Part 1. Writing[edit | edit source]
Step 1. Brainstorming[edit | edit source]
- Be open to as much ideas as possible. Write down any idea that comes to your head without judgement. At this point of your comics, it is important to have as much as possible so look around from real-life experiences, outside, the internet, etc. Even if it comes to an unusual source, do not restrain yourself. Dedicate yourself to writing at least one idea per day.
- Assess your collection of ideas and figure out what hits as a comic.  The benefit of coming up with a menagerie of ideas is that you manage to clear out what's cliche into something refreshing. Now you have to think for yourself, ''What idea would hook anyone who reads my comic?''. Once you are done with this process, now it is time to head into writing.
Step 2. Writing[edit | edit source]
The range from one comics to another is astronomical- one might be all about cooking to being reincarnated into a slime to saving the world from a mighty supervillain.
(a) Writing the Story- Structure, Outline, and Themes[edit | edit source]
- Know the beginning and the end of your story.  Don't immediately worry about things like genre or what not because what they all have in common. It prevents you from fumbling what happens next while still giving you freedom to make things up as you go.
- What is your main message or theme?  What do you really want to say? Depending on your theme, your story might end up being a short or a very long saga. Once you laid it out, although there are multiple ways of thought in order to structure your story, The Dan Harmon Story Circle is something I recommend. You can outline your story based from this which is:
- THE DAN HARMON STORY CIRCLE: (1) A character is in a zone of comfort, (2) but they want something, (3) They enter an unfamiliar situation, (4) Adapt to it, (5) Get what they wanted, (6) Pay a heavy price for it, (7) Then return to their familiar situation, and (8) Having changed. You can apply this to scenes to entire character arcs but feel free to use whatever works for you.
(b) Writing the Story- Characters[edit | edit source]
Characters. They are intertwined with the story and the main thing your audiences root for. If they are not compelling(they don't have to be necessarily likeable), people will lose interest with what you are trying to say.
- What are their wants, needs, and beliefs?  Those are the three things you need to know about your characters. Regardless of their personality, it applies to all of them. When you have a concrete understanding of these, you will understand how they work and how they function in their story.
- Who is/are your main character(s)? Main characters are the leading force in your story and the vessel to your themes, so having a character that embodies the core message or connects it all together is essential. Others would write multiple main characters but it is best to limit them as to not have conflicting perspectives.
- Usually, it is best to have a main character that acts as an audience surrogate. Whether it'd be horror, shoujo, or high-fantasy, having an audience surrogate character helps, er..well immerse the audiences into the story. If there is something the character does not know about the world, the audience can get to learn with them. However, it is no excuse to make the protagonist a soulless walking piece of flesh anyone can insert themselves into. They have a life or humanity to them, so write them as such!
- Who are the secondary main characters, supporting characters, etc? A main character is essential to the plot but having these depends on the length of your story. If your story is short, you can only have a select group of characters that are really important for the story to work. If your story is much longer, then there is a higher chance of more characters. As long as they fit with the overall story, theme, and help push the story forward or developed the currently existing one, you can add them.
(c) Writing the Story- Scripts. There are multiple ways to script your comics but this is the usual:
PAGE ONE
Panel 1:
Panel 2:
Panel 3:
Now the writing process is over. Given you are working on comics, it is important to start designing them in visual form.
Part 2. Concept[edit | edit source]
Comics is a visual medium as much as it is written. In order for the world to come alive, it is important that you have concept art of the world and characters.
Step 1. Make a Character Design Sheet[edit | edit source]
(a) Designing your characters
- Envision what your characters look like. Before you make a character design sheet, most likely you already have ideas as to what your characters look like. Comics are a visual medium so in order to hook your readers, they have to be drawn to your characters.
- Ex. The protagonist of your sci-fi story wouldn't be someone wearing a full-blown Victorian dress nor a deranged-looking demon for a cute, slice-of-life romance (unless there's a reason for that).
