Left or right oriented?

Princessmossy 2016-10-01 05:02:26 UTC #1

So my comic is read from right to left and since I've read nothing but manga since middle school it's too hard for me to write left to right anymore. I'm worried it will confuse people but it will really mess me up to try and change my way of doing it now. Do you think it matters? I specified that it is read right to left.

NickRowler 2016-10-01 05:13:27 UTC #2

Wasn't there a forum recently about this?

Honestly (and a lot of people feel this way), making a right to left English comic is pointless unless it was translated from a language that reads in that direction (like Japanese or Arabic). For a time, English manga was flipped to left to right but some felt this flipping sort of distorted the art so English publishers just kept the right to left format.

If you still feel passionate about doing it, you should probably put arrows on the pages and put something in the description.

Princessmossy 2016-10-01 06:23:48 UTC #3

Was there? On mobile it doesn't show you similar posts so sorry if this was a repost friend!

AnnaLandin 2016-10-01 06:41:19 UTC #4

You're free to do whatever you want, but when writing an English-language comic, left-to-right is a more natural reading order than right-to-left.

Because even if you DO tell people it's right to left, and are very clear about it, the text itself is still going to be read left to right. So your readers' eyes will be going from right to left following the actions in the panel, and having to stop when they get to the speechbubbles and start reading the text left-to-right. So their eyes keep zig-zagging, instead of just flowing naturally with the panels.

This is not to say that right-to-left is inherently a bad pattern - just be aware that the images and the text will be working against each other.

ETA: Here, quick illustration via silly scribble example.

Fig 1: A silly discussion about dog-eyebrows, drawn with the panels arranged from right to left.

Fig 2: Reading order of panels and text marked out. The red arrow is the panel reading order - and it flows pretty easily from right to left. No problem there. The problem comes when the reader's eyes lands on the speechbubbles - they then have to start at the top left of each bubble, and zig-zag from left to right as they read the text, and then go back to the red arrow. It becomes a kind of start-and-stop thing.

It CAN still work just fine, but to me personally it has always felt more natural to read English-language comics in a left-to-right flow.

Louistrations 2016-10-01 06:56:53 UTC #5

The other forum thread can be found here, it covers a lot of good stuff:

ReroOnyx 2016-10-01 11:37:26 UTC #6

If you've specified that it's read from right to left, that's fine, that's all you need to do. How long does it take to take to get accustomed to reading something in a different direction? I don't know, how difficult is it to look to a picture to the left? It's easy and anyone who is even interested in manga automatically knows this.

I'll say this, if someone came up to your series and was like, this is too hard to read and I don't want to bother, they didn't give enough a damn to care in the first place. Meanwhile fans of mangas and those who do find your series interesting will easily be able to enjoy your story and if they are new to the aspect of reading in this direction, they will get used to it.

People need to stop acting like reading right to left is hard calculus or something.

shazzbaa 2016-10-01 14:20:10 UTC #7

Definitely recommend checking out that thread! There's people on both sides of the issue and some really good points made.

What you'll find is that for a bunch of people, it's not "right to left is TOO CONFUSING!!!" -- it's more that right-to-left when done by people who don't actually use right-to-left languages is often badly done, because reading a lot of manga and expecting the panels to go right to left doesn't automatically mean you'll think that way for everything else.
I've crit comics before that were very intent on being right-to-left, but their word balloons were laid out as if they weren't really sure which way your eye would go. This is about the flow of the comic and the natural path your eye takes, the artwork and the way balloons are placed and everything, and ALL of that has to be right-to-left, not just the panels.

I think "confusing" is rarely the issue -- it's more about the first impression your comic gives, whether or not you're able to utilise that choice effectively and naturally, and whether or not the reader wants to read in a different direction just for you. So, yeah, if you've already made the choice of right-to-left, I agree that specifying that it's right-to-left is all you need to do -- just know that it will be cool to some and a turn-off for others. But if you're trying to decide whether or not to flip it, I'd definitely recommend considering the various perspectives in that thread while making your decision!

lunaartemisasama 2016-10-02 05:25:54 UTC #8

Just do it, probably people who will have a problem are not your target anyway. But yeah...specify.

ToonDoctor 2016-10-02 12:59:50 UTC #9

I've read the other thread and this one. Many good arguments. One thing that wasn't covered much is the case of readers who have not grown up reading manga, huh, like me. Most of the people who commented were manga readers. So they could easily adapt. But there are more non-manga readers out there who will enjoy a good comic. It is an unnecessary barrier for them. I'm a comic fan. I will read any comic.

The argument that the artist wants her parents to read her work is not a good one. Is the comic created for her parents or a wide audience? If the comic were printed and the parents committed to buy 75% of all copies in existence, hell yeah . But they won't. They are not the audience for the comic. Parents never are. They usually support their kids and say it looks nice anyway! So I would not worry about making the comic for my parents. I would care more for the average reader who will be completely thrown off and just quit before giving you a chance.

If this book is written for a western audience, then create it for a western audience first. If not, just understand that you'll only be able to target the readership that grew up with manga. That may be just fine though.

One technical point that was mentioned was that the Tapastic swipe system on the mobile app forces readers to swipe fro left to right. Some people have mentioned that it created problems for right to left comics. Just be aware of this extra barrier for your readers.

indagold 2016-10-02 18:37:29 UTC #10

yeah I saw the thread and most agreed it's pointless for english speaking comics. It's just an extra strain no one needs and it's not stylistically helpful, just complicates things.

Princessmossy 2016-10-02 19:06:23 UTC #11

Yeah it's just that for me my comic will get worse before it gets better if I switch it around now. Because I've never done a comic going the other way before and I hardly ever read comics read the other way. Heck my favourite comic on here is Satan and Me and that one doesn't even have any panels at all. XD I have all these other ones in my reading list and then never read them...

TACOBERTO 2016-10-03 02:35:54 UTC #12

English is read left to right. If you read a comic that reverses the flow then it just becomes slightly harder to read (it's what puts me off from reading too many mangas.)
Given it's going to be in english anyways it wouldn't hinder the reader to have it presented left to right. It's just a matter of getting yourself adjusted to it.

Doubtcent 2016-10-04 17:53:17 UTC #13

It does depend on the outcome and audience of your individual comic.
If you made your comic with the mindset of "I'm more manga oriented, and if I get big enough I would like it properly translated into the language..." then I would say it could work.
But for most of the world, especially what reads here on Tapastic, you will do better if you have a left to right comic.
The only comic I know of personally that does really well here on Tapastic that reads from right to left is "Undying Happiness" by @zelkats which is so well done that I wouldn't be surprised that it has multiple translations on other sites.

bakasama25 2016-10-04 18:22:29 UTC #14

I think it's because Undying Happiness was originally written in Japanese.

Princessmossy 2016-10-04 18:25:25 UTC #15

Well I'll try writting a comic the other way but I just have a feeling the flow will be a mess for me until I can figure it out. Then once I get the hang of it I'll see about changing my main comic. Or else if I really dislike drawing it the other way I'll keep the comic the way it is.

Doubtcent 2016-10-04 18:33:09 UTC #16

I've talked with the creator before... she speaks and writes English very fluently, however I'm not sure if she has it bilingual.
She is in Japan so... I don't know. Can't assume too much.

bakasama25 2016-10-04 22:14:00 UTC #17

I recall she created that comic in Japanese first then decided to translate that into English later.