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I originally posted this on my site. I know that a lot of this is redundant for my LJ, because so many of you are already cartoonists. You're still welcome to comment and correct my ass!
*****
A gal wrote in and asked me for tips on how to start her own comic. I think I've got it boiled down to two fairly universal rules. Read on, then feel free to argue.
(1.) Set a schedule. Give yourself a month to figure out your characters in your head, then start to PRODUCE on a set schedule. It will build your muscles. If you don't like the first comics you make, throw them away and keep going.
(2.) Know your characters. There's nothing worse than a strip that starts out as "Hey! We are characters! Are we in a comic strip? Where is my script? Wow it is the last panel. LOL! GOTTA GO!"
I like these two rules because they make no judgements on content, art style or quality.
*****
May 2 2006, 15:07:16 UTC 6 years ago
Personally, when people ask me this question, I point to the schedule thing. Updating on time is key, especially when you are first starting out. It's hard enough to turn people on to what you're doing. If you can't stay consistent with updates, they'll have little reason to give you a second chance.
I think knowing your characters is a little more subjective to what the comic is trying to achieve.
I didn't know my characters all that well when I started, but they evolved and collected their own personality quirks as time went on. I don't think I would have been able to fully conceptualize that before I ever put pen to paper. Everyone learns their trade differently.
May 2 2006, 15:25:38 UTC 6 years ago
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May 2 2006, 15:30:35 UTC 6 years ago
That can mean solid characters, or clever weekly premises, or whatever. But you have to have something consistent for the pictures to do, or else people will eventually get bored/over-saturated.
May 2 2006, 15:50:07 UTC 6 years ago
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Anonymous
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May 2 2006, 16:37:59 UTC 6 years ago
May 2 2006, 17:07:32 UTC 6 years ago
Actually, my favorite weak device is when the artist can't think of anything to write, and so they write a strip in which the characters admit the artist doesn't have anything to write.
Especially if that's the punchline. "Why are we wearing silly hats and holding salad tongs?" "Because Spanky McWebcomic can't think of anything to write today..." Oh, it is to meta-laugh.
May 2 2006, 17:12:25 UTC 6 years ago
Spending some time on the keenspace mailing list years back yeilded a whole bunch of new comic artists/authors whining about how they never got fanart, they had maybe 20 hits a day (at least 10 of which could be attributed to them refreshing the page to see if the auto-update had gone through yet), and people weren't loving their comic and why weren't they famous and popular yet?
Apparently, it's difficult to fathom that if you want acclaim for something you're creating, it has to be good in some way.
May 2 2006, 17:59:26 UTC 6 years ago
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May 2 2006, 18:57:31 UTC 6 years ago
(Actually, I would love to see a MegaTokyo-intricacy level drawing of a magic fairy who is also a fox. Sounds like a good piece.)
So maybe you should stick in a collorary to the rules along the lines of "keep it simple?" A beginning artist should be able to do a comic a week, and if they start to get more ideas, they can upgrade their schedule. Failing at doing six comics a week and having to cut back just looks bad.
May 2 2006, 19:09:47 UTC 6 years ago
I concur with the above point about "the audience owes you nothing", previewed with the statement "You have to earn an audience". Keenspot is the example given here, so many people throwing up a few strips and then spending ten times the energy on trying to get people to come to/love their tragic site, as opposed to building a site worth loving and enjoying it whether people love it or not.
Anonymous
May 3 2006, 15:47:20 UTC 6 years ago
The 4th Wall...
I'm not entirely opposed to breaking the fourth wall.It can, OCCASIONALLY, be really funny.
There was a Nothing Nice To Say Strip where the characters said something about punk rock, and then looked over their shoulders at Mitch Clem (the artist) and demanded to know if that was the whole joke.
It was probably much funnier in execution than in the above explanation, but you get the idea.
Mitch would show up in the comic from time to time, and a couple punx actually broke into his house and started writing the comic the way they wanted to see it for a while.
The down side of the fact that Mitch did this and made it funny, though, is that now it's "been done." I suppose.
