How did you do to start working seriously on your first comic and actually REALLY dit it?

[Carramelle]

First of all, sorry for my lack of vocabular or grammar. English is not my first language.

Anyways.

I'm an artist with many anxiety.

I know many people, like me, who want to make their first webtoon but can't start the first page. I mean, I have the story, I can draw pretty well. And I really really want to start it but somehow i just can't make myself do it.

I end up wasting my time, watching video of how to make a webtoon in yt rather than making it for real.

I've tried the piece per piece thing. Now I got the OUTLINE, a script, but uh uh, seem like there is always something that stop me. Sometimes, I'm being overexited and the next morning feeling nothing about the idea i've got yesterday.

Also Sometimes, just because I see others work who are so much better and just so so great than mine I feel like giving up.

I have so many stories that i've been waiting to turn into a comic. I waited for the moment when I will finally able to finish just one chapter.

Some might say, it might be because i don't love the stories enough but all of these stories have being in my head for years and years now...

I just don't Know. Like all I want is to make it works.. Is that too much to ask ?

So here i am Wondering how did you guys do to make yourself starting the first page ?

[Kelheor]

Overall it comes down to finishing a first page. Then second. Etc. Even if they are not perfect, you must finish this one page
I'd say try something different first? Not "this story I love so much it hurts for many years now", but something short and maybe not so personal. Just imagine a short story and make a few layouts. You can even put them here and ask us how you can make them better

This was how we started our comic: it originally was a collection of short stories, and we had to draw 1 story in 4 pages. No more, no less. It gave us some problems in the long run, but this was the only reason I actually made something - because of the strict limitations of one story you don't start drawing a lot of unnecessary things and start drawing what must be drawn.
Since 1 story is only 4 pages - you know that when you finished the 4th page, you've finished one full story, wow, congratulations! Because if you think your usual chapter should consist of 30 pages, but 30 pages is way top far, when you never finished one. So yeah. Try something really short, finish it (at least maybe finish the lineart), then try your actual story

[NickRowler]

I also deal with anxiety and have gone through something similar starting out.

I used to start stories, get 4 pages in, than stop. I was never able to have a story go anywhere. But I was eventually able to find push forward on one of my series because I was dealing with depression and I need someway to vent. I think the reason I was able to focus was I had a strong passion to push forward. I think it is more than just having a story idea, you need to have the passion to stick to it. If you feel stuck, it could be that there is something wrong with the outline. If you don't get that dealt with, you may end up losing steam quickly,

I think what I am going to recommend is practicing writing one shots/short stories. It could be that you are getting overwhelmed by having a big project. You would also be able to do one of your ideas you have with smaller projects.

[magnavarra]

You know to make a good picture it takes 10 years and 1 hour, If you feel that something is stopping you - it means you are not ready yet. Find that thing - imrove it or get rid of it. Like - stop watching youtube for a week for instance. Untill you find a story you really wish to spend next couple of years making.

[C_o]

Don't bother comparing your work to other people's, that will completely doom you from the start. There will always be someone out there that you consider "better". The way people develop their skills is by making comics, putting in the time and effort. If you keep stalling out before you ever make anything, you're going to just get stuck in a loop of never actually producing anything or improving your artwork and storytelling.

Luckily you seem to understand that your biggest roadblock is yourself. Which means you can figure out ways around that. Start small and give yourself a break. Not every panel needs to be utter perfection, and not every comic needs to be your 500 page magnum opus. Allow yourself to make mistakes, listen to feedback, and keep moving forward. Develop a story that isn't super duper personally important to you for your first work, that way you immediately relieve yourself of any pressure. Keep the page count low and be realistic about what you want to achieve with it.

[skicoak]

Some folks get really good at STARTING comics because they do that over and over...but not so good at finishing them up because they never practice that.

Start small and work your way up.

[Cavechan]

I think the feeling excited and then not is pretty normal. It happens to me too where I'm like "I really want to draw this!" And then I sit down and get distracted (like right now) and end up getting sucked into Facebook or whatever. The starting to draw really is not motivating. But once I start drawing, then I feel better about it (though I still get distracted lol).

I think something you can do is basically do nothing. Remember that the first step to making the page is just picking up the pencil (or tablet/stylus). That will be step #1. Then step 2, just open a new document/take out a new sheet of paper. With these steps, you have already started drawing without having really done anything!

It is a bit scary too because you don't know how it will look. Will it be bad, good, have to redo 50 times?

Now I have done a lot of pages so I don't need to think about motivation, I just do it out of habit.

When I draw, the excitement doesn't really happen while I'm drawing. I just kind of do. The excitement happens afterwards when I have a finished page I'm happy with.

[nathanKmcwilliams]

I started on mine after spending about 10 years trying to build a perfect world. Finally, after many attempts, I realized if I didn't start somewhere, I never would, and even if I failed, at last I tried.

