I know this is kind of turning into a blog about webcomics, but it’s the revenue stream I am focusing on at the moment,t so you will have to deal with it.
At the moment,nt I am more or less at the very beginning of my co. ic, I have decided on a genre, a layout, and I have a lot of the basic story elements laid out. I have just begun really fleshing out my characters and coming up with personalities, costumes, and various other small character design elements.
What I want to address today, though,h is where to start with your story.
If you want to get into comics, you usually have one or both things in mind: you want to tell a story, and you want to challenge your art in a new way. Personally, I enjoy storytelling, I love fantasy, and I’m passionate about art, so choosing a subject came naturally to me. When learning how to start a webcomic story from scratch, it’s important to begin with a general idea of what you want your story to be and then start creating characters. I often create characters first and then build a world that fits them.
Starting this way lets you straight away get into character designs, this really lets you percolate a character’s back-story and personality when you get into the actual story writing.
The initial Draft
Once the initial character designs are complete, I usually sit down and come up with a few different possible openings for how the story will begin. When learning how to start a webcomic story from scratch, this step is essential for setting the tone and direction. I typically—and I think this is common practice—begin with a mini arc that introduces the main characters and highlights their personalities.
I don’t use any dialogue yet because I find it easier to have a rough idea of what I want the page to feel like before I start putting words on it. typically draft out the first 10 to 15 pages of the story.
Once I have the first 10 pages,s I will usually re-evaluate it a couple of times, develop the end story, and then do another 10 thumbnails,s which are usually verdifferent fromto the first 10 in all but characters.
Starting the comic
Now that I have the first 10 pages in thumbnail, a clear idea of where I want my story to go, and most of my initial character designs done, it’s time to start drawing the comic. When learning how to start a webcomic story from scratch, it’s easy to get stuck procrastinating in the design phase—but if you spend too long there, nothing really happens. That’s why it’s important to dive in and get started.
I usually design each page by initially doing up a script and then laying out the panels a couple of different ways to see what reads the best, and then I will get into the drawing phase.
I typically just use an A4 pencil because I don’t have a big enough scanner for anything else. A4 usually isn’t big enough, so I will just block in all the basic details and then blow it up and hit them all digitally once I get on the computer.
Conclusion
Well, after all that, you should have at least one page of your comic and a clear idea of the direction it’s heading. Just remember, the planning phase is important—but if you spend too much time on it, you may lose interest before you even start.
Another approach when learning how to start a webcomic story from scratch is to write your story intro like a book. Don’t worry about panels or scripts—just write as if you were crafting a novel. Later, go back and pick out the best moments and dialogue, giving you a strong starting point for your first few pages.