- Draw your characters. Or if you cannot, get someone else that can. Keep drawing and drawing your characters to see what fits or doesn't. Maybe a certain nose fits their personality more or perhaps they might improve the story if they were a woman instead. This process can be tiresome based on experience but it is definitely worth it. To have a more concrete idea how to do so, I have tips.
- Think of their design shapes. Circle, Triangle or Square? Rounder or Circle Shapes makes your character look soft, friendly, and inviting; Triangle or Sharper edges makes your character look more dangerous, intimidating, etc; and Square shapes makes your character look stable, practical, and grounded. When you design with these in mind, you can make you characters clearer for readers to understand. You can also mix two shapes up if it is more in line to who the character is.
- Think of their design element and what it says about your character(s). Your character is a multi-dimensional being shaped by their experiences (just like you are) so you have to think how their clothes, hair, race(??), conveys something about them. For example, their skin might be darker because they live in a desert and they wear these protective gears to shade them from the sun or they wear an apron because either they are a cook or a blacksmith (or both if you prefer!). They might have unique eyes because they are part of a special magical clan or something. All these elements are there for a reason, even if the reason is because it felt right.
- Once you are satisfied with their design, keep drawing them in various situations. This fleshes out your characters because it helps you figure out how they will react in certain situations, how they look like in certain angles, and it also gives you practice for drawing them more and more in the comics.
(b) Making a Character Sheet
- Draw them in front, back, side, 3/4 side view.  It is a standard to see what your characters look like from different perspectives because you will often use it as a point of reference.
- Draw them facing different angles. Whether it'd be looking up, down, or what not. Its part of seeing them in different angles.
- Draw them experiencing different emotions. It's a helpful guide because people express their emotions differently even if they are feeling the same. A more guarded character might show happiness with his eyes lighting up or a sunny character might look lost and soulless when they are extremely sad.
- Especially when their designs are intricate, have specific drawings as a guide for drawing them correctly. What if said character might have elaborate tattoos or embroidery? Or what if they have a certain way of wearing their clothes? There should be guides on how to draw it correctly and what is incorrect or not.
- It's important to have colour for your characters, especially for different lighting situations. Even if you opt for a black-and-white comic, all the gradients from black to white still count as colour. There are different times for the day, sunset, night, dawn, neon or what other lighting situation so there should be character sheets that reflect that.
Step 2. Make a Background Design Sheet[edit | edit source]
- What is your world like?  Since you already know what your story is about, surely you would know where it is set. Regardless of whatever your story is like, setting is important to figure out. It is easier to design if your story is based on the real world but it is harder when you have to make your own world.
- For real-world settings
- Look up references for the real-world setting. It is important to do so, especially if your story is set in the past. You can find it in the internet, books, or archaeological sites for reference. However, if you can have the chance to visit the place, then go do so!
- Research, research, research!  Even if your setting is set in your time(or location), it is still useful to incorporate the world into your story. For example, a December in the Philippines wouldn't be the same as that in America. It becomes very cold due to the Siberian winds passing by the country but it is a tropical country so they only have a dry and wet season.
- Draw the setting and take notes of what to keep in mind.
- For fictional settings
- Look up references that match your vision of the world.
- Get inspired by the real world. Even if it is entirely fictional, there is a merit from getting inspired from the real world. The world has numerous histories, culture, geographies, and etc that are affected by their living conditions which can serve as a guide to help you in making your world. You can apply your observations and insights to make your world even richer.
- For real-world settings
- Draw them. With all your references you gathered, draw them. Draw them all.
- Design any other necessary lay outs for the story. Such as the protagonist's house, the place they frequent in, or any other backgrounds of your concern.
Part 3. Execution[edit | edit source]
Having a script and design at hand wouldn't count as a comic if they weren't joined together, so in order to achieve that, you will have to make a storyboard.
Step 1. Make a storyboard[edit | edit source]
- Get your materials. If you haven't already done that in the drawing stage(highly unlikely, you can't draw on thin air), get yourself a pen, pencil, eraser, and paper. You can also go digital and use a digital drawing device (ex. WACOM) or the mouse (if you wish to die).
