Advise on writing comics/manga

[Paccu-Jay Official]

Hi guys and girls !

Just a quick question.

For ages now I've been wanting to write a manga/comic. I have had dozens of ideas in my mind , I feel im ready to take things to the next level and form the story up. but till present I've been procrastinating .

I want to know where to go next once I have conceived this idea , do I write the whole story at once ? do i start of with lets say the first chapter with an idea what direction I want to go , and just go with the flow ?

If you are writing a comic , manga or know how real life mangaka and comic book scriptwriters work , could you kindly give me some pointers/advice ? Proffesionals are more than welcome to advise


Thanks for reading people ( my first thread ...ever )

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Btw check my picture from my gallery , its for a manga I have in mind.

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input guys ? girls ? XD ?

 

[Googlez_kun]

I don't know if this helps you,but i guess it's better than nothing^^

Anyway,i would just go with the flow,but still have some key points that are necessary for the story.Let's say the character needs to go to a castle and then you start off somewhere and go with the flow until he gets to the castle,if you know what i mean.
Personally,i think you should allready know the ending and the key points,so that you can keep the right track,eventhough you go with the flow.

Just my input!

 

[Paccu-Jay Official]

Googlez_kun , thanks dude ! thats actually incredibly helpful. see with mangas like naruto for instance , soo much happens in it you just wonder how he manages with the story ? its like he plans it out all before hand !

but the pointer you gave me was great dude im definitely going to do that thanks again !!

 

[ClaFanN1]

My advice: dont do it, its not worth unless you win money with it ofcourse... dont waste your precious lifetime with worthless things like this...i made that mistake too.

 

[marqees101]

My advice: dont do it, its not worth unless you win money with it ofcourse... dont waste your precious lifetime with worthless things like this...i made that mistake too.

Don't believe him... If your doing it for the money then its not worth it, because you'll only be chasing money and you'll never do it how you want.

My Advise

Write about some type of manga you would want to see, something that you've always wanted naruto or one piece to do and they never did. Do something that interests you. Then write it down and go from there. Write down the goal of the manga like One Piece is Luffy becoming pirate king. So now you need a way to get there, that's your story right there. And never lose focus... And get people to help where you need help, mangas are hard lol....

 

[ClaFanN1]

Honestly dude? How many people you hear everything babbling about "Im gonna make my first manga", "my new manga"...oh boy those things are not mangas, they're illusions... making a successful manga is not for the ones that want it, its for who can...mostly is like winning loto. Even 90% of pro mangakas fail to create mangas that will attract people, what could a simple amateur do? Its something called REALITY, you just need to face it...

Also dont forget the only place mangas are created is in JAPAN...in the rest of the world it is "sheets of paper with drawings that the creator thinks its manga"

There's no such thing as MANGA produced in America (unless its sent to Japan for being published in japanese language ofcourse)

PAccu forget the manga thing just write a book...

 

[~FrienD~]

Yeah you have a point, there are a lot with that dream and honestly i think its pointless for a non-asian to be a mangaka and its also pointless for ppl with no talent or inclination(includes me i think, i just enjoy it no point in doing it if you suffer right) for it to aspire to become one, but if you so enjoy it then why not? only stop when you're tired over it.

There's still hope as diff. adaptations of comic are now available, like koreans-manhwa chinese-manhua, i suggest you make-shift to a diff comic adaptation exclusive only to your country and to your country-men, that's how manga became original and popular in the first place because of its loyalty to its country's culture.

just wanna add on:
since manga and anime became super popular to the whole world a lot of artist here in south-east-asia are already tired of it and are now directed to realistic-photorealistic art and 3d.
Notice the decline in anime titles.

Also even if you became successful and became a mangaka you'll still face these problems.

 

[Cartoonking10749]

Here's something useful for Pacchu-Jay.

Imagine first the setting, characters and storyline. All can be based on real-life experiences, people, characters you like (although keep them new, fresh and original, unless it is fanfiction), dreams or sudden daydreams. The beauty of it all is using that most precious gift, Imagination, the power to create.

I have envisioned and written several manga stories myself and they're fun to do. Fun is a very important ingredient.

It's even more fun looking at other people's works. It builds a bond that way.
I would like to see your manga ideas and hope you can enjoy as other people might, when given the chance.

