Someone suggested that learning to write better would help me make a comic faster. How does this work?

[HGohwell]

Look, we can't tell you yes or no on everything. That seems fine on it's own, but it is all about context. That's why you have to ask yourself is this absolutely necessary or is it getting in the way and can be combined or trimmed? Or get an editor to do it. Every scene, almost every line and word should pull double duty building character, world building or plot, preferable all three, more usually two of the three. And this is just something you learn. We can't say yes or no without full context and how this effects the story and characters. For instance, that's such a generic speech, is it read from a book? Read verbatim by some stuff old monk? Does the chosen on react interestingly? You say it's the inciting incident, but how so? And I don't want you to tell me these things. I don't want you to answer me because these answers are useless on their own but I want you to think about them.

For instance, to put myself out there so you can judge and maybe I am full of bs but in a similar-ish story I'm writing, the opening scene is roughly a year after the discovery of the chosen one and the non-chosen's realisation that he's never going to be chosen. Instead, we start an an arcade where the non-chosen is rinsing an arcade machine for every coin he can get so he and the team can pool their money just for enough to buy the kids they look after something to eat, because the chosen one, despite being on their team, is taking all the good kills and therefore all the bounties, but not sharing despite them supposedly being all on the same side and that the boss won't do anything about it because they need him for their rebellion. It gives you characters individually and team dynamics along with some world building and a few hints of plot. And it's got the whole story laid out right there, it's a story of the non-chosen trying very hard not to let his jealousy and resentment get in the way of the greater good and of the chosen one trying to resist this responsibility shoved upon him.

You don't need to start with the inciting incident, but you do need to start with something that makes it clear what kind of plot we're in for and keeps the readers around, since webcomics are a fast medium and audiences won't give you long to prove yourself.

[JoshRaed]

It’s not the inciting incident. It’s a setup of the basics so the audience knows what anything is.

Also that was actually me being defensive by showing you that it’s a fine plot detail and not a distraction.

It’s actually said by a villain and omits some very important details so he can manipulate people, and he’s telling it to his son.

What do you think I should write instead?

[HGohwell]

The reasons I assumed this was your inciting incident was because you, apparently accidentally, linked them by saying the discovery of the chosen one was right after this. But whatever. We can't tell you what to write, and if you're getting defensive and leaving things like context out when we keep telling you we can't judge without a lot of context, then there's nothing I can even give you as advice. I've said all I can.

[JoshRaed]

It’s an action comic but I can hardly just start with an action scene without the audience knowing anything, and set up the plot in scene one.

[JoshRaed]

What do you want to know for context? I’ll show you every single bit of writing I have on the story if you need it.

I have character sheets, season outlines, chapter outlines, unfinished chapters, and i’ll tell you about anything else that’s important but not written down.

[IndigoShirtProd]

Dm me link or send me the document with the outline, I'll read it.

[JoshRaed]

Chapter one (unfinished, most of what happens after a certain point is subject to change.) : https://www.wattpad.com/774730376

Outlines:

https://www.wattpad.com/1076352359 (this one is messy and unfinished, none of it comes together properly)

https://www.wattpad.com/1166273800

https://www.wattpad.com/1208203754 (this one is barely anything)

Character sheets:

https://www.wattpad.com/1246865042

added note, the stickweirdos is an old name for the chosen wads, and “stickguy” is an old name for “nobody” so that’s what that is. Also if you see “superblonde” that’s an old name for “red”.

[JoshRaed]

Did you start reading it?

[IndigoShirtProd]

I read through all of it except the character sheets. Give me a bit to get my thoughts together.

[DiegoPalacios]

Learning about writing means learning how to tell a story better.

Some storytelling aspects you can work are:

-Pacing: a story with a good pacing doesn't feel too slow or too rushed.

-Dialogue: making the conversations of the story feel natural and interesting.

-Characters: making characters with a solid personality that are interesting and/or likeable.

-Plot: a story with an interesting conflict, it can be an inner conflict, an outer conflict or a mix of both.

Depending of the genres/subgenres of your stories you may need to develop aditional skills. For example, if you write a comedy you gotta know how to make others laugh.

Hope this helps

[thecrystalrook]

Everyone's really getting hung up on the wrong question here. OP asked:

I just want to understand why writing class is a solution to my drawing speed problems. Everyone swears I should already know.

They're talking about their drawing speed, not their writing speed. Yet everyone is answering about writing speed. No wonder they keep asking the same question.

The answer to your question is it doesn't. Gaining experience drawing will improve your drawing speed. If you want to take a class to improve that, you should take drawing classes. Or just keep practicing. You'll get faster as you keep going.

Now sure, learning to write better means you have a better paced story, and that requires less drawing because you've told it in a shorter manner with fewer panels. But I don't think that's the answer you're looking for, because you specifically asked about drawing speed - i.e. the time taken to draw a single panel.

