Top 10 Pieces of Advice for making comics without taking YEARS to finish
So, friends, as an experienced comic creator, I want to impart some advice and words of wisdom I learned from doing comics. Specifically, how to do finish them without taking decades to do so when they are plot driven comics. Note that some of these tips are things you should do before sketching the comic at all.
1- Plan the beginning and the end from the start. - Good stories have beginnings and endings. It doesn't matter if it is a long or short story, you need to know where it begins and where it ends or else, you are prone to frequent hiatuses, and stories that wind up rotting or becoming incomplete. Not to mention, you frustrate your audience and lose its trust.
2- Make concept art and lots of it. - While artistic evolution is inevitable, make sure you're putting the best designs imaginable beforehand. Make concept art of lots of all your characters and several drafts until you perfect. During this phase, you my even realize some characters are not even needed that that's ok. Just make you sure you have a final version of your cast beforehand which extends to their backgrounds and details.
3- Have a completed script before starting the comic. - If your comic doesn't have a story and trust me, completing this phase first will spare a lot of stress, time and energy. And there is absolutely no shame in accepting that this story may not work and you have to let it go. Better to discover it in advance than while the comic is up and becomes dead in the water. Scripts are mandatory for plot driven comics. You don't have to follow them word for word, but at the very least, you have some meat to cook with.
4- Make a schedule and quota. - Another essential must if you are serious about your comic. You have to have a schedule not just for when you post pages (more on that later), but when you are actually creating it. Remember, serious writing is a job of which you need to devote time to. Me, I work on my comic four times a week of which I do at least 2 pages a day and I save one day for other works of art.
5- Complete a chapter a month. - If you stick to the schedule, this is doable and it will guarantee that you will always have filler. Heck, my filler is as far as a year's worth and I am determined to still finish a chapter a month so I can move onto other projects. You don't have to post every single page you create the moment they are done. In fact, it is better if you don't.
6- Have an update and debut schedule you can stick to. - When it comes to the actual posting of your comic online, timing is everything and not just for when you update, but when you start also. I like to debut my comics during summer because my audience usually consists of young people who like to write or holidays if they have special themes like horror or romance. As for updates, that too matters because you want to make sure you will have an audience. People are more likely to read when they have free time.
7- Less dialogue is more. - Remember, comics are a visual medium as well as a written one. Characters don't need to narrate everything they do or feel. In fact, they shouldn't. We should be able to tell by their body language, facial expressions and actions. Also, it's ok to have panels or even pages where we stop and enjoy the scenery. Plus, in action scenes, it's best to not have talking and just let the fight go on. If you look at a lot of great films and TV shows, some of the most poignant moments were the ones where nobody said anything.
8- Make the comic and chapter covers awesome, but keep the actual pages simple. - It's the cover. It's supposed to be showstopping with colours that jump out at you, detailed shading and textures, and more. However, it's ok for the content to be much simpler and have minimal shading. And trust me, your audience will be cool with it. I mean, look at the Walking Dead comics. The actual content were black and white, and same goes for manga. The majority of the energy goes into the covers and the chapters, and that's smart because you don't want to exhaust yourself. Also, it makes finishing your comic sooner possible. Yes, some artists can do big details even for their content, but it's ok if you can't. Don't compare yourself to others. Focus on you.
9- Use time saving art hacks (that are NOT AI). - I am not above copying the lineart of one panel to the next sometimes across several pages because it saves time and it looks more professional. All I do is change specific details like raising an arm, changing the facial expression, lifting shoulders, etc. Same with reusing the same background over and over again with some tweaks especially if it is the same place. Professionals use these hacks too because they follow deadlines. It's ok for you to use them too.
10- Don't make your comic too long. - While writing a novel series that spans across many volumes is not so bad, most of the time, writing a comic that is even more than one volume can be jarring. In fact, I myself don't make my series more than three books long and even then, I try to fit them into one. Remember, the long your story is, the longer it will take to write, edit, draft and draw. And unless you have a team working for you, it can get jarring to do all of this for so long. Until you hit it big or are able to do this regularly for plot driven comics, please stick to mini-series. Especially if you intend to write more than one story over the course of your lifetime.
Anyway, this is all my advice and I hope it helps.
