Hey everyone,
I thought I would begin my day with a little bit of blogging here. Put out some feelings, and at the same time warm up for some story writing for my webcomic INKIN. (I really need to warm-up writing everytime I begin, so I am loose enough to produce. Otherwise, I stall really quickly...)
With past couple of days I have been engaging with the community around webcomics. It's great to see the passion behind all those indie projects, and what is especially great for the future, is seeing so many young people (teenagers and even younger) be excited about drawing and making own comics.
At the same time, what I also see quite a lot, is those young-guns struggling to keep up with their work, and believing in those dreams. Lot of these discord community servers (or for example, Tapas forums) have discussions happening, where someone rather young is really disappointed in for example amount of subs on a platform or for example dead-beat Patreon having no supporters at all.
And it is highly understandable. They are following our current times, and what successful content creators are doing.
The discussions often have some adults taking part in them. Telling them some good guidance, but at the same time I really really hate the fact they also build up that negative mindset. "Be prepared to do years of work with no pay, that is what I have done and so will you." This is a direct quote I read.
I really want to tell you, aspiring comic artist of young age, that it doesn't have to go that way. Being realistic is good, but being smart is better.
The only thing you need to understand about gaining followers, and supporters, money-giving or not, is that you give them something they like. That's the basic need you need to fulfill. My guiding tip for this would be; give them more than you get. Be generous. And I am not talking about giving money.
Whenever a service of any kind achieves that - following and loyalty will be built. It is the way these things go, and attract each other into a bond.
When you are about to start publishing a webcomic, your first goal should be
publish your webcomic's first episode, and make it as good as you possibly can
and that goal will have lot of smaller pre-requirements;
good artwork, your panels are focused correctly and they read well
your dialogue is easy to read, and it truly feels like characters talk to each other, NOT US
your writing has no typos, and big grammatical mistakes (for real, get this right, focus on it)
Once those technical pre-requirements are there, even an already existing story idea that we have seen thousands of times, can be enjoyed and will get you likes and good feedback.
In all of the reviews so far, people have told me that my webcomic INKIN reads really well, and dialogue is easy to follow and enjoyable. Maybe take a look at that, and see how you feel. If you agree, then give it a thought: what makes it good?
I have a pretty good idea of what those elements are.
Wish you the best day possible,
Ilgo Art