How to make a comic enjoyable to read?

[shazzbaa]

There's something in that awesome book I won't shut up about that really clicked with me, when the author was discussing the idea of Character Vs. Plot -- the essential point was that you can't separate the character from the plot, because without the plot, you'd have no character. The thing that makes a character interesting is the choices they make, and if the plot doesn't present them with choices that will help us learn more about them -- about what they want, and what they think is important -- there's nothing interesting to see.

We do need to sympathise with characters, but hardships alone won't accomplish that. I've talked about this before --

There's a lot of very basic, surface-level emotion in the first couple of chapters that don't tell us much about the characters. If I saw on the news that a disabled woman had her family heirloom taken by debt collectors, I'd be like "aw, man, that's awful," but I wouldn't identify with her family in any meaningful way -- we need to see who these people are in order to sympathise with them, not just that they're in bad situations. [The main character] is embarrassed when she's laughed at and she's sad when a sad thing happens, but I don't know much about her.

Thinking about specific, character-revealing choices, here's a small example:
When Celeste suddenly ends up in a fantasy world like she'd always dreamed of, one that hails her as chosen, she dismisses them, saying "I gotta go home [...] you've got the wrong person." Why? That's not a question for you to answer here on the forum -- that's me pointing out that from the comic so far, I don't understand why she made the choice to reject that world. Everything we've seen of her so far indicates that she gets lost in her dreams -- so lost she's sword-fighting at work -- but here she doesn't do that. She doesn't get invested, even though she thinks she's dreaming. She's not even curious what this whole "Chosen One" thing means.

I think that's a choice that definitely could be used to reveal character, but here it doesn't seem to come from Celeste. Instead, it seems to happen because it's the expected next step in the story, the "refusal of the call" from the hero's journey. It conflicts with everything we know about her character and doesn't seem to suggest anything new, which makes it fall a little flat.

We don't just need to see situations and hardships that evoke sympathy -- but we need to understand why characters are making the choices they make, even if they're not the choices we would make. For example, if Celeste said "No, I can't get caught daydreaming again, I have to stop doing this, I can't get involved in this," then that's definitely not the response I would have, but it would tell me something about her and how she feels -- in this case, it'd tell me that she feels like her dreaming is holding her back in her real life and she wants to be better. If she was in complete shock and just kept saying "but.... this isn't.... REAL, this can't be real" then I'd learn that her fantasies were less of a dream she hoped for and more of an escape from reality, and making those dreams real is overwhelming and scary rather than exciting. If we got a moment to see her really excited about the fantasy world, but then her face fell as soon as they said "chosen one" and she said "oh.... that can't be me. There's nothing special about me," then we'd start to suspect that her rejection comes from a place of low self-worth -- she fantasises about these things, and wants them, but can't accept that they'd happen to her.

AND SO ON. It's not that the choice she made was "wrong".... but it's an odd choice for her to make, because we don't see her motivation in making this choice, and it conflicts with the motivation we've seen so far.

The reason I say all this is because you're super early in the story, and I think that thinking about this kinda stuff can make your story even stronger going forward! This next chapter is gonna really define her as a person much more than the beginning, and as we start to see more of her motivations and how she feels about what's happening and what's driving the choices she makes, we can start to get to know her better, and that's when we'll definitely invest in her as a person. : )

[PorcheJ]

@shazzbaa I definitely understand now. I'm sorry for not making a character that people can relate to. I was young and starting out. In my next chapter, I want to do better and make Celeste and the other characters relatable.

I'm sorry again for making a lot of mistakes. And thank you.

Should I just... redo the comic? I mean, I have everything planned out. I guess I should start over?

[shazzbaa]

I guess I should start over?

Aw shoot, no! I wouldn't say so. I don't think you need to apologise, either -- your story so far is fine!

I don't think you've made a character people can't relate to, and frankly, it's okay for a reader to not fully understand a character in the first ten pages. Like I said, you're SO early in your comic! I was just using it as an example of how to think about revealing characters going forward, and how to think about the choices they're making. ;u;

There are a lot of places in my comic where, after I finished the scene, I realised, "rats, that part was unclear because I didn't introduce this concept well," or places where readers didn't understand what I'd meant for them to understand, but that didn't mean I needed to start over -- that meant that I needed to think about how to make it more clear going forward. I think that's totally normal. You have a LOT of time to let us get to know Celeste better and better! ;u;

[PorcheJ]

Oh! Okay. Thank you, Shazz. ^^; But the story will be easier to follow (along with the characters) for the next chapters.