[IndigoShirtProd]

Here's the thing, I don't say this to be rude, but it was kind of a disconnected mess. Like it felt like things happened after another, after another, after and it was difficult to follow.

Obviously, this outline isn't completed, but a it's also too detailed. You're getting into the minutia of the what will happen without understanding the larger picture. So much so, that in the outline, you're forgetting details and having to recon things. You're outline isn't for other people to follow, it's for you to get the details on the story in a format that you can then write the chapters from it. Couple questions to ask yourself, what is the overall plot and what is the driving factor: something external from the protagonist(s) or internal push from the protagonist(s)?

There doesn't seem to be a main main character, or a primary protagonist the story follows. This could honestly be a tale of two (maybe three). You could honestly stand to cut out a character, or more, since it seems some of them don't contribute to the overall plot. If your so sentimental about a character, why not take them out of this story and have them lead their own plot. And if you want to know who I think you could cut, it's Bottlered.

[JoshRaed]

The main characters arc is much less interesting without her in it though.

And her story cannot happen without him, their arcs are intertwined. Also she can’t have her romantic subplot with the other character if that character is off on a separate adventure.

So which details are too much for the season outlines? What’s there that shouldn’t be?

[JoshRaed]

Can we take this to DMs?

[IndigoShirtProd]

Sure

[Shanny8]

Depends on the standpoint...if you have your script(s) already done, then the only thing to do is to draw. You only get faster at drawing by doing it repetitiously, understanding what you want to do and the effect/style/techniques you're trying to achieve, and understanding how to translate the story to the most effective pages that you can create.

Also take into account that things take TIME; no amount of forcing yourself is going to create a better product...faster, yes but sometimes that can NOT be a good thing. I usually do about a page per week, given the fact that I work a FT job so I have to work whenever I have the time to and when my body is refreshed. I wish that I could do more faster, but that would mean my end result is probably gonna be something I'm not happy with.

Writing, as in the act of writing is NOT going to make you a faster creator; understanding your strengths, weaknesses, and how to maximize what you do best plus the ability to learn & utilize new techniques are what will help you get faster as a creator.

1) If you are writing on the fly(i.e., a page per week or whenever you upload your episode)- that is the culprit. Write an entire chapter/volume/whatever...sit back, review it, and see if there is anything that you feel you may need to cut/add/change to make the story more simple or less convoluted. I write my scripts months ahead of actual production time; gives me time to go back and review, make changes & tweaks where I feel they are needed.

2) LAY OUT pages/panels...if you are drawing on the fly and you're not a particularly efficient penciller, then layouts help you plan what you want the page or panel without trying to create something fresh on the go. 40 pages is a LOT, depending on level of detail. My webcomic is 40 pages- given the fact that I work a FT job, it takes me about 8 MONTHS if I power through.

It’s an action comic but I can hardly just start with an action scene without the audience knowing anything, and set up the plot in scene one

YES you can. Then you can create a "retro prelude" going back and explaining things leading up to the action point. It's a break in the pacing, but an effective break that pulls readers in IF done correctly. If the storytelling gets drawn out longer than it needs to, readers will lose interest(which is pretty much a general rule with comic story flow).

[JoshRaed]

So like…

Character fights shadow monster… we don’t know what monster is, and then we cut back to his childhood as he’s told a thing about the dark lord and he’s the chosen one destined to fight the dark lord, and now we know the shadow monster is something the dark lord sent.

Is that good? I feel like it’s weirdly put together.

[thecrystalrook]

Sounds good to me my guy! Readers love a good unexplained mystery involving the supernatural. It's a good hook-line-and-sinker. You have your starting point, now build on that.

[TheLemmaLlama]

people seemed to take this person’s side

If you're talking about this comment:

Can you explain this?

If I did a kickstarter for a webcomic how much money would I need?

Hire someone to teach you how to write. Second option, get a ghostwriter to first outline the rough story, then get a ghostwriter and let them finish the first chapter. Check if you are satisfied with the result and take it from there Both will cost you money, you just have to decide what step to take

then no-one's really taking his 'side' as far as I can tell. The comment has no likes, and everyone else trying to give you advice is saying stuff that's totally different to that comment.

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To summarize what people are actually saying in this thread:

Q: Someone suggested that learning to write better would help me make a comic faster. How does this work?

Better writing => tighter writing => shorter story => takes less time to draw.

Q: Why is being better at writing going to make me draw faster?

It doesn't. Writing quality is independent of drawing speed. (Also note this is a different question to the above :])

[JoshRaed]

This feels less like an explanation to me and more like it’s just the plot happening out of order.

Like I can’t imagine a movie playing out like this, because it would be so weird.

Like imagine aang fights zuko, this is scene one of ATLA, then suddenly:

“long ago the 4 nations lived together in harmony, but everything changed when the fire nation attacked”