 

[Paccu-Jay Official]

Thank you for your input, I'll keep you updated on my manga !

 

[NoFreakingWay]

Hey Paccu, you still need some thoughts about creating manga?

Don't see yourself making it big. But pour your heart into the creation process. Hopefully you're not the type of person who will get extremely discouraged if you see vastly superior art (like what I felt when I read through Berserk). Don't mind others' works much, but try to learn from them, and just stick on the creation process.

About the money issue, well yeah, being a mangaka is a poor career option if you want to earn money. If you want to draw manga for money forget about it. There are tons of jobs out there that will net you easier money with less effort and less frustration.

It helps to be involved in a community of artists or manga fans who would give your manga their precious time. I don't know if you feel the same as I do, but when someone pays a view in my thread here I feel blessed. Someone has expended a miniscule part of their energy to give my manga some of their attention? That's a happy thought. Cherish each and every feedback you get. You might not be getting somewhere but these small things will always serve as fuel for getting somewhere... somehow.

Your art doesn't have to be extremely good to be popular, if popularity is what you're aiming for. Just look at Ozamu Tezuka's art. His art is not at Gantz-level. Maybe he could draw at Gantz-level. But he pulls of his stories so expertly he doesn't need extremely steamrolling art that blasts at the competition with detail, photorealism and other optional crap. But if you want to become popular by the brilliance of your art and your story, prepare to abandon most things and enter a state of frenzy training for years, like Netero from HxH, in order to be able to compete with the best.

Oh yeah. Just a suggestion. If you're gonna say you're gonna make a manga, please pull it off and see it through the end. I really like reading about stories geared for manga, but where are actual mangas? It doesn't matter if you want to make an epic that might take 10 or so years. It doesn't matter if you decide to release it amongst friends only, a community like this one, in your area, or internationally. It doesn't matter if it's only up till Chapter 10. I honestly have yet to see a project that went 200 pages or more. I've seen a lot of people who can draw but they haven't launched 5 chapters for their project. I'm not being harsh to those people who couldn't pull it off, and I don't want to, but it's kinda sad that people don't have the actual commitment to at least release a chapter every two months or so no matter how large their audience is.

For us aspiring mangaka who are not as talented as those we look up to, we are faced with an absurd situation. There is no hope to be found and the odds make it so that it will be "impossible" for most, and it is. Just as someone said, it's the reality for most of us. Most of us just kill our aspirations. Some cling onto some kind of hope, thinking that someday when Im 35, I will suddenly have Eiichiro Oda's brilliance and skills. One advice: accept your situation but fight to the best you can. I advise you to have an absurdist philosophy when it comes to becoming a mangaka. Here's a link about absurdism:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absurdism

I bet you've thought all of these by now. Hope you reach some sort of personal success with your journey in manga.

PS: Wow my post became too long. It looks and reads liek a love letter now lulz. And I sound too serious lmao. But yeah have fun

 

[beltranl]

Hey, don't let others discourage you like clayx and ~FrienD~. Yes it can be very hard to do something but it doesn't mean you can't do it. True manga is incredibly popular and places like Japan but it's starting to make it's impact in other countries as well and who better to aid in the transition than it's native people.. Just do it.. You may get far and you may not... But you won't know until you try... Who wants to go through life saying I don't know I never tried... I much rather say I tried it but it wasn't for me at least I would know I made the best of it...

Ok now let me see if i can give you some advice related to your topic... It all depends on how much or better said what part of your story you have come up with.. Do you have maybe how you want it to start only? or do you have how you would want it to end only? or do you have a story planned out start and end but need to fill in the gaps?

To me it's always better to have a sense of direction of where you want the story to go.. Maybe have a few ideas of the ending and have a few ideas of major things that will happen within the story.. It doesn't have to be concrete but just have some ideas so it will help you guide your writing...

I assume you will draw them or have someone draw it so start writing your story... Have a few chapters so the drawing won't catch up to the story... Now when your writing I say always remember to add description. It doesn't have to be intense detail but it will help you remember the emotion or action you wanted to be portrayed at that time (for when its drawn).. Well that's just a couple of tips.. Hope it helps some..