Nov 2018
29 / 37
Nov 2018
Nov 2018
racarter
Nov '18

Dialogue and how to include foreshadowing without being too obvious.

Also I struggle how to explain stuff without making it an info dump. I take the advice of a post I saw once which said to act like your readers are already familiar with the world and characters to avoid info dumping. Of course the post was about fanfic but it was mentioned cuz since it’s fanfic you can skip introducing the characters in great detail.

Like you don’t even learn the last names of my characters until chapter 3. Honestly you don’t even know the name of the cat familiar (or even that he is a familiar) until later. I think I’m working that into chapter 4.

As far as dialogue goes I suppose I have the benefit of being born and raised in Texas and I’ve just decided that my stories are all set in Texas unless otherwise stated... so I’ve got a lot of slang I can utilize.

Anyway so it’s mostly the writing part I struggle with. The art, I usually struggle with props or detailed rooms or things like trains / cars / etc. Which sucks. Also perspective, particularly in the case of bedrooms. Mostly cuz I draw traditionally so I can’t zoom in to get all the details and still get the perspective right. But I try to figure it out somehow.

storytimebiondi
Nov '18

Gods! I'm always stuck on inventing terms for things, names for places, and fantastical slang words. I swear I spent HOURS trying to come up with a slang term for a race of beings in my fantasy realm...

AmysGames
Nov '18

Definitely the writing, but mostly with like... the inconsequential details, haha. Is this piece of dialogue too out of character? Does this dialogue convey something I don't want to convey? Is this real-world detail actually factually correct?? Maybe I should look it up for the 12th time...

Rhonder
Nov '18
racarter

I feel this so much! The thing for me drawing my comic traditionally too is like... trying to get the vanishing points placed well. Typically you want the points off the page for 2 and 3 point, but my drawing area's just not that big (maybe 2ftx3ft, drawing on 11x17 paper) so that's frequently a challenge xD I'm not that good at faking it yet either, so you can definitely tell the panels where I start start trying to and the perspective starts looking really off lmao

Azifri
Nov '18

I worry that the idea I'm trying to express will not be understood. Or even worse: misunderstood.

Shanny8
Nov '18

Composition- of individual panels, my pages, and how the pages need to fit within a certain scheme of what I'm doing.

lil-sea-salt
Nov '18
eristeine

Time

I always compare my output to others. Like comics take me months and writing also. Like I wish I could just crank out a couple chapters a week, but that's impossible for me.

I wish I was better at producing and making more. I hate having gaps where there's no content for a while -- if I was a sub it would irritate me.

TheNiceGuys
Nov '18

Every. Single. Time. Ill have a scene written for a story and then i look at it like "this makes no sense, no one would get this but me" So then i revise several times until it is so dumbed down that it would probably insult readers intelligence so I bump it up a few notches as continue in a self destructive cycle.

Rodimus13
Nov '18
lil-sea-salt

If it makes you feel better, I bet some of them have big old buffers and thats how they can do it. Some comics even have several people doing the writing, drawing, and coloring.

A-weird-girler
Nov '18

If people can overlook a whole DAMN OUTFIT SWITCHING COLOR IN THE MIDDLE OF A SCENE then I don't think you should worry so much about a spot, but the things I overthink the most in art is the quality of the image and if my art is ugly and the panel placement. As for the writing I always fear someone won't interpret it the way I intend the story to be interpreted and that there might be unfortunate implications.

eristeine
Nov '18

I see that we're all different drops in the ocean of horrible creation worries XD
Honestly reading these kind of...soothes my own worries a bit.

kip
Nov '18

plotholess,, for sure
i always end up thinking of "but what if" scenarios no one else really cares about (or ever, ever asks about)
which can sometimes honestly trip me over and often delays my work

but in terms of art im the exact opposite, very straightforward pen-to-page no-thinking process, so its interesting seeing how many people get tripped over that!

Rodimus13
Nov '18

There's no plot holes! Just lore I can't fit in. There are often comments where people are like "THIS MAKES NO SENSE!" and I'm all "BUT I CAN'T EXPLAIN WITHOUT SPOILERS!" and I try to have lore in my patreon that explains some of it without too many spoilers.... but people are paying for those! So then people get mad and that stresses me out...

I say this while I write lore for brain cases in my comic....

kip
Nov '18

aww that sucks ;;;
i normally dont even work with fantasy elements so i can only imagine how much working on a full on fantasy world would be terrifying
maybe if u could be like,, "the resolution to that turns up in X pages !"

or try and establish rules before using a system?
i.e. if the characters have a 'mana' type magic system where their magic slowly runs out and they have to regain it via food/rest, you can show an introduction scene where someone's run out of mana and gets hurt in battle due to it.
obviously whatever works for your comic might be more difficult, but you could also hold off on scenes until you've explained how they work?

DasIstWunderblyat
Nov '18
1
  1. Is this scene/ plot point plausible? Does it comes out too unnatural, coincidental, or staged?
  2. Am I driving this story downhill into a wrong direction? Am I unwittingly commiting writing mistakes? Introducing too many characters? Inconsistency? Plot holes? Poor world building?
  3. Are my characters plus their interaction and motive realistic and human enough? Are they layered enough (though I left some underdeveloped for purposes) Do their dialogues sound forced? Are their voice unique enough?
  4. Am I making mistake in wording and vocabularies? Will people make fun of my English and my little International knowledge?
  5. Would my readers like it? Would people actually care about it? Would it make a difference if I post it? Will they disappointed with it?
  6. Can I actually write? Do my subscribers stay because they feel sorry for me? Should I quit?

TL;DR a lot that it sometimes drives me crazy and unproductive.

Also if any of my subscriber or those who have read my story stumbled upon this reply, I'd appreciate it if you answered point 1--3 honestly :smile:
I just want an opinion about it, because readers usually can see in different perspective writers can't.

Rodimus13
Nov '18
kip

@kip

All great ideas! Sadly, in our comic it is sci fi stuff. Some of the lore is stuff the robots flat can't know at this point because humans made dang sure they won't. For example, how to build brain cases. That is actually a major plot point! So some of what I'm saying is set up for later revelations. Like how the bots are gonna have to figure brain cases out or they will slowly die out too (there are no humans left). Or why would the humans have so many brain cases laying around in the "danger" wall.

But at least writing out the lore helps prevent plot holes in the future.

ForLackOfStars
Nov '18
lil-sea-salt

As someone who is a massive perfectionist that produces weekly chapters, I can confirm what @Rodimus13 says about buffers. I have a buffer of around 40,000 words, and it's the only way I manage to stay consistent.

kazukitakamura126
Nov '18

There are two things I overthink about the story of my comic and how I am going to execute it. I think about whether certain details in the plot make sense or whether or not it will portray the feeling I want for that particular scene. I even think far into a comic's story evening thinking on how to panel scenes in later chapters to convey a certain emotion. Well, the good news is when I do eventually get to that scene I know what direction to go.