How to complete my comics, if I have a hard time finishing and completing the comic story and my comics?

[thetrivyadeabhb2]

How come every comic i make isn’t finished? I tried to make my comic and comic stories short, but they are so long, I need to cut off many of the details. But no one has good advice on how to make my stories simple, but not super long like a comic book series or tv series. Even worse no one has advice on what can I do with my stories to make them simple. They just judge my stories and tell me to take an actual writing workshop or writing class which is something I can’t do because my neighborhood literally doesn’t have a comic writing class. I have too many comics to finish on my plate and they are too long! They either laugh at me and say the exact same advice (go take a writing class) or they give me the wrong feedback that I don’t want. And feedback i can’t deal with because I am defensive. I have a comic I made in art class during middle school, and never finished that comic. The comic I made got thrown in the trash. I vowed to finish my comic stories, and complete them. Then I tried to steer from comics and make short stories I have a teacher from high school she failed to make it any better and I tried to make my own short story but my teacher was nice but was really angry because I was lazy to make my own short story. Everything I made was too long and not short. My teacher’s and writing teacher’s feedback was so harsh and my story was so terrible I kept it but I didn’t know how to write a story better anymore. It led me to being defensive to others, and complaining that this feedback isn’t good enough to the level that I need. It’s the only way i can ever protect myself because people are rude now and the proof I have to find now that I need real people with REAL advice to finish these stories! I don’t know how to write a good story and I know I won’t finish, because I’m not good enough. What can I do? Any advice on finishing my short stories and comic stories? i want to make a comic story right now! And no one helps me well enough, because my writing is sloppy. My comics are terrible and they have close ups and mid shots of characters, and only one background. Nothing is interesting with how to make my comics good enough, and nobody can definitively help me answer my question well enough. I don’t have enough fun because I have school every weekdays, and I don’t have time to make comics! What can I do? Any advice and tips?!

[justincarbunkle]

Do you have a link to any of your work? I'll review it.

If you want a short story, make a short story. Make an outline, cut all the unnecessary details, write a draft, then cut all the unnecessary parts. Familiarize yourself with common story structures and tropes, and have fun using them yourself, or going against them. Write. Stop wallowing and write.

[Lensing]

I can just tell you what helped me and I struggled with what you describe since
I was a kid.

I divide my stories into scenes. Then I cut down the scenes to 12 panels.
when I finished the 12 panels then I have the feeling of achievement and
that motivates me. You can also cut down into smaller pieces which
you can manage better. 12 panels works well for me.

I also realised that many comic creators have that problem. Amateurs and
pros. Look at famous comic book series. They never end, they have open
ends, ends that sucks or always the same end (very common in euro comics)
Why stress about it when even the pros never finish their stories properly?

[kyupol]

If you think your writing is horrible, just think of all the garbage webtoons out there that rack up a lot of subscribers. (Not mentioning names. And I also understand that some of you think my webtoons are trash lol I don't care one man's junk is another man's treasure). Keep going. There's always some people out there who would like it.

Don't let others negative feedback stay in your head. It's impossible to please everyone. Name me one politician or celebrity or athlete who has 0 haters... (good luck with that)

As for plot ideas, do something that resonates with you. Something relatively close to life experiences or life experiences of people you admire. Historical figures can work. Like there's someone here with a big crush on a certain historical figure and they can't stop talking about it.

Or if you have obsession with fictional fandoms, just change it up a little and you'd have something effective. I know someone who was a fan of pokemon and she has a webtoon that's exactly like pokemon but changed up a little by adding Philippine mythology and history. It's racking up subscribers. 10x bigger than any of my comics.

As for finishing plots, make sure all or most lose ends are tied up. (Like big bad defeated, lovers finally together, etc).

Hope this is helpful wishing you the best.

[jwabeasley]

I had a similar problem - all my comic attempts would end a few pages into production, if they didn't die after I made a concept character design.

It took me a long time to figure out how to get out of that rut - but it doesn't have to take you much longer! Here's what you do:

1. Draw a lot! Do it pretty much every day, just to practice.
2. Make some joke comics, 1-page with four panels or less. It doesn't have to be good. No need to plan for any continuity. Experience the thrill of just completing a work of art at all. Learn the process!
3. When you have an idea for a longer story, don't tell anyone. Keep it secret until you're ready for critique. Telling people about a project sucks all the energy out of it. The only person you should talk to is your editor-type person who can give you good feedback on your idea.
4. When you have a couple of good characters, draw some 1-page comics about them interacting! No plot necessary. This step was a game changer. Then maybe some 2-page comics or short scenes, so you can make sure things are working.
5. When you finally feel up to your longform comic storytelling, complete 1-3 traditional chapters' worth (24-72 pages) without releasing them to anyone. That'll get you the discipline and scheduling issues settled without worrying about audience reaction. Most indie webcomics take a long time to get readers, and the lack of early readers can feel like rejection even if it's really just early growing pains.

