We just had someone post this long ass post asking if people were going to steal their ideas (a common noob writer point of stress).

The poster got all bent out of shape about some quite direct and honest answers, all of which were helpful, not malevolent.

Anyway, point is, the OP got so upset and some very soft pushback, that they didn't just delete their post, but their entire reddit account. I can only assume it was a burner account, I didn't get a chance to see the history before they deleted it...

but here's a couple of points for everyone:

1. If you want to write... especially in indie comics, it's an undertaking that literally puts your most personal self on display for the world to see. The very essence of writing is throwing your creativity into the public eye and scream "judge me."

If you start pitching a "detective cat comic", you're gonna get people who don't like cats responding to you. This is just life.

If you just started writing and throw out a sample of your writing with every rookie mistake, people are gonna call you out on it.

And then, in the end, even when you've been writing a million years, and publish your latest graphic novel. Negative people are just going to find the things they don't like about it and complain about it.

If you don't respond well to the good and the bad, you're not going to do well in writing. And believe me, people can be and will be cruel. Especially in indie comics, where so many failed creators want to see other creators fail so they can feel better about themselves.

2) If you take the time to post, leave it up. Even if you feel the advice is not exactly what you wanted. When people take the time out of their day to make a reply and you just delete the entire thing the next day because you don't like the responses, you're wasting folks time... and then double wasting folks time, because someone new may come to the subreddit a month later with the exact same question and the process starts all over again.

If you just leave your posts up, folks may take a second to search the subreddit and find the answers without a second round.

As you were.

Write on, write often!

I'm not bragging about myself but I have been writing since my childhood. I have published some short stories and novellas in a few local magazines for 2 years. Writing stories always felt natural and I never looked for any tips or guidance in my life. I just wrote whatever came naturally and edited my work afterward.

Now I'm planning to create a webtoon/vertically scroll comics. (FYI, I'm an amateur artist.) But, when I am planning to create a comic script I'm failing drastically. I cannot arrange the plot the way I can with short stories.

I'm failing at dialogue composition. My stories are mainly with description and monologues with only necessary speeches. I now understand script writing and story writing is quite different.

If anyone has faced the same situation, how did you overcome it?

Also, I'd appreciate any general comic writing tips.

Hey so I want to make a comic my own, but I feel like I need to look at other comics, stories ect, to like learn what draws people in, you see I'm a horror artist and I'm over all Wondering what comics, stories, or little shorts that are weird, strange, scary, ect that you like!

If it helps I can explain my stories lore in the comments?

(If this is the wrong subreddit to ask this then please tell me♥️)

Hi All! This is my first foray into writing for comics (my background is in animation development and screenwriting) and I'm looking for advice on how far I should plot out my arcs when I will have to fundraise for each issue. Right now issue one and two are outlined and I have a good idea of where I am going in volume one. I also have a vision for the larger story arc, but I don't know exactly how many volumes I'm going to need to tell the full story. Should I just focus on producing issues one and two for now and have a rough outline for volume one?

Also, I will likely have to crowdfund my 36 page super sized first issue. Should I start with a work-for-hire agreement for a cover, main character sketches, and the first 5-10 pages of the first issue to use in the campaign and then use the raised funds to finish the comic?

Thanks in advance!

I have this idea I been working on for years now, I'm starting to organize it in documents, but there's so much to write down and to come up with before I even get to actually write the story, I have characters, plot points, enemies, some worldbuilding, but there's so much not writen down and not determined yet that it becomes too much.

I also like to figure out the story or at least parts of the story as I go, but I'm trying to avoid running into inconsistences and contradictions, or failing to foreshadowing something because I only came up with it when it actually happened, and have also consistent rules on how the world works so it all makes sense toghether and avoid certain things not working toghether and the apearence of huge plot holes, I know plot holes are inevitable but I don't want to have a plot hole so massive that distracts from the story.

Any adivice or tips on this?

I have made and published comics before( web comics, I don't have them printed out and sold on a store) and some people liked them, I did them without all this planing but eventually I gave up preciselly because I didn't planned things through enough and I thought I could do it better, I don't wanna to make the same mistakes that killed my past comics, so what should I do to avoid that?

For starters, I had already told them I had three interconnected stories I was hoping to write for the anthology, so this is only meant to be a part of it. The first story was only nine pages long, I knew the scope of the second was going to be greater but I didn't expect it to get this long. I've written twenty pages, I'm halfway through the climax and still want an epilogue scene.

This feels like it's better suited for an individual project or waiting for a publisher to see if the series would be worth picking up based on my initial nine-page story. I'm thinking of writing out the remaining two scripts, including this one, for future reference while keeping them on the backburner until I would be able to use them for the greater series I had first envisioned.