But no, you're right. Next time, I'll definitely keep this in mind. Thank you again. Haha

Ooh... I never knew that. I guess even artists who have lots of readers make mistakes too, huh? Thank you again, Shazz. And I'm sorry for sounding upset. I'm actually grateful to all of you for helping me. I just need to have more confidence in myself and in my work. Plus, I don't want my readers to be disappointed either. I care for everyone's advice. I really do.

[jonufele]

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

[avalonmao]

a million times, yes. Redoing your work is only a waste of time. Better to move forward and hope for the best! Also, there's nothing more annoying than a creator who just suddenly decides to redo a perfectly good comic because they decided they're a perfectionist or something. It's basically like going on a hiatus for no good reason.

[carloswebcomic]

I have a little basic rule that I always follow. Be global, not local.

I remember reading a comic and the punchline was "New Jersey". I'm not even sure where New Jersey is! I have no idea what the place is like or why I was supposed to find it funny.
What that creator did was to isolate a good portion of the world's population. He did not consider that people outside his country may be reading and have no clue what he was talking about.

So I tend to keep local references to a minimum and try to use generic wording as much as possible and never expect readers to have the local knowledge you have.

[quakeulf]

Realistic sci-fi + lots of action. :3

[PorcheJ]

@blacknwhiteeagle100 Thank you, Blacknwhite. And I'm sorry for bringing that up. I usually move forward when it comes to comics. Especially when I have things planned out. Again, I do apologize about bringing that 'redo' word up.

@carloswebcomic Huh! I've never thought of that. Thanks for sharing, Carol!

@quakeulf Good advice. Haha!

[R.n.P]

Juz draw what you enjoy drawing cuz it will be like fraud if you are doing the comic juz to satisfy other people while you yourself dont enjoy what you are doing.
If you want your comic to be enjoyable then just look for areas of improvements on your side not that you will go out of your way to just change the storyline to something your readers will enjoy but you yourself you won't enjoy.
THE LAST SAMURAI

[avalonmao]

noooooooo no you didnt trigger me or anything!! I have strong feelings regarding redoing work and all that but like. You're fine lol. Just keep at it and enjoy!

[PorcheJ]

@blacknwhiteeagle100 Ooh, okay! Thank you, Blacknwhite. You too!

[sarrowsmith10]

The thing that makes a character interesting is the choices they make, and if the plot doesn't present them with choices that will help us learn more about them -- about what they want, and what they think is important -- there's nothing interesting to see.

I really like this. I struggle with this alot. I think as creators we design a character first, then attach a story to it. Where perhaps we should tell our story and design our characters in a way that best tells that story.

I don't think you have enough pages to really do this yet. You need time and pages to really make the story meaningful and for readers to connect to your characters.

In many ways I think this is why people had a hard time connecting with Rey from StarWars. She has super awesome abilities and bad things happen to her, but we don't really know her as a character. In the comic I illustrate Goblins of Razard, a lot of people had this complaint about supporting character Hawk. She can hold her own in a fight, but no one really had any idea of her motives. That gets cleared up later, but it didn't happen until chapter 5 thru 6. (Although in defense, the comic isn't about her specifically, so it's not a deal breaker for many readers)

Moral of the story, don't give up on your comic, and don't get upset that you don't have a huge following yet. The most you can do, is keep creating, keep learning, and keep doing what you are already doing.

[Greg_Dickson]

If it helps, I know one factor other than story that might be a good thing to keep an eye on, would be to keep track of character expressions. I feel that through every panel of the comic, Celeste always looks sad, even in those few panels where she's supposed to be smiling. I get that character-wise, she doesn't really have a reason to smile early on, but giving her a wider variety of moods and expressions could really help readers connect. For example, my main character in my comic isn't going to smile in the prologue. But I do show moods from anger, to frustration, to feeling a bit conflicted, and eventually, there will be some sadness there. Later after the prologue, I plan to also show her snarky side, her happy side, her worried side, and so forth. And the story will put her in situations where she will naturally and believably change those expressions according to the circumstances.

In those panels where Celeste is smiling, I think all you really need is an eyebrow change. Instead of putting the eyebrows always on a sad angle, try to straighten them out, or put them in a small, faint upside-down "U" arc (if that makes any sense explaining. Just flip a U upside down above the eye and straighten it out more, giving it a very slight arc).

