin]

thank you sm <= I defiantly relate to your fear here haha

[arbiterswake]

I just released my first webcomic about a week ago and honestly the only outlook I am having right now is to keep pushing forward.

If you know you have a solid story and pace yourself in a way that works for you then a lot of that pressure is resolved on its own. Remember to keep your expectations realistic and don't worry too much about others' work, or how your comic will be perceived.

My outlook is that I can only get better with time, so keep posting and don't look back! It's easier to go back and rework aspects that you don't like once you've finished!

[darthmongoose]

It's good to go into your first comic assuming that it won't be the best comic you ever make, and you'll probably make a lot of common beginner errors because there are lots of things new creators don't know and aren't sure where to ask like "how do I make speech bubbles look good? What kind of fonts are appropriate? Are there rules I should know about the width of gutters? Some people work more of these out intuitively through observation and/or strong google skills for looking up tutorials than others. I made pretty much every possible mistake on my first comic. Saved them out at the wrong size, tried to hand letter without planning out the space, didn't think out the spacing on my panels, didn't draw out my character designs first to keep them consistent, didn't thumbnail pages before drawing them so I used the space really poorly... every possible mistake I could make, I made it! It's just as well my earliest comics aren't anywhere people would find them online really.

Some good resources to get started would be:
Buy a copy of the book "Making Comics" by Scott McCloud. It's just a really solid book on comic creation that most pros will recommend. It's in comic format too so a fun read!
Go to Blambot and get a decent free dialogue font like Anime Ace, Blambot Classic or Blambot Casual. Something that's easy to read.
Oh and also read their tutorials on speech bubbles and lettering!

Lettering Tips

Don't be scared to ask the community here for advice. Comics are pretty complicated, so there's no shame in not knowing how to do stuff

[Puck]

very good advice my friend

[Puck]

Don´t overthink it when it´s your first comic. Choose one simple style and try to stick to it without comparing it to other comics or trying to draw better than the simple style.

The best way to do it, in my opinion, is to first have a story idea, start, finish, middle.
Then do the characters, it helps me to know a lot of details about the character. Where
was he born, parents, relationships, every little detail you can imagine like he doesn´t
like classcial music and churches. Some of those things are maybe not important and
don´t have to play a role in the comic but those things help you to know your character
and the character gets allive in the best case and you know how the character reacts.
The character is grumpy and often mean, it´s easier to know why he is always grumpy
and then you know how he reacts in certain situations.

After the character descrition you can write the story. It will be way easier when
you know the people and can picture them in your head.

When the script is finished you can create character sheets for every character,
so you know how tall they are, what clothes they wear and you can check with
the character sheet when you draw the comic.

This is all just theory/ a tactic I try to use. I´m far from being good at this

[mickpaulusma]

I have a terrible fear of finishing, but communities like this help. Also, just keep at it! I know it sounds dumb but the pesky little doubter in our head will do everything it can to sabotage us. Also, keep to a routine (something I struggle with!).

I love reading how to's and theory on storytelling, narratives and sequential art but there really isn't any better way of learning than by doing (easy for me to say, it took me quite a while to get here!).

[Puck]

do you know the end of your story? maybe start of with one page comics.
I did some one page comics with a simple style and that really helped me.
I also did some 24 hours / 24 pages comics. It´s insane but it worked even
if I never finished any comic before I started my first 24 hours comic day

[surenlicious]

I've actually recently began working with comics myself and I must say I never thought thumbnailing would be so helpful. XD I realize there are so many ways in which you can make a comic and it sometimes can be a little overwhelming. But I wanted to strengthen my art skills and do my novel justice by expanding on its world visually. So I took the leap.

[Eiranyx]

When I was about to write my comic, my first issue is: I don't have enough will power to start a web comic because I'm always afraid that I'm not good enough.
But then someone told me, "You know, if you keep on barricading yourself, you'll always think that's the level of your ability and it won't help you grow... step outside your comfort zone, you will find out you're much better than not stepping outside of it all." I took to heart that advice.
I took a step outside my comfort zone --- perhaps I could say too big of a step because I joined a contest in webtoon making instead of self publishing it as my first step --- my reason? is whether I win or lose, I can learn something from it I mean the judges gives feedback as much as they can and I would be lucky if they gave me feedback as well so its good to take a risk.
fast forward, I didn't win, but I gained something more than winning -- it is the fact that I finally grew my confidence to put my story out there because hey, my comic was already seen by judges who are experts on webtoon/webcomic, they already said it has a lot of potential, wasn't it enough validation for me to put my work out there? wouldn't it be better to share it to people as well? and so I self published it here. Through people who read my works, I can see what I need to work on, what they like about my work and the fact that I can look back and see myself getting better over time means that I'm growing. ^^

[ble]

In my experience, the first comic is the hardest one. It's common for most, that the first comic will take a lot more time, because of the lack of experience, or anxiety or having big expectations.

For my first comic, I was thinking "oh I had this idea in my head for so long, after multiple rewrites and reboots, is finally done, it's gonna be my masterpiece and I would make a living from this". Yeah, no. After 2 years since working on the initial idea, and after REBOOTING 3 TIMES, it ended as a BIG failure with zero subs and comments.

That's when I learned to never marry an idea, to not wait too much, and instead try different things, and don't get self-hype or big expectations until you have actual numbers that can back up.

[AHaplessFool]

I started my first webcomic ever about a little more than a month ago! I had previously tried to start it a while ago (though it was in a completely different format and I really didn't know how to webcomic at that point) and honestly, I was pretty terrified of posting. I ended up finishing my first real page late at night and in a slightly delirious state of mind, just decided to post it. And it actually worked out! Kinda surprisingly!