I feel like my reach has exceeded my grasp here but I've written a coherent story already, so I know it's not my writing that's the issue. I'm more worried about the prospect of a twenty-page script being far more than I could realistically put to the page, artist or otherwise, with my current level of experience. I'm left wondering if my concerns are founded or if I should go ahead and see if I can enter the story into the anthology regardless.

Should this be unrealistic, I'd have to ask what I should do otherwise, because having a script of this magnitude is something I think I could make good use of. I believe it's objectively well-written, the artists I've spoken to have already told me to initial story was interesting and the second follows heavily in its footsteps.

Hello there, im making a manga/comic thing with a friend, and so i wanted to make it about 2 different plot points: a retired soldier type thing investigating a deeper plot, and a group of scientists investigating a new virus/something scientific, like for example The Thing, except one of the scientists has a daughter. I wanna make sure around halfway through the group of scientists die and the daughter takes the role as the main character.

Is there a way to do this without affecting the reader or make them not wanna read through more? Also im planning to make the daughter annoying and have a character arc after the first half, is there a way to do this withour upsetting them?

I'm in the process of writing a superhero-adjacent comic series for a local art project and, since I wanted the initial narrative to be spread across three stories, the first two introduce main characters that later appear in the third alongside the remaining main cast. I suggested splitting up the stories between artists since we seemed to have a lot of artists available but fewer writers.

I've seen publication histories before and, in some cases, superheroes have been attributed to artists as well as to writers. If the crux of my series revolves around a cast of main characters as opposed to a singular entity like Batman or Superman, for example, could this spark copyright issues down the line if the initial appearance of half the main cast are attributed to separate artists? I'm worried this would cause issues later on since, for the most part, I want the characters to be depicted together in subsequent entries.

Would it be a better idea to pool together all of my ideas and choose a specific artist I'm comfortable with? Alternatively, rather than introducing the characters individually, would it be a better idea to begin with the crossover story so the same artist would be attributed to the conception of each?

Hey folks! I have an issue.

My comic book is mainly in English, but I have characters that only talk in French and Arabic.

How do I indicate that the characters are talking in another language?

Someone told me I could have the dialogue in between angle brackets <Like This> as that tends to be the indicator most commonly used, but at a point the vast majority of the dialogue will be non English (in universe) and I don't think it'll look good to have everything in brackets.

I had the idea of having my first issue switch fonts when changing languages and at the end having a specific page dedicated to explaining the fonts and the languages they represent.

What do you think?

Hello there, im thinking of making a manga myself and possibly with a friend. Im a big fan of cinematography, specially sci-fi or horror movies. I wanted to make a manga paced like something like The Shining or The Thing and make it cinematographic. What ways to do this are there?

I'm writing an edgy comedy comic that turns into a drama at the end. In the vein of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, the narrative is told through a sequence of short stories.

In the second last story, the main character, Ollerson, attempts suicide in a last ditch effort escape the horrendous chaos agent character, Wigget.

Ollerson, being a heroic character, is very hesitant since there's still so much good he wants to do.

One way I showed this was using Bill Watterson's technique of slowing down the rhythm by adding a long empty rectangular panel with a character doing an action at the end (as shown in the accompanying image).

When I use visuals to make an effect like this, is it best to write the effect I'm trying to create or to assume the artist will infer it as to keep panel descriptions concise?

Thanks for the help.

Hello there, I'm a young artist (early 20s) who's looking to take the plundge and begin creating my first ever, fully fledged comic book, which im looking to make as my final piece of work in art school (studying illustration). I've created some smaller ones/unfinished comics before but I've mostly been looking from afar with making comics, learning from peers and just binging alot of content from it. My strength have been in the art department mainly though, which is why I've come here to ask for writers tips and general advice for making such a project.

For starters, our finals is very open, and will take place over a span of a couple months (but im planning way in advance to help future me with timing). I'm looking yo follow the uni's comic and concept courses model of a 30-45 page book to keep in competition with them. Additionally, I'm aiming this to be a pilot book to a possible series. The goal ain't to leave it on a cliff hanger as I know some of the best stories are self contained, more like a "here's what I can do" and leave the door open for further development if im lucky.

The main advice I'm looking for is how do you go ahead and plan our a story that is self contained and fits the 30-45 page number without over writing or under delivering.

The comic is gonna be an action/comedy story set in a fantasy western world. The premise is that the moon above is cracked and drops many meteors down, which contains special powers to those who claim them. This leads to everyone being interested in trying to harvest all of these shards of the moon and becoming akin to the irl fossil wars where bandits and outlaws were hired to harvest and retrieve bones, one this time it's these magic shards of power.

Thanks for taking the time out your day to read this.

Hi all, I'd like some advice on how and when to edit my comic's story.

I'm in the planning stages for a comic, and have a background writing novels. When you write a novel you do a messy first draft, read it to see what's working and what's not, and fix things by editing the draft. I'd been thinking about the drawing of the comic as same thing as the writing of the novel's draft, but realised... you can't edit a comic like you edit a novel.