But yeah, it's not just about giving characters different expressions just for the sake of variety. I mean, you can't put your character in every mood under the sun just for variety, or they'll seem completely unbelievable or un-relatable. It's all in the writing, and how the story will fuel the change for your character's moods as time progresses. I know I'm rambling, so please don't take it at all like I'm chewing you out. I'm notoriously bad at not knowing when to shut up and end a comment. Haha. Seriously through, I admire your enthusiasm and potential for your comic. I know you genuinely care for it, and asking for help and taking things into consideration is a huge step that I respect. I hope my advice isn't something that I'm only over-analyzing. But I wanted to chime in on a comment that was more about the art and less about the story. I hope that it helps in some way.

[PorcheJ]

@sarrowsmith10 Thank you so much for the advice, Sarrow. I'll keep in mind to show/explain to readers each characters motives and what makes them interesting. This is very important. I hope to show this in the next chapters as well. Thank you again.

@Greg_Dickson Thank you, Greg. I've actually been working on my expressions over the years.

Keep in mind, Chapter One of Cryptic Yume was made years ago. But I still very much appreciate your advice. And no, you were chewing me out or being wordy. Haha! If anything, you guys are helping me out as a person and artist. I really thank you all for encouraging me to keep going and learning.

Here's a few sketches I did for expressions:

This is for another comic I'm planning to do:

This is a new character design for Celeste, ready to take on the enemy:

I'm not saying that I've perfected expressions. Lol I'm still learning. But over the years, I've been working on them. But thank you again, Greg, and I'll definitely keep in mind what you all have taught me.

Cryptic Yume is part of me. My passion. And I truly love this comic. I'm not saying that is SUPER great. But rather... it's enjoyable to do. Back when I was young, I had a burning passion to show the world my comic and tell them a good story. And to send a good message to those who felt the same way as Celeste: The lack of friends and the lack of courage. Sending a message of Hope, Friendship, and Courage through my characters and story are my goals. I want people to feel that they're in a new world and feel connected with these characters.

I'm no Edgar Allan Poe, Jeff Smith, or even Stan Lee... But just a normal girl wanting to learn and grow as an artist and person. And to have fun making comics.

[Greg_Dickson]

Oh, okay Porche, now I really like the expressions that you've just shown in your pictures there. The top left character on the first page and Celeste on the second page especially. And I had no idea that Chapter 1 was made years ago, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what you can do. You've made a huge improvement with your art over the years, I think you'll be just fine with art and expressions like that! Great job!

[PorcheJ]

@Greg_Dickson Aww, thanks again, Greg. Haha! Yeah, Chapter One was made in the early 2010's. ^^; But yes, I still have a long way to go. I'm just your average girl wanting to share a comic with a good message and adventure. And most importantly, I'm willing to learn and grow.

[shazzbaa]

I think as creators we design a character first, then attach a story to it. Where perhaps we should tell our story and design our characters in a way that best tells that story.

I don't necessarily think it's a bad idea to do it the other way around! It's just a matter of not thinking of story as a separate, attached part -- to not just think, "I have these characters, now I have to come up with a story to put them in." I think if you have characters that you care about as people, you can build a story that complements and drives who they are and who they become!

There's a question I asked a lot in building my story, which was "what does this character need to learn?" I need to make sure the story isn't just... happening around them while they magically learn that thing for no reason. The things they go through and the choices they make need to be things that either guide them or challenge them to grow. People don't change their minds if nothing happens to challenge their worldview.
Tho not every character is gonna change or grow in that way, and at that point I think the question becomes "what do I want to show about this character?" If I had a character who is kinda a jerk but would give his life to save an innocent, we'll only know him as a jerk if I never put an innocent's life on the line.

I think you can start with characters and it's not necessarily a detriment! You start wherever the ideas come from, and both characters and story get tweaked as you develop, I think. Ultimately, they both have to serve each other!

[sarrowsmith10]

Yes, I definitely see your point there. I'll give you that. I guess I've just seen a lot of token type characters, where I feel like they were inserted just because they looked cool or something like that, and the character felt totally out of place. I really like characters were they really feel like they belong to their environment...

But yes, were ever inspiration strikes I guess. I'm not really a writer, so there is that. My writer often doesn't even include how the character looks, so when I'm designing characters its really based heavily on their mannerisms and situation.

[PorcheJ]

I found this article by David, the creator of Dreamkeepers. It talks about how to make good characters that you and readers can love and connect with: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/06/06/be-clueless-write-awesome-dreamkeepers-volume-4/

I truly love reading this. It tells you that when you make a character and story, you've got to have passion and dedication. If you don't care what your characters do or what their motives are, why should the readers?

Treating your characters as if they're a part of you, what they go through, and how readers connect with them are important.