For me, it was the not bite off more than I could chew. Initially, I had this grandiose idea for a comic that easily would have spanned a couple of hundred pages but I was still pretty inexperienced when it came to writing one so it's better to focus on smaller projects to build some skill.
Mar '21
Mar '21
For me, it would be to not rush the story. Always take the time to redraft your initial ideas and think ahead in the story at least a little so it won't seem too random or incoherent.
Same for me. I try not to rush things and take my time making it. I upload biweekly because its less stressful with my work schedule and i can take time to revise it if needed.
my situation is pretty much the same yours. I just wish I realized earlier that writing smaller projects doesn't mean "cram a whole-ass story into 2 pages".
Definitely ‘don’t take it too seriously, you don’t have to be making "your masterpiece" for it to be worth making it at all.’
Stop planning and just start. Having an outline is good, but I got caught up in research and revisions, forgetting that the most important part was to actually get something on paper!
Don’t spend too much time on something that readers will only see for a second. Gradient, flat, and silhouette backgrounds are totally okay and huge time-savers.
I've been given a lot of good advice over the years concerning "Red Shift"!
1) Never give up. Not everyone will be interested in your work. Which is normal! Just work hard to find the people who will. Never fear promoting your content. If you truly love what you're creating, powering forward should be easier. It's worked out well for me because I ended up with an actual reader-base. And made friends along the way too!
2) Accept criticism, it makes you a better artist/writer. No, you are likely not creating the next great piece of media that will be remembered as a classic. That doesn't mean your work is trash through. However, if you believe you're the greatest gift to Earth, your content will suffer because you will ignore the flaws. And it will be obvious. You shouldn't accept critique from trolls but accepting it from people who just want to help edit your work will make you better in the end. Being humble is important for both your mind and your work.
3) Promote yourself! As I mentioned above, promoting yourself is important if you want to gain any kind of readerbase. I was told this by multiple people and it's true. Having social media helps with this. I personally use insta, Tapas, and YouTube - all three sites have been nothing but excellent to me and my content. And people can search me up easily too because I created the #redshiftbymeltingcore tag.
As dumb as it sounds:
Do it and have fun with it!
I tried a few years to write something and failed because I tried too hard. And now after I wanted to stop I went for it one last time, just having fun and without thinking too much.
The best bits of advice I've had have been technical advice regarding art, which makes sense because that's the area in which I'm the least experienced (at least in terms of comic art):
don't be timid with shading -- if you go too light you're basically wasting time on something that's barely visible
try bolder lines on the outside of figures, and lighter lines for the inner details (this was advice given to somebody else, but I saw it and took it to heart and it's honestly been a breakthrough for me)
I have to quote the most influential ones in my life:
My first editor: Dont let life completely stop you, you can rest, but dont stop.
My first studio boss: If you keep looking at yourself as a student you will pass all your life learning and doing nothing because you will be saying you are not ready. Forget that imperfect self mentality
My BFF ( on repeat for the past 20 years): JUST DO IT MOTHERF*CKER!!
MY actual impromtu consultant/adviser: *slamming his desk * DO IT!! Don't blame yourself for beggining again so late. You would have regreted if you havent tried again. For what I see, you never had the proper support and the right people around you to understand the value of this kind of work and put a lot of pressure on you doing things and even more pressuring you do do much more. Everyone asking from you but never giving. So, do it because you love it and forget the ones that only takes from you when they want to mess with your path and count with me and my brothers to get any advice you need and dont be afraid to ask. Value what you do in your own way.
I think these advices were more important for me than the technical advices Ive received
Learn your writing style and don't apologize for it. I didn't the official name for my style, I'm a pantser, until I started on Tapas, but it's the style that works for me. People are really quick to give advice but if the advice doesn't work for you, don't listen to it. Find what works for you and adapt if needed.
You are under no obligation to write according to "trends" or standards in a certain genre. If you decide you want to write a fantasy romance story about werewolves fighting zombie ninjas, do it! You don't have to add anything with fancy balls, fated mates, or a religion based on the moon, if you don't want to.
Self-care! This one is big. Some people treat their series with the same seriousness as a full-time job. Yes, if you want to improve in your craft, you need to practice. BUT you can practice on your own schedule. If your piece isn't ready by your normal posting date, don't post it. It's okay to wait until it's ready, instead of rushing it to meet your own deadline.
For me, it was to write/draw something that I was really passionate about rather than what was popular. There's always someone out there interested in what you're writing - readers will come if they can see how much you love your project.
-Write what you know: While I think it's super good to research different cultures and experiences, as well as world build other universes and fantasy places--it's good to also write that unfamiliar stuff based on what you know. Your experiences will transfer over to other people's experiences. Keep researching, of course, but know that your experiences that you have in life will come up over and over again in your work, and that's a good thing. It's good to know your forte and push your strengths.
Like I have often tried to mold my work into formats it wasn't really meant for, on platforms it wasn't really meant for, and in styles they weren't really meant for--it was good to test all of those things--but honestly I should just do it in the way that I'm good at. Which sounds so logical, but for some reason it's hard to know your own strengths when it comes to writing and storytelling vs art where it's visual and obvious.
Anyway, don't reinvent the wheel. Just write what you know.
And a second I'll add in as an afterthought but it's just super important
You dictate your upload schedule and number of panels. If you are a beginner, don't do the same upload schedule as a professional! If you are not being paid for this, spare your hands, and choose a schedule that works for you. Mine is 2x the amount of time it takes to make an update. So yeah, I'm gonna be uploading my color comic 2x a month and that's it. This is fine. I don't have a team of artists working alongside me. I don't need to make 70 panel long webtoons. I am one person, and I need to be confident in that.