So I need it to exist before I know what needs fixing, but need to fix it before I draw it. How do you 'see' your story well enough to know if it's working before drawing it, and at what stage do you edit?

Thanks!

Hey everyone! Not sure if this is okay to post here? I’ll remove if not! (Also just to warn you this will be a long winded post loll)

So, I’m in the planning/thumbnail stages of my webcomic right now, and I am actually loving the way things are turning out, but I’m a bit worried it might give tonal whiplash? Let me explain.

The story has two layers: on one hand, there’s romantic comedy and fun slice of life moments. But, as the story goes on, it develops a deeper plot that shows things aren’t how they seem. (There are fantasy and supernatural elements throughout the entire series btw)

Though most of the heavy scenes happen later, I kind of want to establish both vibes (the cheerful and the unsettling) early on so the readers know that they’re getting into.

I have the idea to have the first couple episodes be comedic/romantic, then shift into a slightly more creepy vibe, and have episodes 4-5 be a bit dark/mysterious, then shift back to lighter episodes for a while (before they gradually get darker and darker). I wanted to do this to open up some questions early, hopefully hook the readers. But I’m worried it might create tonal whiplash? if I do this [light —> kinda heavy/unsettling —> light then slowly getting heavier as the series progresses] instead of the more common plot structure of [light —> slowly gets heavier as the series progresses].

So I guess my question is: Can this work? Do you think this type of plot structure can be portrayed well, or is it bound to create tonal whiplash? Do you have any webtoon/media recommendations that use this type of structure that are well done? I know the (light —> slowly gets heavier as the series progresses) works well, but I’m unsure about if what I’m planning will work.

Anyways, thank you if you read all this lol (and I apologize if it’s too vague).
Any opinions/thoughts are welcome! :D

EDIT: Wow, you guys are literally amazing, these replies are awesome and super insightful!! A lot to consider, cold opens, foreshadowing, paneling, etc.. I will absolutely take everything into account when thumbnailing, thanks a ton!

Hey, I'm looking for help on starting to write my story. I was wondering how other people do it.

When your first writing your story and trying to write down what's going to happen. Do you write panel by panel or do you write it out like a formal script, for example

" *the first panel will be the image of space and then cuts to a couple cops on a night patrol"

Cop 1: The stars are really bright tonight aren't they?"

Cop 2: "Is that a shooting star"

"*Now panel 4 will show an explosion in the sky and then pans over to the workers shook.

Or do you just start writing what comes to mind and all your ideas and then once done with that, go back and put then into panels and creating a script.

Hey everyone!
I’ve been working really hard on finishing my first original comic, and since this is the first time I’ve ever done something like this, I’m honestly feeling both really nervous and incredibly excited about it.
I’d love to get some advice from people here who have experience making and/or crowdfunding comics.
The comic would be **Volume #1**, and one of the biggest challenges I’m facing is that I live in Mexico and At least for now, producing physical copies would be extremely expensive for me, especially since the majority of my audience is in the US. Shipping physical comics internationally would add a pretty significant cost.
Because of that, I’m currently considering making my Kickstarter a **100% digital comic**. I’d still like to offer some extra rewards/perks for people who want to support the project a little more, things like a cameo in the comic, a personal commission, or other bonus rewards.
So my main question is: **Do you think a 100% digital comic Kickstarter could work?** And if you’ve done something similar, is there anything you wish you had known before starting?
I’d really appreciate any advice, tips, or even things you think I should avoid. This is completely new territory for me, so any insight would mean a lot!
Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, and thanks in advance for any advice!

not sure if I’m allowed to do this, but this is a space with comic writers, so I thought I should try anyway…

what is one piece of advice you’d give someone starting a webcomic? (that’s me, I’m the person starting a webcomic. it’s a fantasy story thats being co-worked on)

Hello guys! This post is kinda asking what types of stories you guys are sick of seeing in new comic book series, or just tropes that you feel are overdone or played out. I’m mainly asking so I can get an idea of what to do and what to avoid when creating my own comic, while hopefully giving new readers a breath of fresh air from what’s typically done.

I’m making a character-vs-government story (with ties to wars), but my cousin, who’s really into Marvel, told me that’s basically every superhero story ever after I told my idea to her. It honestly caught me off guard and made me take a step back to look at my story from a bigger picture and figure out how I can differentiate it from what’s already been done.

I’m working on comic that spans centuries. Their will be cloning and consciousness transfer so I can have characters from the past shown in future. I have a bad guy for each arc but no over arching bad guy, well, I have some ideas but nothing set yet. Do you know of any comics similar that do have an overarching bad guy so I can see some references of how it has been done in the past? Not a comic but for example I hate how in the new James Bond, with zero explanation the main bad guy in Spectre just states “it was me all along”…. Like crappy writing much? Also, who is your favourite bad guy?