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Banana_Olive
Apr '20

My comic deals with the main character going through trauma and depression. They were able to get away from abusive parents and thought things were finally going well for them. Things take a turn for the worse and the character falls into a deep depression and attempts suicide.
From there the character realizes they don't want to die and try to get better. They go through a long healing process with support from their friends. During this, the MC begins to fall in love.

How would I be able to write the comic so that it doesn't seem rushed and doesn't lose its impact? I've made a bunch of drafts and have a final story, I'm just not sure how to execute it properly.

Any tips are welcome.

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    Apr '20

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    Apr '20
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Iris-Grimoire
Apr '20

The biggest thing you can do to start is to see other works of fiction that tackle these issues. Tons of authors out there made works based on their own experiences or as supporting someone with those experiences, and the more research(also including non-fiction), the more you'll have a good grasp of the right speed of things and avoid very dangerous mistakes.

BakedPotato
Apr '20
1

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monotone_ink
Apr '20

For works that tackle the subject you're attempting to, I would suggest referring to a manga called 'Goodnight Punpun.' It's probably a little different from what you're going for, but there's a lot of good material you can draw from.

From what I've read of your description, the romance part seems to be the main draw of your story. Considering that, I think it would be difficult to set up the entirety of the MC's backstory before going into the romance. If you believe that's the case, may I make this suggestion:

Initially set up the emotional starting point of the MC.
No need to tell the reader about their backstory yet--just give them enough information that they know the character's in a bad place and tries to kill themselves. You get the best of both worlds for this--the reader immediately knows what kind of character the MC is, while at the same time getting to the main meat of the story immediately.

You can reveal bits of their backstory throughout your narrative--since the reader knows nothing about them, their actions will be a bit of a mystery at first. But you can trickle information here and there along the way to slowly give context to their reasoning.

I could be pulling this out of my ass though, so look through my advice with close discernment.

Tulmut
Apr '20

People suffering from depression are experiencing a negative feed back loop in their brain chemistry that is killing their ability to feel emotions properly. It's not sadness, so much as a void. An emptiness that no amount of anything can fill. It is usually caused by a severe stimulus, like trauma, damaging the receptors that process serotonin.

Ultimately you can express it by having scenes that show an increasing sense of dread. As their life that should've been better after escaping their abusive parents, is proving unable to make them happy. Favorite foods, fresh air, new friends, or lovers. Nothing feels good. It's all blank, like static on an old TV. That lack of stimulus becomes increasingly numbing until they lose the ability to consider the value of their existence.

Based on what you wanted, survival instinct probably kicks in, and prevents them from accomplishing the task, either before or during the attempt. A near death experience is ideally avoided, because it's usually not that happy of an ending, it's better to have them stop before trying. Regardless, almost anyone can see they have a problem once they reach that step. The character can learn how their illness works in a clinical sense, and then work on slowly but surely combating it. They may never fully recover but, they can at least improve by rationalizing what's happening.

Aims
Apr '20

As far as abuse goes it depends what kind of abuse they went through. If it was physical abuse then they could end up being afraid of physical contact, maybe in the beginning they could be uncomfortable with something as simple as having a hand on their shoulder, but then at the end of the story you could show that now they're comfortable with hugs and etc.
Maybe you could show them getting tiguered by the smell of cigars/alcohol? Depending how traumatized they are, they could get tired to the point of shutting down (I don't mean passing out, I mean looking at nothing like this: O-O or breaking down crying).
As for the depression, I would like to remember you that antidepressants aren't instant happiness pills, they make you productive, not happy. I jugest them having a "good things that happened today" jornal.
As for the romantic interest, remember that they are also a person, they aren't a free therapist, they also have problems and hardships in their life, and having the protag constantly dropping their emotional baggage on them can put immense strain on the relationship, and might even give the RI depresion and make the protag's depression worse, same thing with friends.
Also, relapses, progress isn't linear, and if you want to slow down the pace, I suggest using relapses (but don't put too many, that might drive away your readers)

nostalgicroxas
Apr '20

Pick up short stories or short manga that deal with similar stuff to see how the plot is paced / time jumps. One that comes to mind is Hands Off! which deals with psychics and empaths and a different sort of trauma. It's 8vol but pretty nicely paced. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hands_Off2!

Banana_Olive
Apr '20
Aims

The abuse was physical and verbal. I was thinking that the MC would be very uncomfortable to any touch, even just regular stuff like greetings and things. I haven't really put this in the comic yet but I'll be sure to. I was thinking maybe flinching if someone makes too sudden of a movement or being visibly uncomfortable if someone is too close.

I've heard that the pills don't always work for some people, and personally I've never used any. My character will most likely use a journal since they are an aspiring writer. I don't know if I'll be able to pull it off perfectly but I'll be using color and body language to portray how disconnected the character feels as the depression and negative emotions arise.

For the romantic interest and friends, I agree it would be hard for them since they might not fully understand how to help. The MC could be too dependent on them to feel any better and that could put a strain on them. I was thinking of having moments when things seem good again but then have days where you just don't want to do anything at all.

If you have time would you mind reading my comic and giving some feedback? So far the plot has been kind of calm, but the storm's coming soon.

Banana_Olive
Apr '20
Tulmut

This is really helpful, I'll try to include these details in the comic since it would really help convey the feelings the MC has.

Aims
Apr '20
Banana_Olive

The character designs are pretty good, they just feel like real people and you can even guess some things about them from their design (and I liked that little touch where he lost his eye bags)
As far as the story goes, can't say much yet, haven't seen much yet.
I would redesign the panel where it shows that he cut himself (it looks like he stabbed himself with the point of a knife, instead of cutting himself with a razor), make them longer and all horizontal, but don't put them all aligned like a barcode, make some of them shorter/longer or a little tilted.

continue on with the good work ^^ :+1:

doriantorres112
Apr '20

People can cope depression and trauma into a lot of ways. I think it's best if you should read what trauma and depression is all about and understand what you are aiming for with your story.

Banana_Olive
Apr '20

I've been trying to put some of my personal experiences into my character, but I've also been looking at other people's experiences to get a better understanding of that.