URGENT HELP! Today is the day I start my comic and I need your help!

[novembersilence33]

Hey guys! Im starting my comic TODAY I refuse to put it off any longer! Ill need your help in regards of how to start my comic's story.Please post good ways to start a story and please make sure they aren't cliché ;-; thanks!

[efdvorsky]

That depends the kind of comic you have, your narrative, your characters, your genre, if you want to tease future concepts, etc...

There isn't a right or wrong way to start, yes there are clichés, but also that depends on execution. What's your comic about?

[novembersilence33]

its about 4 friends torn apart when one of them makes a deal with a demon to heal their sick friend

[carloswebcomic]

Really? You want people to tell you how to start a story?
When you're making a comic, no matter what genre or subject, there's one thing you can always be certain of. There will be failures.
That's the how you learn. You fall flat on your arse, then get up, see what you did wrong and keep going plodding along a bit wise that before.

[efdvorsky]

Well if you could explain it to me in that sentence then you know where to start then: either the ritual, them trying to help the sick friend, start with the after-event and work through flashbacks.

It's all up to you and how you want the story to go.

Write something you'd WANT to read and how you'd think it would be best to present it. You can't ask anyone to tell you how to do something, follow your instinct and learn/grow from there. If it fails, try again.

[VermillionWorks]

I don't know how long you want your current comic idea to be, but if you're planning to make it a longer series, then you may at least want to sort out your beginning, middle and end before jumping into it...if you only have a vague idea of what you want to do, things could get tricky and it could lead to you wanting to reboot it a lot as you start to think of ideas you hadn't considered before because you jumped into things too early and now the template is already set....which isn't a bad thing necessarily, you just learn a few new things, but I personally know it can get frustrating at times.

...but if you really just want to wing it then perhaps you'd be better off starting with a short one-shot comic, maybe even more than one, just to test the ropes a bit, it can still be related to your current idea. Experiment!

[shazzbaa]

Are you asking for advice on like..... where and how your story should start? Like how the opening scene should go? Or are you asking for advice on how you should begin working on a story? Like where you should start when you're planning your comic?

[ToonDoctor]

Don't be afraid or too stressed. This could be your first project and you really want to show it to the world and make a good first impression. If you find that you don't know how to start, just toss ideas and try the one that appeals to you the most. You seem to have a good basic concept, so just believe in yourself and jump in.

You seem to have the drive and want to break a barrier that has held you back for long. That's great. You've got good energy and a hunger to do good things.

It doesn't matter how you start this story. If it's the first then it's really the first and you're allowed to trip. If it's not the first, then imagine how it was when you figured out the basic plot of previous stories and try to reach for that energy and state of mind that you once had, and then just write and draw.

Update us on what you come up with!

Cheers!

[demthorshie]

Might I suggest you write a script before you start drawing your comic? I know it might seem a little bit out of the way since you already have to draw your pages, but having a script is a really useful tool to have in the long run. If you don't have time to write the entire script, maybe write it in chapters? Just relax and try to have fun with your comic, it's not supposed to feel like a chore and it shouldn't stress you out!

You already seem to have a starting point on your comic's story, I really strongly recommend writing a mini script or something to refer back to as you go!

[heterodont]

As someone who immediately jumped into making a long-form comic without any prior experience in sequential work AND story writing, please don't rush into it!

It's great to see that you're enthusiastic to begin making a comic! but you have to go through all the ''boring'' stuff first! You need to build the foundation for your comic (the script/story) it's good that you already have an idea of what you want to do with the story - but if all you have is the bare bones, you're going to be missing the flesh of the story! Do you want it to be long form or short form? What if you end up not liking the idea anymore and end up dropping the story half way through? You have to keep these things in consideration!

Not to mention, if you rush into making a comic - for example (in my case) you're going to miss out on being able to foreshadow events in earlier chapters because you don't know what's going to happen towards the end of the story. It's so much easier when you know exactly what needs to happen in your story because that way you aren't stressed about continuing the story in a way that makes sense!

[UndefinableCreature]

Personally, I would start by showing the relationship between them. I would want the readers to know how they felt, why they felt that way and why one of them made that decision.

But that's just me, you can definitely start it better.
Good Luck! 😊

[Kamikaze]

@novembersilence33 if you want to start your VeryOwnComicTM...start by writing the story.

This book, this book, this book, [this book][4 (I don't care if it says 'screenwriting' the stuff still applies across the board)), and [this specific podcast]4 from this podcast show should help you get started.

Creating comics isn't about just drawing. It's writing, it's layout, it's editing, it's pacing, it's more than pencils drawing perfect finished pages. It takes thought and planning. If you want to start a narrative comic, by all means, please do so - but don't come into the forums here looking for others to do the work for you.

If you're so interested in making your own comic, perhaps find an old myth, historical story/legend, or little known fairytale or folktale (believe me there are PLENTY of both out there) and make a comic following that story. At least then you can get started without worrying about writing the story yourself.

Good luck. <3

[iasucomic]

lol. Very sneaky, trying to pawn off your story-writing responsibilities on me. But ya gotta get up PRET-ty early in the morning to pull one over on ol' Ben Saint, yes sir-ree.

[dotpapercrowndot]

well yeah I think totally depends on how your story will go like the story could start into tragic mode already or in a teasing way, it totally depends on how do you want your readers to feel automatically in the first pages of the story

[monochr0m8tor]

Way to waste our time with that clickbait title, there, I've said it. So no one else needs to do that.

[Robosaur]

I don't know if I understand your question exactly but I'll try my best l. : ) You should at least have a basic layout of your story(EX:timeline) to work as a base. Then when you have that complete, you can fill in the details such as dialogue and panel descriptions! That's how to make a very SIMPLE script at least. If you're asking about how you want you're first scene to play out, I can't really help you because it's YOUR story. However, I will leave this:

"No hook, no fish".

If you want to make a compelling opening to catch readers, there should be SOMETHING to CATCH their eyes! Whether this is a hinted conflict or just simply throwing the reader into the middle of a fightscene, the beginning hook is what will make readers want to see more!

[indagold]

Uhh.... you should really have a story planned out first... unless you're making a stream of consciousness/surreal type stuff you can't jump in like that.
I know it's exciting to want to make something right away, but time and preparation is key to making it work.
You sound kinda inexperienced.