Guy decides to start a story driven webcomic

>Guy decides to start a story driven webcomic
>First act flows nicely and it's quite obvious it has all been written out before being made
>Everything after that is just the author making shit up as he goes, creating tons of new plot points that he obviously has no idea where to take and completely writing himself into a corner before he just stops updating without saying a word and disappears forever
Why the fuck is this so common among webcomics, has absolutely no one thought "gee, maybe I should write out the entire plot start to finish before I start drawing so I have a nice, cohesive story line to follow"

You specifically had Zack Morrison in mind when you made this thread, didn't you?

It's okay, I'm mad at him too. I'm still so mad.

>draw out plot line from start to finish
>halfway through audience doesn't like the way its going
>cant decide whether to stick with it or change

What do I do

Stick to your guns. Changing things to please your audience would just make the story incoherent, which would be even worse.

Okay user,thanks

One of the advice they give you in writing is "don't plan everything down to the tiniest detail, leave room for the story and characters to naturally grow" or some shit like that
Obviously some people don't actually have the skill to do that and you end up with clisterfucks

Ah, the LOST method of writing.

Whos the best person to learn writing capeshit from

>scripting a single comic issue image pitch
>the compressed page limit actually makes it so I have to get to the fucking point with the story and not fuck around with extraneous bullshit that would just distract from the main story, while still finding ways to pace it well
>go back to writing webcomic
>realize that that compressed style being missing is exactly why so many comics go off the rails and never go anywhere and get bleach syndrome because they spend entire pages on one joke that doesn't land

It isn't about having stuff planned out, it's about writing stuff in a way that'll intrigue the audience and not waste their time so even if it falls flat it isn't an egregious time sink.

>Webcomic is funny, episodic, and well focused
>starts a decompressed story arc that loses the charm of the original pages
What's her name, Sup Forums?

Isn't that to some degree, with the exception of a really skilled writer, inevitable.

It's jut a webcomic is usually a pretty small production. One that doesn't really have the benefit of stopping. Especially if that comic is the or a major source of income. There's no other writer to hire and bring in that had time to script out the next arc. Then if you're doing the art as well that's even less time to dedicate to any plan and still keep up a somewhat steady pace of updates. And if you don't, If you try a seasonal method or just stop installments sporadically while you map things out that costs readers as well.

What's the compromise or solution? Should webcomic creators have some two years worth of story ideas before even posting the first page?

>guy decides to draw a goofy silly web comic
>they slowly turn it into something serious overtime

I hate this even more.

This is also a problem a lot of manga have. First chapter pretty good but then it just becomes about deadlines and suddenly you just do whatever gets the story out.

For as much shit as american comics get, at least the way it's written and staffed means creators don't die and take their series' quality with them.

Manga as a medium also has a much more prevalent threat of editorial and fan influence on the creator, in as much that Character popularity polls can alter the story and the editors can stick ideas to the author.


The first tourney arc of Naruto, for example had alot of the fight outcomes determined by such polls and Akira Toriyama basically kept having to draw out Dragon ball past the first story arc, ad infinitum. And while I'm just talking all bitter and shit now, I'm convinced that there's a posse of editors whose job it is to homogenize everything and insist that writers stick to certain tropes and bland characterizations. That, or as this user mentioned there are just so many fucking deadlines that sooner than later you run out of more individualistic ideas and just follow typical formulas.

Nigga, it doesn't take two years to write out a basic beginning to end guideline for a story.

A lot of it comes down is people not learning from their peers and also maybe expanding their influences from different mediums. If I see a lesbian storyline in a webcomic it's like an instant jump the shark moment because very rarely do comics step away from that subject again and move onto something else. Hell it doesn't help that so many cover the same ground. Like seriously I'm so tired of seeing lesbian drama.

bump

The question is "what's the end game?" If you're making money off a project you naturally don't want it to end. This nearly bankrupted the Scary Go Round guy who ended one comic and moved to another and it took years to gain the original following back.

Serial stories never end until the creator is ready. This isn't endemic to webcomics, it's literally anything. One Piece guy may have an endgame in mind but the story is going to keep spinning until people stop buying. And as shit as Paranatural has become, it's still super popular.

You know why it happens.. it's because when you, the writer, know the ending, all the excitement is gone and it just becomes a chore. Not condoning the practice, I'm just saying.

This is one of the biggest challenges I face, how do you keep going?

Didn't the Bleach guy basically get forced to end because of the anime or something like that? Heard that he wrote himself into a corner because all the villains were completely overpowered and he couldn't conceivably heave them be beaten in the ten or so issues he had?

Still working on that one myself (I have yet to properly finish writing my own story). I can say that I did complete a comic that I had written all the way through, but it was very short, to the point where it ended right around the time I was starting to get tired of it.

can i see it

Because it's usually someone's first or second big project and they don't have the experience needed to know how to fully plan things. It's one of those "well just write your essay the week before it's due" kind of deals. It's super easy to say and yet we all ended up waiting until the absolute last minute to write just about every single one.

Should your dream project be your first?

No, but at the same time if you make something you're not passionate abiut, you won't get a fanbase.

Do what Tolkien did and write a sidestory to test the waters first.

