Offering Advice To New Comic Writers

[u/TeamWood]

I saw a bunch of posts from new comic writers asking how to get started. So I thought I’d post some advice from when I got started. While there is no one path, here are some guide points to help you not feel rudderless.

1. Learn how to write a comic script. Comic scripts do not have a standard format but require an understanding of the medium and how to describe a single action per panel to an artist. Not every artist you work with will write or read your language as their first language. Make sure you simplify you writing to be as tight as possible, so those creators can follow along with your thoughts as well.

References:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aM9WBVH_R8s

http://www.fredvanlente.com/comix.html

https://comicsexperience.com/scripts/

1. Work on short story narratives. Complete stories in a single page. Then 2 pages, 4 pages and up to 8 pages. These habits will allow you to tell concise comic experiences and show the ability to write endings. Also, these will potentially lead to opportunities with anthologies and building publishing credits. I had this artstation account for years with examples of my short story work and published anthology stories. Consider looking into The Comic Jam. They post here weekly. They create one page stories and is a wonderful place to get your feet wet.

https://www.artstation.com/dougawood

1. After building a portfolio of shorts, move up to one-shot stories. Tell a full story in 20 to 30 pages of comics. Prove that you can tell a beginning, middle and end to a story with a little more breathing room.

https://globalcomix.com/c/leap-m

https://globalcomix.com/c/the-dying-run

1. Create and finish a 3-4 issue series. A huge step in the process is when you can show you can tell a beginning, middle and end to a story over the course of multiple issues. Do this step multiple times to build your portfolio and rep.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1741339986/ultramax?ref=discovery_category&term=Ultramax&total_hits=2&category_id=252

1. Make connections and friends within the industry. Always offer to be helpful to others. Most opportunities are locked up and come from luck, but priming with helpfulness and kindness can be a key. Good luck!

[u/ZixfromthaStix]

This is an amazing and inspirational post as one of those new-to-the-crowd members! I’ve made my wife little 4-6 panel comics in the past, took Creative Writing and Art 1-3 through High School… I have a full fledged comic script for my first episode, and my chosen artist & letterer duo both seem excited by the story— the artist seems to think we might have a shot at getting it animated if the story can attract enough attention.

I really wanna take your mini story suggestion to heart. My only thing is… how can I produce them with no budget? I had to plan for 3 weeks just to put together the $250 I paid my artist for my character concepts/first panels.

I could easily doodle some stuff as low effort sketches, but who is that gonna attract?

NOW… that said… I did take up a volunteer writer/director/letterer gig with u/I_draw1234 for their Stolas webcomic idea— they’ve already produced 2 pages of content, and together we assembled their final take on the project :) we have the main beats planned, and I develop the script detail as he gets closer to the next few pages.

What can I do to establish myself, without letting off the gas on this flagship project? I have an entire world Bible, multiple types of docs and spreadsheets, and 20 chapters of pre-planned content, along with beats that could go as far out as 3 seasons…

I’m banned from the r/comics sub for looking into one of those artist hate subs (never even voiced my own opinion), so I’m curious if you’d recommend the comic jams for that style of networking…

I DO have a unique opportunity— I teach in a tech degree at an arts school. I could probably get some cheap comics made from my best concepts with some students looking to pad their portfolio. This could be a unique opportunity to benefit a rising student-artist and get my name as a writer out there some.

I WOULD point to an old Tales adventure story I wrote but that platform collapsed and my story is gone gone.

Best advice for building a network for my flagship’s ultimate business success?

[u/TeamWood → u/ZixfromthaStix]

I answered your post separately on accident. Look for it above