Question about pacing

inkyserifs 2017-01-12 14:37:22 UTC #1

Hi guys!

I'm really new on Tapastic, and to the webcomic thing in general. I've been an artist for a long time but all my previous attempts at comics were rather half-hearted.

Hunted (my current baby) is different though, and I really want to pour my heart and soul into this story, but as I'm still very much a beginner I had a quesiton about pacing. Right now, I'm doing a vertical comic strip that's really composed of two comic pages pasted together one on top of the other. I like how they look, and I think they're good, bite-sized chunk of story that are neither too little nor too much per update (in terms of how much I think I can produce and update regularly).

But while producing the next batch of pages, I discovered that the way I had them set up resulted in a minor cliff hanger in what would be the middle of a long page (but the end of a short one, if that makes any sense). It made me wonder if I wouldn't be better off posting short pages to keep up suspense of some kind, or if people don't really care about that sort of thing.

Does anyone have any tips? Like, maybe putting in an extra half page in between to drag out the moment of suspense, that sort of thing? General tips are really welcome, because I am a bit of a noob XD

Thank you and hugs all around

Inky

shazzbaa 2017-01-12 15:11:42 UTC #2

This is good stuff to be thinking about!

When you're dealing with pacing in webcomics, one BIG factor is: how often are you updating? Think about how quickly things are happening in real time, because that affects how satisfying an update feels. Let's say you have a scene of a character trying to chase down a thief that stole her wallet. If you update three times a week, then spending 3 or 4 pages on that chase would be fine, as long as each page kept the chase interesting -- it'd take about a week to catch the thief. If you update once a week, though, spending four pages on this chase would be very different -- you would spend A MONTH just chasing this one guy! It would begin to feel like a lot of time had gone by and nothing new had happened.

So while looking for a good "beat" to end your comic on is good, so it has that kind of punch that makes you want to come back, dragging out suspense isn't always a good thing -- because the fact is, webcomics are already kind of dragged out because of how we update!

For this one update, I'd just look at it and ask yourself what you're gaining by dragging out the suspense -- will the resolution be worth the suspense, a big OH CRAP moment, or will it resolve without creating any new conflict? Like for example, if the half-size update ends on a guy who's been bitten suddenly noticing it's a full moon, and you want to give your audience some time to yell "OH NO" before the next update transforms him into a werewolf, I think that could definitely work! But if the half-size update ends on a guy nervously about to open the door after a spooky knock, and the next update is him opening the door to a friend and laughing "oh haha it's just you," that might feel anticlimactic and not worth dragging out -- it would be better to get that sort of effect by the way you pace the panels on the pages itself.
The other thing to think about is, how much happens in the half-size update? If the page is, say, an argument between a werewolf and his friend that ends with the werewolf seeing the full moon and panicking, that could be satisfying. If it's just six panels of the guy looking up and noticing the sky as the clouds part and then the full moon is visible for an entire panel, that's not giving your audience much actual content for an update, and it might feel slow and draggy rather than suspenseful.

But for the future, this is also a good thing to think about while you're scripting or planning out your pages! If you see a moment that would make a great end-beat for an update, then you might want to look at whether or not it makes sense to spend a little more time on the moment before that beat, to get a full two-page update that ends with that punch.

OKAY SORRY THIS WAS SO LONG I hope..... something in here was useful!! xD If I worded anything weirdly or my examples were confusing please feel free to ask and I'll be happy to clarify!

inkyserifs 2017-01-12 15:33:33 UTC #3

Thank you SO much, this was insanely helpful. XD You've given me lots to think about and consider for future updates, I'm very grateful. <3

donathinfrye 2017-01-13 17:20:52 UTC #4

@shazzbaa gives some great advice. Beyond cliff-hangers and suspense, there's another sort of golden rule of webcomic pacing to think about too (and maybe you already do!)

Unless you're updating very frequently (every day, every few days), it's a good idea when it makes sense and isn't jarring to make sure the update gives one, new, meaningful piece of information. And if you can also leave the reader with a question in the update, even better -- sometimes, that might be a cliff-hanger, and sometimes it could just be that new information leads the reader to new questions about the story and its characters.

For instance, if I show in an update that the murderer was Old Man Jarvis, the town drunk, I might have a character puzzled by what might've been the murderer's motive.

If I share that Johnny is romantically interested in Trina, I might make Trina's reaction vague, leading the reader to wonder how she might feel in turn; and if she turns him down in the next update, she might mention that she's interested in someone else -- leading the reader to question which character she's interested in.

There are a million different ways to go about this, depending on the story beats, and it's not always possible ... but it's a good thing to keep in mind.