PaulEberhardt at 6:00AM, June 14, 2024

PaulEberhardt at 5:59AM, June 14, 2024 delete Don't think too much about how to start, just start it already. It took me more than a year to realise this before I started my first comic and then one fine day I just posted everything I had drawn so far in roughly the order it lay around and gathered dusk on my desk. I'd probably still have zero comics if I hadn't done that. Now, I've been thinking for quite some time on how to start resuming it... ;)

bravo1102 at 3:07AM, June 14, 2024

That's swap out, not swoop out. Though the meaning is somewhat similar. Point is, mix it up and get the reader in there. But set the stage first with that crane shot, you paid for it. Set that stage. Show the audience how much thought has been put into the setting and background. And feel free to foreshadow. Make every shot count even that seemingly gratuitous helicopter zoom in.

bravo1102 at 3:03AM, June 14, 2024

A few writers recommend that once written you should go back and swoop out the first two chapters. Begin in the middle. Put the reader right into the middle of the action and once that is done go back into world building/info-dump. Of course you can still have the set-up shot with the scene coming down to introduce the setting. Gotta have those money shots so the audience gets a hint of how much of a world-building/stage setting genius you are before the first word of dialogue is spoken. Script is bare bones. If your cast wants to add lib to fill out their characters, let them. It often adds to the story. Or it can kill it. You're in charge. What do you want to do? But whatever it is, stop planning and start doing. The best planning in the world is worthless if you never implement it.

Coydog at 11:22PM, June 13, 2024

Just dive right into it and you'll be miles ahead of the people who just talk about doing it but really don't do anything besides lunch.

Ozoneocean at 8:35PM, June 13, 2024

When I was on Facebook I used to laugh derisively at the NOOBS in the Webcomics group there. These goobers would post about how they had some story in planning for two years or more and would be asking about the best title to use on Webtoons for when they eventually get around to doing the comic, and how beter to get subscribers and monetise when they're famous- BEFORE THEY EVEN HAVE A WEBCOMIC. THAT my friends is a pretender. DO NOT become a mooncalf like that, they will NEVER be a webcomicer. Pure wannabe energy.

Ozoneocean at 8:30PM, June 13, 2024

It's always just best to GO for it. A story only needs extensive planning if you have a big thing in mind - like Lord of the rings... Too much planning kills passion. Even Lord of the Rings wasn't really some giant planned thing initially, Tolkien just went for it with shorter test stories first before he went deep. into setup.

RobertRVeith at 4:23PM, June 13, 2024

I've become convinced that there aren't any bad stories, just good and bad ways to tell them. Dragons in Civilized Lands began at what is now Chapter 16. That is, I wrote and drew *that* chapter thinking it was where things started. But reading it, I realized I was trying to cram too many characters, too much world building, too much EVERYTHING into those first 20 pages. It was an exhausting read. So, I stepped back and wrote a "prequel" which turned into more than 400 pages. The webcomic still hasn't gotten to that first story yet.

Banes at 12:15PM, June 13, 2024

@Ironscarf - That's excellent! Just getting into the characters can suggest more and more stories. A good argument for doing SOME prep, then jumping in and seeing what happens.

Banes at 12:13PM, June 13, 2024

@marcorossi - That makes a lot of sense, yeah. Works for movies, too. That's used a lot for good reason!

Banes at 12:13PM, June 13, 2024

yyyyyep.

Ironscarf at 10:38AM, June 13, 2024

My current comic tricked me into starting it. I had everything written from start to finish, which came to about ten pages or so, but once I'd started the characters had other ideas. If I'd known what I was getting into I'd probably still be at the planning stage.

marcorossi at 8:55AM, June 13, 2024

I generally try to open the webcomic with a scene that explains the setting and the general mood of the comic. Often this scene is separated from the story proper, like a flashback or a flashforward.

jerrie at 7:27AM, June 13, 2024

Uh hunh.

Banes at 5:48AM, June 13, 2024

mmm-hmm.

plymayer at 3:43AM, June 13, 2024

Yep.