So, I made a plan to make one year's worth of pages and story and went with that. I made 12 pages, with the concept of doing one page per month and went from there. After that, I just... started. I didn't release any pages until those 12 were done and I was actively working on the following 12 for the next year.

A lot of people suggest making a small unrelated comic first. I disagree with that, simply because it's not so easy to just come up with a random new story. Especially not when I only had one big story I want to tell.
But I do agree with responding to feedback and having beta readers, and of course practicing.

[jensrichard77]

I feel that sometimes. The block. Why even do all this?

Here is what motivates me. I hope it will help you in your situation.

What motivates me is to have someone to do it for or with.
I need the daily ping pong and personal contact with my creations. That’s why you see so many crossover and cameos in my work. I need to create with and for someone.

Having a real-life friend that fancy your work is also motivating me to continue.
Or just someone in here you feel comfortable to share your script with.

[Rhonder]

What gave me the motivation and strength to see my first full webcomic through was to limit the size and scope of the project.

What had been weighing me down for a long time was this really long, multi chapter story that I had been working on here and there from middle school all the way through college. I had the whole thing vaguely outlined, tons of story arc ideas, a main cast that I loved and several side characters as well.

But then when I sat down to "finally do the final version for real!" In late 2017 I realized... holy crap this will take me forever, I can't finish this!! So I kinda freaked out and dropped the project 8 pages in lol.

That was around the time that I started learning and thinking more about short stories. I decided to craft one up from scratch and ended up drawing the whole thing, 70 pages long, in just over a year from October 2018 to December 2019. Having the whole story outlined ahead of time and seeing that it was a reasonable amount to actually finish if I sat down and put time in helped tremendously.

I'm currently in the process of writing another short story in the same world now but feel much more accomplished having a whole project under my belt rather than if I was just starting chapter 4 or something of my super long story where not much would have happened yet

[Zugaikotsu]

My webcomic was supposed to be a novel. With the help of a dear friend, I translated it to good english (because of her XD) and started to publish in DA. Nobody did care, so the voices inside my head kept me suggesting to turn the novel into a comic, then I did it.

I wont say my first page of that time is my 'official' first page. I did many redraws and edits since then. But you have to start from somewhere. You can't fix what doesnt even exist! And leep going, in spite of any problems you might find along the way

[martinadenatale]

I really want to suggest you just do it. do it, really. You describe that as one of those typical insecurity situations in which a person never feels ready to starting something but want to know the truth? The day you feel ready will never come. You will always have doubts about your work and these doubts will not go away even when someone will give you a lot of compliments. And there will always be better people than you in this world but that doesn't mean you can't be appreciated for who you are and what you do. You will find, like everyone else, your following and your niche. You will have to be patient and feed it every day to see it grow but you have to start. Even if you don't want to. Even at the cost of regretting it a second later but start it. You have nothing to lose and nothing to prove to anyone. Do it only for you, because if you have been preparing for some time it means that you care. Trust me
Even if this goes wrong it won't be a black spot on your name for the rest of your life. It's just an attempt. It would be great if it worked but if it doesn't work you will try again

[chocolatteboss]

Believe me the hardest part is the start. like many other said. Afterwards it gets easier. Also "how to make a webtoon" videos are helpful. but you won't learn how to make a webtoon when you watch them. you have to make them to learn.

Don't worry about mistakes. unlike Youtube, IG or Twitter, you can always go back and edit an episode.

Also, do not make a long story for your first webtoon. a webcomic is always longer than what you plan for it to be. Start with something smaller and not that precious to you as a test run. And by small I mean really really small.

Hope I helped, good luck!

[Carramelle]

Thank you so much ! Yeah i'm gonna try that.
I really want to make myself work on this !

Thank you so so much for the advices !

[Carramelle]

Thank you to everyone who replied ! You guys are so sweet ! Thank you for encouraging me and for all the advices ! I'm gonna try my best.

Thank so much for all the kind word ! ಥ_ಥ

[rajillustration]

I hope you do it! I remember feeling very paranoid about what other people would think of me because when you start doing comics, you're not going to be doing amazing Marvel quality comics straight out of the gate. comics is not just a thing you can study and do, you have to do it in order to learn how to do it. Someone mentioned to me that it takes several stories before you get good at telling stories, and that helped me realize that I just need to start telling stories to their completion, to figure out how to really deliver a tale. To allow myself to make mistakes, to just show all of my imperfections, and to not be ashamed of it. We're all on a process of getting better, one story at a time.

[Inspector_Spinda]

I guess you just have to tough it out. For me I have had 2-3 webcomics in the past fair where I draw a few pages and then quit for one reason or another. The thing that's super important is that you have a story and character you really like. And not just like for a day or week, but that you will love for years. Think of making a webcomic like being in a relationship. If you don't think your story is interesting you will not want to spend a lot of time with it. If you don't absolutely love it, don't do it.