Webtoon Episode Length

[yoboketto]

I’m creating a Webtoon by myself. I can be a bit slower compared to other creators when it comes to art, especially with other irl responsibilities. I’m scared that people are not going to be interested in my Webtoon since each episode is a little shorter than the average.

Would you get turned off by shorter episodes?

[katewindloft]

No I don’t. So long as the art quality and story is good I read it! Best of luck to you!

[doublemelon]

Depending how short is short. I have seen people posting only 3 panels per ep, and that is a turn off.

But if its 7-8 panels with something at least going on, it's fine.

Otherwise u can just postpone posting an ep once it's done and just build more content.

[delladz]

I think the general consensus is that people are fine with shorter episodes with more frequent updates, but you shouldn't feel pressured to have the same amount of output as professionals! Just keep doing what you love and enjoy the journey, the fans will come on their own time, but whats most important is your own enjoyment in creation!

[SleepingPoppy]

It'd help to know what you consider average, and how short your episodes are by comparison.

Speaking for myself, I've been doing the page format, rather than vertical, which tends to mean shorter episodes. I think on average my updates are around 5 or 6 panels, updating weekly with breaks. Might be too short for some, but I think this is really reasonable for a free comic thats a labor of love.

You have to find the pace that works for you, because it's better to grow slowly than burn out pushing yourself too hard.

I'll add that, if the quality is good, but updates are painfully short, I'd just wait a few months then binge read. So it's not, like, a stopping force, though if you're weak in one area (speed, art quality, writing quality, marketing, etc) you need to make up for it in other areas to pull people in. But it's always okay to be a work in progress!

[Bokyongyo]

Just keep in mind each comic will be different with what works for their story, concept and creator's work flow. With one comic longer episodes will work for that creator's own work schedule that same thing may not be plausible for another creator. But that won't deter you to find your specific audience that likes your story. If someone likes your story they will like the story, they don't essentially care if episodes are shorter than some others.

Just find the pace that works for you and your story, and all should fit into place;
So don't think too critical about it.

[Rhonder]

Going to echo the sentiment that shorter episodes are totally fine, especially for folks with other obligations The following is purely my own anecdotal experience, but I've found that ultimately my project that had shorter weekly episodes was able to generate much more traffic than my next project that hand longer monthly episodes. The length and quality of the episodes didn't do much to help the many many fewer views that my series got as a consequence of showing up on Tapas/Webtoons' Fresh/Newly Updated sections. Mileage may vary, of course, but I'm definitely going back to shorter-but-more-frequent episodes for my next project Agree with this sentiment:

Depending how short is short. I have seen people posting only 3 panels per ep, and that is a turn off.

But if its 7-8 panels with something at least going on, it's fine.

Episodes that are really really short are a bit of a turn off for me as well, but I agree with @SleepingPoppy - at minimum a page (or a similar amount of panels for vertical comics, ~5-6 on average?) is a fine lower boundary. More can be nice but not necessary for many stories.

[azzy-m]

Nope. I'm used to reading shorter episodes, so I really don't mind as long as that's fairly frequent I guess.

[LunaRing]

I did a lot of research before I started my comic and found that it doesn't matter the length if you burn out and give up. do what you are able to healthily. Many, Many comics have creators in and out of then doctors with injuries to wrists and hands etc missing one deadline after another. when you read through the whole comic it's more apology posts then comic. so Don't push if you are in it for the long hall, just get started. I'm starting with health issues so do only one panel a day 6 days a week. However that way it reads like a long book as it was first written. I have found the quality of art is the Biggest affect on getting subs. hopefully that helps. https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/fairy-stepmother/list?title_no=624778

[maseba]

Maybe, if you feel really worried with that, you could wait to had more chapters ready and upload them all weeks. This could stop you from publish the first chapter for months but is not a bad plan.

[writercynknapp]

WT seems to like 30 panels per chapter.

[Gossam]

I've never been a long-form page person. Cramming all those panels and story into an "episode" rather than a "page" feels like A) too much work, and B) does not give an algorithm boost on Twitter/other places I post my comic pages. Social media cares about frequency of content - not length of it. This is solely my thing, I don't know about other creators.

Also to add to the 3-panel-turnoff - sometimes a page is a downtime moment to let people breathe, similar to how Studio Ghibli does that in their movies. It helps with pacing, breathing room, and gives you something pretty to look at without stuffing 19 panels of grass/trees/birds into a page to feel like you need to make content.

Things are different for everybody, and every page is different as well. I personally don't care at all about episode length - if the quality is good and the pacing fits the story flow, I am a-ok.

[Jenny-Toons]

Actually mentioned this in another thread:

Everyone else really hit the nail on why: if you're not getting paid to upload (or getting paid enough to make it worthwhile), you post whatever you can. With that said, I'm going to throw you all a different answer: I prefer updates that have good pacing. This can mean a couple of things: something new has happened in the story, we've closed a scene, we're starting a new scene that carries to the next update, we learn something new, etc. All in all, I want the story to feel like it's mo…

For me, it's all about pacing. And that can depend on what the story needs, what genre you're working with, and maybe even what you're comfortable working with.

Not every story needs 70 panels every update. And not every story can hold together with only 3-5 panels every update.

You just need to find a balance, know when to pause your updates to move onto the next one, and give yourself room to breathe. High emphasizes on that last point if you're not even being paid to work at featured comic levels (even when paid, it's questionable for one person alone).

[Kaydreamer]

I'm of the opinion that shorter episodes are absolutely fine, so long as they work with the story you're telling. Something which doesn't require too much emotional immersion works fine with short episodes.

That said, if you have a story which does require that immersion, my advice would be to halve your update frequency, and double the episode length. That's the route I've gone, moving to a bi-weekly schedule with episodes between 25 to 30 panels in length. (The one I'm working on now is 36, which is a huge stretch for me, but that episode really needed the extra length.) They're still on the shorter side, but long enough that a reader can briefly sink into the tone of the story.

Going by the feedback on my most recent episode, which is the first one where I felt like I'd really settled comfortably into a good pace and tonal ambience, that was a great choice. My audience seems to love it, and it's an ambitious yet achievable workload for me.

A lot of creators even choose a tri-weekly or monthly update schedule, to ensure they can fit what they need to fit into each episode without having to stress themselves out by working too much, or too fast. Again, I only recommend this if the tone of your story needs the immersion longer episodes offer. If it doesn't, just work with whatever length suits you!

[susutaru]

The years have passed but the question is still the same to actual Webtoon readers:

Which length of an episode do you prefer? And how often should a story be updated so that you would read and enjoy it?

As for myself, I prefer longer episodes so I can dive into the story. That usually happens after at least a minimum of about 10-12 Panels. The more the better, but I know most of us don't do it as a fulltime Job, so weekly updates with 20+ Panels seem really unrealistic.

So I wanted to know, how the actual community feels about this theme.

[stiles]