My 1st Story, but I'm confused

[Knight_Owl]

Hey guys. You know, I had a plan to make a very long series of comics which is probably longer than Homestuck, but given my current skill and my style to animate the comic within the panel and an end animation, it would probably take me more time to do those things. So I settled myself on making a 'simple' comic: Glitched.

The main plot of the story is that there was a group of friends who registered in an online game called Glitch, which is an MMORPG . After logging in, they are prompted to press the cube. However, the prompt glitched, telling them NOT to press, but they did it anyway. Their surroundings start to change, and they found themselves in the game world. Their objective is to locate and reach the end cube. However, they continue to get a message: "Do not win. It's a trap. -Hacker" Several quests later AAAAAAND I'm blank. I have no idea how the rest of the story goes.. :/ Or do I?

The reason why I'm confused is my style of drawing. I don't know if I should go for cartoon or manga-like style. And I'm sort of confused about the storyline, how it should start and how it should end. I'm also drawing a blank on the characters, but the main antagonist is The Host and the guy who sends them messages is The Hacker. I'm open to suggestions.

[Kura]

Alright, first off I don't mean to sound mean, and if I do I apologize.

Characters getting trapped in MMORPG or videogames or playing videogames have been done to DEATH in almost every story telling medium (tv series, anime, books, manga, comics, webcomics, you name it) So if you really want to stick to this plot I suggest that you have a SOLID story line that you LIKE have confidence in. DO NOT go into this specific genre not knowing or half knowing what you are going to do with the story or it will just disappear in the the masses of titles that are doing similar plots and themes and be completely overlooked.

Again, if you really want stick to this story line be completely aware that many people WILL overlook your series because the market is just completely over saturated with stories based off this idea. Your series WILL be compared to every other existing series that has used the 'trapped in a game' plot, and usually not in a good way (fans of existing series tend to get pissy/trolly with series that may look like they are ripping off a series they love, regardless of if they are ripping off or not) This is why I say you NEED to both like and have confidence in your story, cause it is going to be hard to weed out, and it is probably going to have a REALLY slow start in terms of gaining readers, so if not many people are bothering to try your series out to enjoy it than at least you are.

[Knight_Owl]

@kurapikasuki Nah, it's ok man. That's what feedbacks are for ^_^ and I didn't know that this is a mainstream genre.

Well, I didn't really know how to describe the given circumstance, so I just described it that they were trapped in a video game.

But they are not really trapped in a video game. They are just phased to another realm. Or something. If there is even a better sentence to best describe it... that's the plot-twist i was working on. If only I could make up a reason why they shouldn't reach the end cube. That's why I'm confused.

[okellymx]

Here're some tips

1. Your simple story isn't really simple
2. Go large to small when writing; Start generic and then add details.
3. Follow this as your guide http://josephblakeparker.deviantart.com/art/How-to-Create-an-Outline-for-Your-Novel-577392889
4. Look up the fundamentals of fiction.
5. You can break away from these rules
6. Start smaller than this story.
7. Read books that are complete stories. So you can get used to how stories can end.
8. Don't fear failure, it will happen...probably a lot.
9. Draw what is comfortable.

You have to get used to writing stories, so read a lot of books, novels, and watch movies and pay attention to how the story unfolds. Take notes of the events and make outlines for your favorite movies/shows/books. Separate the writing from the drawing till you learned the fundamentals. You haven't written one so don't get hung up on your first. I've been writing stories for years before I ever went public and they sucked. You won't learn much unless you finish.

Last Rule, DO NOT RUSH THIS!

P.S. Don't pay attention to style, that is not important. Unless you have deadlines, don't worry about how long it takes you.

[shazzbaa]

Another way to think of it -- don't look at a story as a series of events that happens. The Cool Plot Twist isn't gonna be the thing that makes people care about your story. They can be engaged with an intriguing world or fall in love with believable characters, and then they'll care about the plot. I mean, "main characters trusts another character, but then that character betrays her" doesn't sound like a shocking original twist, but if we've come to really care about those characters then we'll still freak out when it happens.
Your story isn't a series of events; it's the choices your characters make and how the world reacts to those choices.

So it's important for some part of your story to be really interesting to you and matter to you. Figure out who your characters are and why this world matters to them. And/or figure out what kind of world they've stepped into and what they need to learn about it. A lot of times specific things like that will help you understand the best direction to go in for your story. What would challenge these specific people? Note that the initial four kids of Homestuck were friends who trusted each other a lot, so most of their challenge came from being in over their heads in a world they didn't understand and weren't prepared to fight in. Contrast that with a team like the Avengers, who are very powerful and capable but mistrust each other. "Aliens are trying to take over the city" was something they could handle a lot better than the homestuck kids -- "Loki's turning us all against each other" was the part they had a hard time with.

Don't be discouraged -- I also have a Ye Olde Trapped In A Video Game story that I'm working on. xD But as kurapikasuki said, it's an oft-used trope (and "transported to another world" is even more oft-used!), so those tropes by themselves don't make the story -- it's being really excited about my characters and their post-Mod gameworld politics that makes me excited about my story.

I don't know if I should go for cartoon or manga-like style.

Do you draw a lot? I suggest making the comic whichever way you like drawing best, because you're going to be drawing a LOT to make a comic. For your very first comic you want to be excited to work on it, so I think it's a good idea to make characters you like drawing in a style you're comfortable with.

[Knight_Owl]

Thanks for the advices guys! I'm finally learning more about story writing.

@shazzbaa Yes, I draw alot but only sketches ;-; my lineart sucks atm and I'm going to get a tablet suitable for drawing (nah it's not a graphic tablet). I'm more comfortable with a style which I can really understand ANATOMY. If I ever finish the story, I might run some experiments on which style looks better.

Unlike the first that I planned, it only took me a day to come up with Glitched. The first one took me months to create and refine the story, but I like to be more advanced when I will work on it. So probably, it will take me several months to refine Glitched.

As for the drawing, it will probable take me months to learn and master PERSPECTIVE.

[jackalope212]

I agree with the others that you should start off small (I should probably follow my own advice, but I have experience with writing so I think I'm good). Also, if you're going to use a very common plot device or overused mainstream genre, change something about it that will make it more "unique".

Example: I like to write a lot of fanfiction, and when I started on my first Dragon Age Inquisition fanfic I wanted to use the "modern girl in Thedas" genre (which wasn't common), but I change how she got to the DA world different than other fics (a way my reader didn't expect so it drew them in and got them engaged in the story).

Also, make the characters consistent while have a reasonable character arc. Having characters that will not only help shape the world the story is set in but also grow and change throughout the story will also help keep people interested in the character and may even have your readers rooting for your character to make it to their destination (another example from my fanfic and with my original character, who my readers seem to love her to death, flaws and all).

Sometimes it might also help to start with a template of some sort, whether that is using other movies, video games, or comics as the basis. For me with my comics I use inspiration from multiple comics to not only put the world together, but to also plan out how the story will go (pretty much, I find something interesting from a popular series set in a popular genre and exploit it in a way that I can create an interesting chapter or story arc).

Don't know if this helps but this is my two cents.

[iddqd]

There's a lot of good suggestions here. Here's my two cents:

1. If this is your first story, start with a short story format. I finished only two short stories before starting to work on a bigger story, and I regret that I didn't do more of them. Short stories let you safely figure things out before you dive into the deep end.

2. Take a look at Linda Seger's books ("Making a good script great" and "Advanced screenwriting"). They're easily applied to comic book writing and full of practical guidance and solid advice.