The thing that has happened with me over the month is my art style dramatically improving. The first week I posted five pages (all posted the second I finished, no pre-planned stuff) and from then I did a little more than two, and from then I've been doing two a week. With that amount of art, I've learned more about digital art than I have since the first month I got my drawing tablet. It's been super fun!

I'd suggest a buffer, though if you're unsure whether you'll follow up making it, then you could do what I did. And even if you think it looks crappy, just keep on going! The more you draw, the better you'll get. Even if beginning episodes aren't up to par with what you draw later on, really the best way to get people reading and subscribing is by having a decent amount, so try not to stress over what you've got in the beginning.

Once you get your first episode(s) out, please message me, I can't wait to see what you make!

[pilot-obvious]

Hi! I don't know if what I'm working on qualifies as my first webcomic because it's the 3rd or 4th iteration of the same story, but it's the one I've stuck with the longest so it feels like my first official story.

I have so many doubts and fears every time I write content, draw it, and publish it on the internet. I worry that others won't understand the nuances I'm trying to convey, that they won't like the characters, or that they'll think I'm copying something. I've never really overcome those thoughts and feelings, but I have accepted that it's simply a part of the process for me. Everyone here is super supportive about comic making which makes it worth it.

My advice for anyone reading this is to not force yourself to continue making comics when you lose motivation. (unless you have professional deadlines that need to be met for a client/agency) If that motivation was meant to come back, it will. If you get sick and tired of drawing your comic, see if there are other parts you can work on, such as writing scripts or doing character development exercises. I find that switching between these different types of work helps me stay passionate about my comic. If you lose motivation for a super long time, it might be worth revisiting why you're making your comic and what you want to achieve.

Also, this is one that I'm fighting really hard right now, but don't get stuck in the loop of redoing all of your old work. That's why I have multiple iterations of this story from the past 10 years. I think it was justifiable restarting the story when I was younger and my skills were developing exponentially, but now that I'm older and the story has grown up with me, I don't think there's a point in continuing to redraw old chapters. (But boy do I want to redraw some panels on earlier episodes!)

[surin]

Hi! Thank you all for your support and kind advice ^^
@pilot-obvious I also experience fears similar to what you described but as you said we just have to push through and accept it as a part of the process

@AHaplessFool I am so glad everything worked out for you!
I am so excited to get to the art phase of mine hearing your experience, I guess comics really do make you go out of your comfort zone with all those poses and backgrounds and there is so much to learn haha and thank you for the support, I will defiantly do so (:

@kazbotsoup thanks for the advice, will defiantly ty not to marry my idea (not gonna lie though it will be hard not to get attached to my characters haha)

@Eiranyx you are so brave for taking that big leap out of your comfort zone! that is so inspiring, I will take the quote to heart!

@surenlicious thanks for the advice ^^ that indeed does sound overwhelming but I am sure you got it <:

@Puck thank you so much for the advice and the tips, for me the writing part is the one I am struggling the most haha so even though I have a vague idea of the end of my story I am still not sure about it and will probably change it as I flesh out my story xd but i am working on it somehow ^^ and whoa, the 24h/24 pages sounds so intense (and insane!), deep respects for you to managing it!

@mickpaulusmai am the opposite haha, i have a terrible fear of not finishing which is ironic because this fear has been holding me from actually starting for a long time! and yes reading about the process and all the theory is so interesting (i am defitently gulty of reading them too much hehe)! thank you

@darthmongoose thank you so much for the support I will defitentaly read them as soon as i can (exam keeping getting in my way those days haha) and again thank you for this supportive comment ^^

@arbiterswake thank you! defiantly, we can only improve with time and not get worse so we gotta push forward ^^

[Puck]

I finished the 24 pages in 24 hours, it was insane but it looked like a little kid had drawn it and I was 41 at that time, but the experience was great and I learned a lot

[MST3KFan]

Hmm... Well, for YEARS I was attempting to work on a webcomic cause I figured that was going to be the only way I would get my work out there. Of course, I always felt my artwork was bad when compared to many other webcomic artists out there, and so I always putting my own artwork down.

So many of my ideas never got past the character designs and a bit of writing stages because I never felt I could do them justice.

Eventually I enlisted some help for a webcomic, paying for another artist to go over my pencil work, inking and shading the pages. The comic still exists online, too. Look up "American Omiai" on The Duck Webcomics.

Anyway, after a short time, the artist I hired didn't want to continue, so when he quit, so did my motivation for a while to continue making webcomics anymore.

Years went by and events in my home life suddenly made me realize if I didn't at least try again on the whole webcomic thing one more time, I feel like I'd regret it having already spent so many years NOT doing anything productive.

And so, I dug through some of my old ideas and found one I thought I could do easy enough. I did some tweaks to the characters and some of the plot, and my comic "POW! Right in the Nostalgia" was born in late 2014.

POW! Right in the Nostalgia | Tapas

At first, the comic was being done as a "gag-a-day" comic, but then it quickly started going more towards a "comedy/slice of life" comic as I fleshed out the cast, gave them backgrounds, etc, etc...

Anyway, six years later, the comic is STILL going, which shocks me still every day I post up a new page.

I guess if you need any advice on anything. Just do it. Put yourself out there and go from there. Don't let fear keep you from doing something if you really want to do it. If you think your art skill isn't good enough...there are webcomics out there where people draw stick figures. Also sprites from video games. Heck, I've seen comics using action figures, dolls, and even the Sims video games!

Just tell your story if you have one. If you build up an audience, great! But they should not be what controls you or your work. It's your story, your characters, your webcomic. Enjoy the ride. And if you find it's just too much, then I guess you move on to try something else.

Just don't let fear control you.