This comic was my step 4, after several failed attempts at what eventually became Etherwood.

Let us know when your opus is ready!

[GamerPrincessXI]

Well, I ended Nova and Max with a happy ending. Think of an ending to your comic that you would be satisfied with. Struck By You has an ending in my head but not writing down. This is my longest story.

Okay that's technically a lie, my longest story was in highschool. I had three stories running concurrently. I didn't have an end in mind for that story.

If you have an ending that you'd be happy with then I'd say congratulations now write it now and stick to it.

[VibrantFox]

I'll try to be gentle in that first it may be worthwhile to take writing courses but be mindful of the teachers for any of those courses. The only reason I'd imagine its being brought up so often is to help with things like structure, grammar or any other reasons you might not see and being able to see, process and understand that feedback will help you when it comes to working on your own projects.

I took a mandatory writing course in high school years ago and my teacher had been among a few who not only knew about my writings then but gave good critique and encouragement for it. That said I know there are folks who feel that "good" teachers are few and far between but I'm certain you'd be able to find something.

Another thing to note is not everyone finishes their comics. As someone who's been online for a long time there's tons of comics, novels and other projects I've seen started but never finished and the reasons vary a lot so don't beat yourself up too much if completion is something you're struggling to reach especially if you're still in the early stages of your creative journey. No one makes masterpieces overnight and no ones making picasso on their first try. It takes time, patience and a fair amount of effort.

One thing I can suggest though is try to make outlines for your comics or stories before you really dive into the writing and by that I mean figure out what your overall structure is. The most basic format has the beginning, the rising tension, the climax, the resolution and the ending; so you could see how your story fits into that basic structure. Another option could be just making a list of the story beats you want to hit from start to finish and then from there whittle down what you think may or may not need to get a better handle on it's length. Again tho that exact thing may be why folks are recommending a writing course to you, so that it's easier to get through those steps.

It's obvious you're very passionate about creating but you also have to kind of take your time with things and don't get discouraged if you mess up. Unfinished stories are still a means to practice and learn. You can use them to get accustomed to the task, see what your strengths are and where you need improvement and then apply that gained knowledge to your next project. You may see some of the advice you've been given as things you don't want to hear but it may be worth giving some of those folks a chance than losing your temper or getting frustrated. People offer advice we may not like but it's often just from their best understanding of a situation and sometimes it may be what we need without realizing you've just got to give it a chance.

[lizardlullabye]

(A) You can make a short comic from the long story. Similar to Lensing's suggestion, you can just make a comic for one scene or even just one moment. It can help you practice story-telling with comics -- whether it is just a drawing, a few simple panels or pages. It just needs to complete one of your ideas.

Like for example: long story short, this character likes spicy food. There might be a murder mystery going on, but this short comic is focusing mostly on "this character likes spicy food".

(B) If you want to turn your long story into a shorter one, it may be better to think of it as an adaptation. There are likely stuff you will have to change/adapt to make the story work because of parts you cut out. For example, characters might be combined so a smaller cast does same number of plot-tasks or just showing the afterwards of a deleted-scene with enough clues for the audience to figure out what happened.

You can change anything or keep them the same.
( It is your story to make anything happen! )

(C) If you are looking for very-specific suggestions on how to make your current comic-story more simple & short, you can try posting your what you have drafted to the Review/Feedback category in this forum (Tapas) and asking for feedback there -- well, unless you are not comfortable with feedback from online platforms, then uh . . . nevermind.

Reviews | Feedback

(D) You could check your local library and see if any book for making comics (story) might help you. If you would like to read a particular book that is not available at your local library, check if they may borrow the book from another library for you to request. I wandered in my local library and found "How to Be A Manga Artist" by Balthazar Pagani and Asuka Ozumi; and took notes I found helpful for me -- shared below.

Yonkoma - Tell short story in 4 comic panels. Uses the kishoutenketsu story structure. Can make it bigger by adding more "build up" inbetween panels.