Thanks for making the music tutorial! Do you have pointers for making comics and especially when it comes to keeping with it? It's like every time I start, I never finish or I get two pages in and don't continue. Any advice for that? Sorry this isn't totally an art question.
On here and my main I've been getting a lot of asks about comic production and design and art and writing and... boy howdy, so much great stuff I wish I could sit down with each and every one of you guys and talk your ears off about. Never think you have to ask me about one thing or another on here. I love getting asks like these!
So, again, maybe this is owed a longer explanation when I find the time to do so, but I can absolutely give a few pointers right now:
#1 - Do your best to write your ending first. Everyone's going to tell you this, and it's crucial when it comes to a lot of storytelling outlets, be they prose or comics, or as I'm finding out -- even stuff like songs. Write with the knowledge that your ending is there, and you will write confidently. Write without an ending, and you risk not knowing how it all comes together and getting discouraged for feeling way over your head. And that last part is absolutely me, even though I'm getting better at open-ended things... it still happens. Often. Doing this also helps you to figure out what happens along the way, what you can leave out, and the all-important thing that is pacing. Oh! And don't think you have to have every single minute detail of your story figured out. A pretty good feeling for how things wrap up is better than none at all.
#2 - Throw interesting things into your comic at all times. And I don't just mean major plot points. Those are awesome and if you can manage it, do it. But if even if the simple act of including something you really enjoy drawing (I do this a lot with animals and vehicles) gets you to open up your drawing pad and start making a new page of comic art, then the day is won! And about that bit with the major plot points...
#3 - Don't save your good ideas for later. If you have a good idea for your story, use it as soon as possible. Don't hoard the good stuff if you can easily throw it in, sooner. You'll keep your interest (and probably your audience's!) by revealing interesting bits of your story, your characters, your interactions and more, by telling them the moment inspiration hits. And you'll think of other cool things to fill in when "later" comes. I promise.
#4 - Don't sweat the art, sweat the story. If I drew dethkomic with the same kind of mania I draw a lot of my other stuff, we'd be here all year waiting for a new update. Especially when it's a hobby/fancomic/just for fun kinda thing. Whole-assing your art is great, but panels fly by the reader's line of sight so quickly, they'll barely notice a fair amount of half-assing if your story's good. And a half-assed story with all its imperfections is better than a story never told. Certainly go ahead and save your best arting for the important panels, but if you only managed to draw three fingers on a character in the background of an establishing shot, nobody's gonna care.
#5 - Just do it. This is the hardest one on the list. Sometimes, you just gotta say "My people want to see this!" enough times in your head that it gets you into your work. Don't worry if anyone is or isn't reading/will give you likes. Don't worry if you think you've taken too long a hiatus for whatever reason. Don't worry if you think it's pointless. Finishing a comic is a great effort and not for the faint of heart. Don't downplay the difficulty of doing any labor of love, really. Shit's hard. But it's fun. And give yourself a break because you're allowed to fail at updates and change your drawing style and re-do chapter 2 fifteen different times. It's okay. You're making comics! And that's awesome!
And I'll be your number one fan if you do end up making one. Please let me know. You know why?
Because dethkomic loves you! Thanks for the ask!