- Adapt your script visually. If you follow the comic script format, there are already instructions on how many panels in a page and what happens.
- It is best to only have 5-6 panels in one page as to not crowd it. You can make it only one page panel if the moment is very important or you can fit more than 5-6 if it calls for it, but the ideal way is to fit 5-6 panels only.
- Save important moments at the odd page. If your comic is read in a physical book or read left-to-right(or right-to-left), save important moments at the flip of the page to create a surprise moment.
- Be mindful of your panels.  When someone reads your comic, they should be able to follow through the page easily. It is fun to make your panelling as creative as possible or you prefer to draw it in a grid, but as long as it is a smooth read, it is fine.
- Don't forget to add the speech bubbles well. Just because it was adapted visually doesn't mean they were barred from
- It doesn't have to be perfect. This is only the storyboarding stage, which means that its main purpose is to get the feel or direction of the script into a visual form.
Step 2. Penciling[edit | edit source]
- Sketch according to the storyboard.  With all your skill in drawing (or not, you can always get someone else to draw it for you), draw. Draw in mind that this will be the artwork your readers will see. This will also serve as the guide for your inking. However, do not add in the speech bubbles until lettering.
Step 3. Inking[edit | edit source]
- Get inking material, traditional or digital.
- On a separate paper (or not), draw over the sketch. That's not all there is, because inking isn't merely drawing over the sketch. It is interpreting the sketch and inking something from it.
Step 4. Colouring[edit | edit source]
- Refer to your Character and Background Design Sheet for the colours.
- Colour.
- Traditional. Your inks and paper should be compatible with your colouring materials. I suggest watercolour because the colours are less likely to go over the lines.
- Digital
- Get a digital art software like Krita, Paint Tool Sai, etc (preferably free)
- Make a separate layer for your colours and colour based on your references.
-  To do that, drop pick the colours from your sheets and colour accordingly
Step 5. Lettering[edit | edit source]
- Place the speech bubbles according to the storyboard. Unless there is a better alternative, then do so
- Make sure that the speech bubbles point either to the characters head or their mouth.
- Find the right font
- Don't make your text cramped inside the speech bubble. It's important that all the words in a text fit right with the bubble.
Part 4. Finishing touches[edit | edit source]
Step 1. Branding[edit | edit source]
- Pick a title for your Comic
- Make it concise. It is harder for readers to recall your story if your title is too long, to the point it's a whole sentence (looking at you isekai manga). Strike a chord with your readers by keeping it snappy.
- Pick a title that encapsulates what your story is about.
- You can base the title from:
- Your main character or focal character
- The underlying message of your story
- A double-meaning
- Something that can summarise your story
- Find the right font or title design for your story. Make sure that it isn't generic and something that captures the vibe of your story. A horror comic can't have energetic, cutesy fonts. It might even have a logo on it.
- Design a Cover.  A comic is generally composed of Panels -> Pages -> Chapters -> Volumes -> Your Entire Comic. For each chapter and volume, it is important that there is a cover accurately conveying your story. Then the next page after that is the exact black-and-white version of your cover and a table of contents.
- Make sure it conveys the story being told. Whether it specifically happened in the chapter, volume or in the comic as a whole, it's important that it provides the context for the story.
Step 2. Publishing Your Comics[edit | edit source]
Congratulations, you finished your comics! Depending on your choice, you can choose to keep it to yourself or share it with others. It can be published in a traditional publishing firm, self-published, and/or published online. Given my limited knowledge about it, I'll only tell you what I know.
- Post it on the Internet.  Whether it's on social media, art sites, websites, or any other I haven't mentioned, you can easily spread it to others.
- Look for sites that publish comics. There are sites like Bilibili, Webtoon, PenLab, and Tapas that publishes comics so reach out for whatever is the most convenient for you.
Conclusions[edit | edit source]
Making comics can be tiring yet so rewarding. With your hands you can mix art and writing to a harmonious blend.You get to connect to audiences at a deeper level and inspire them. So whether you are making comics for a hobby or doing it seriously, may the odds be at your favor.