Also, I think most puns are worse than breaking the fourth wall (exception being Able And Baker)
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May 3 2006, 15:55:30 UTC 6 years ago
Knowing my characters is about the only thing I am ever sure about in my work. (It's harder to gauge how well the writing and story, etc are going to register with your audience).
I suppose it doesn't have to be character knowledge; it could be knowledge of your events and gags and methods of delivery. If you know how your plot is supposed to develop, or how your humor is supposed to work, I think you can do just as well letting your characters develop into those roles without really knowing how they'll end up doing so.
But the schedule is vital. Vital with a big captical V. Working on a schedule has done wonders for my art, it forces me to practice, it forces me to learn how to get it done in the schedule without sacrificing anything. In addition it lets my readers know to expect the comic on that schedule so they can more easily check back. I don't think I'd have near as many readers as I do now if I had been a sporadic/whenever scheduler.
Anonymous
May 3 2006, 16:54:57 UTC 6 years ago
2
I’d add one other rule: Do it because you enjoy the process of doing it.It seems obvious, but I’m always surprised at how many people make comics for reasons other than simply liking the physical process of putting pen to paper (or whatever) and making the darn things. If you do it because you want to design for movies, or you want to design t shirts, or you want someone to make a video game about your characters, or you want to make girls like you, then it’s best to just go and try to do those things without the comics part. Making comics isn’t reliable means to those ends.
Mostly, what you’ll get out of making comics, is a backlog of comics. If you think that’s enough, have a ball.
As far as the fourth wall is concerned, I say there’s nothing wrong with it inherently. These two rules help you discover if you can use techniques like breaking the fourth wall well. So have at it and find out.
May 3 2006, 22:26:29 UTC 6 years ago
It's strong and unbiased. You're not giving us a "And don't draw comics about (blank) because it's not funny." sort of deal because saying that only brings people down. You're telling people to create instead of telling them the things they should create.
So go! Create! Make the funny for us!
May 3 2006, 22:32:41 UTC 6 years ago
Suggested Rule #3: Know your premise. Be able to sum up your comic in eleven words or less. Hollywood calls this "the elevator pitch." While many Hollywood storytelling rules suck, this rule does not. It's important to know your characters, but it's also important to know what the purpose of their existence in your strip is. And the simpler your premise, the less room you have to lie to yourself... and the easier time readers will have grasping it.
Anonymous
May 3 2006, 22:55:23 UTC 6 years ago
I know it can be tempting to update your website every time you manage to scrape a couple of panels together -- especially if your comics take a long time to finish, or if you don't have much time to spend on them.
But you can't do that, no matter what style or genre you work in. Humour or drama, longform or shortform, canvas or clipart... if your next installment doesn't have enough meat to it to stand on its own and deliver some kind of satisfying emotional payoff, its just not ready to upload yet.
-Sam Logan
May 4 2006, 05:01:55 UTC 6 years ago
I think that maybe the best idea in this kind of situation is to draw them for yourself as you get them in your head, laying everything out how you want it until it's a complete set. Then you can release them all on whatever schedule seems to suit (weekly? monthly? depends on how large each installment is).
It might be tempting to just put them all up someplace so that anyone can check them out at their leisure, but sometimes the wait is half the fun.
May 9 2006, 00:56:53 UTC 6 years ago
I have a deviantArt page with some comics I've drawn and other work I've done if anyone is interested. http://cutelilpunkgirl.deviantart.c
Anonymous
May 13 2006, 00:09:56 UTC 6 years ago
If you do it, do it for yourself first and foremost. Be warned that the internet tends to be a hostile and negative place. dont take the vitrol to heart, keep doing what you love.
malcontentpress.com
May 9 2006, 00:57:52 UTC 6 years ago
As somebody who can't draw for thistles, i always thought photoshop collage would be my best friend in making with the Regular Funny. I have found, however, that this doesn't make the things go any faster. If anything, i think it takes more time.
Currently schedule is my biggest challenge. i blink and boom it's two weeks gone. I am in awe of anybody who can put out one in a week, much less every day.
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