Not a webcomic, but I thought Moral Orel did this pretty well

Paranatural is dead, but how long will the general public realize that

Order of the stick is basically the exact opposite of this
>guy draws a dnd webcomic for fun
>random adventures in a dungeon that the creator initially wanted the characters to stay in forever
>as time goes on the creator starts to flesh it out with a actual character development and plot
The story turned out pretty cohesive too, people still find new foreshadowing in decade old pages

Basically my reaction to what happened to it

>guy has no idea it will take off
>now has to write stories on the spot

I think thats because a lot of people realize 'this is all I'll be remembered for' and start to freak out and try to do something 'serious' in order to be remembered as some great writer.

Only a few people do the transition well. Cerebus was one, because Sim turned out to be a great writer and never fully dropped the comedy shtick, just fleshed out the scenarios and increased the stakes.

>I have a decent fun plot

>people has prejudges againsts the artstyle (Furry, Manga for example)

>comic gets rejected by this

Making comics hurts.

I know what you mean.

Oda the One Piece guy will probably end it on his terms, considering he is so rich right now there is nothing SJ can threaten him with that won't hurt them worse.

He was making well over 20 million USD a year last I checked

Do you think Oda set out his story from start to end before he got WSJ to publish One Piece? I still cant believe it outlasted Shippuden and Bleach

it happened with a comic called key of creations
sad times

During an interview with an editor, Miura was put down for the way he handled the eclipse.

You'll want to start with something you won't mind fucking up. With a dream project you'll eventually hit a part that you just don't have the skill to do right, you'll get writers block, and then you'll give up and quit instead of pushing through.

Actually Oda is in a position where they can't tell him too much.

Good advice

Erma

Ctrl+Alt+Del

Fuck

kinda sounds like homestuck before it went off the fucking rails, is oots still good? its still going on right?

stick

do not under any circumstances bend

I think the last I read of that was just a bit after that godawfull brony arc. Even as a horsefucker I hated it. I don't hold it against the writer though. It was a failed experiment. I only stopped because I fell behind on all my webcomics at the same time.

I want to fuck Peacock.

me too

We all do, my brothers.

We all do.

bleach had fast fading popularity. more than likely Kubo was given a deadline on how much longer he had way in advance but he just kept adding shit for the sake of it.

he was done in by his own pacing. it ended with nothing explained

Webcomic authors opt not to use the optimal strategy of thumbnailing the whole comic before you start, which allows you to have a sense for how long the project will take, key in on what to revise based on audience feedback, expand or truncate the story as necessary, and write/thumbnail your next project during the life cycle of the current project.

This is because none of them want a "next project." They either want to make their magnum opus or ride on a single idea forever.

Shown Jump editors literally won't allow a major female character unless they're "sexy" or a love interest, and as of the last decade women aren't allowed to be shown getting beat up as much as dudes. This is likely why Kurapika in HxH looks like how Togashi draws girls, doesn't show their chest ever, but is """male."""

I'm actually just getting out of the planning/thumbnail stage and I'm shooting for multiple projects because I just have so many stories to be told.

One of the few things I like about bcb is that there are non-canon "what if" comics that are short but explore what would have happened if this happened instead of that. Maybe you could try that and still keep to your guns.

>someone makes a serious, well paced and interesting fan comic with amazing art and spot-on characterization.
>updates come at the speed of mud
>not even finishing the first story arc they decide to abandon it because they aren't "as invested anymore" and want to move to other franchises or create something original of their own.
Bonus points
>they never bother to actually announce in the comic's webpage that it's dead
>years later you find the only gallery were they still post art; is just a bunch of pin-ups of 3 original furry characters

>guy starts a webcomic
>everything is going amazing
>art, story, and characters are engaging and compelling
>story heats up and you're ready for what happens next
>literally no updates for over a year
I don't even know why I bother checking on vibe anymore. I've been checking every tuesday since February of 2016, and it hurts.

>Friend starts a webcomic, he has a lot of good ideas.
>He just keeps adding ideas.
>200 pages in and he hasn't resolved a single conflict, still introducing new things haphazardly.
>All his future ideas are to throw yet more characters, abilities and abstract ideas out there instead of developing anything
>Cancels comic because of poor viewership, starts developing a video game by himself with more ambitious systems than Xenogears, Suikoden 2 and FF8 combined.

Some people really need to learn that you can't just keep adding things.

>author keeps telling the audience the update is almost finished every few months for almost 2 years.
>the comments section of the last page turns into a drama at night hugbox at day cesspool of whinny faggots worse than Sup Forums

>Author has non comic related twitter which they frequently update with personal shit
>completely ignores complaining fans as if nothing is wrong

Well it's Shounen manga. I remember reading each manga magazine has a house style that the artists have to stick closely to.

>webcomic is actually a digital comic released on a issue by issue basis FOR FREE

I want to do this if I ever gitgud-enough to make my comic, though in 20-page chapters like Shonen Jump does.

Patreons and making money are nice, but I just want to inspire someone to finally make THEIR own comic.

My idea for a webcomic is that I want to take a year or two (few months of planning) get it all drawn out with the ending planned then release it on an update schedule.

This a bad idea or not? There was one webcomic I saw that updated every few months but it would dump an entire chapters worth of pages.

It's a good idea. But what's most important is that your releases are constant and on time. No one will remember to check up on it if the schedule is erratic (unless it's like Homestuck and rides the hype train to drop massive updates whenever).