How To Start Your Own Comic From Scratch.

Comics are a different sort of thing than other forms of creative work. You’ve got to be able to weave a compelling story that also has visual components at play, as well. There’s a lot more to making your own comics than just simply writing a story, or drawing images. But there is a step-by-step procedure to turning an idea into a full blown comic.

Begin With A Story

You have to have some form of story to work with when making a comic. It doesn’t have to be something too complicated. A simple story works best for new people who are just starting to write their comics.

Keep your story short, and make sure that there’s a clear beginning, middle, and end. This may be a story from your own life, a story from your imagination, or a story about a short emotional experience. Your goal is not to make something big and long, but something clear and concise that is also easy to show visually.

Create Your Characters

The characters are a big deal in any comic. They need to be people the readers of your work can recognize and care about even in a short story.

When making your characters, focus on their general demeanor, appearance, and how they relate to your story. Your designs don’t have to be super detailed at this stage. Even something a little abstract and basic in its shape is sufficient. Just make sure that all your characters are distinguishable from each other.

Plan Your Pages Out

This next step is essential for comic creators. You must be able to plan out your pages before you start drawing, as this is an important part of the visual storytelling process.

Do a rough draft of your page plan ahead of time. Figure out how many panels you’ll need, and what each panel should look like. This will allow you to arrange things visually before actually drawing it.

When your panels are well designed and laid out, your comic will feel easier to read.

Remember That The Pictures Do The Talking

Visual storytelling is very important in comics. You should always think of images that can tell the story.

You shouldn’t have to say everything explicitly in text boxes, but can show what’s going on in your comic with expressions and body language. Make sure that what you do have written is actually supporting your pictures, and vice versa. That’s what makes a good comic.

Make Your Comic Easy To Create

It’s easy to be tempted to make something ambitious the first time, but it’s much easier to create a small comic that you can get through. You don’t need anything too large or difficult in your first project. You can start off making a couple of short strips, perhaps one or two pages. You won’t have to spend as much time, and this will also help you get used to the medium of making comics in general.

Make your first projects small and you’ll improve much faster than you would otherwise.

Practice

There’s no substitute for practice when you’re getting started in this hobby. The more comics you write, the better you’ll become at doing so.

It may seem like you’re not getting very far when you first start, but you’ll be making progress the next time. It’s a natural progression that will take place over time, and you shouldn’t be afraid of experimenting in your early creations.

In Summary

Starting out with comics is a process that takes a good short story and turns that into something with visual components. Plan out what your pages will look like. Make sure your story is clear, and have characters people can recognize. Start small, and practice often so you can become better and better with each time you make comics.