Happy 5th Anniversary to Taiki! (I know it was 10 days ago lol) I can't believe it's been so long since I started this comic. I honestly never thought people outside my group of friends would ever read it. haha But I'm so glad that there are people out there that like it! So thinking back on what I've learned over the past 5 years, I'd like to share it with whomever reads this blog in hopes that it'll help you if you are new to drawing webcomics. I am by no means a professional or even super talented, but here goes regardless.
- Have an ending in mind if you don't already have the entire thing written out. When I started Taiki, I was totally like "OH EM GEE, I WANT THIS TO GO ON FOREVEEEERR!" That's not a good idea because then you're not really working towards anything.
- I'd suggest starting some short stories first. Starting a really long comic as your first project may not be a good idea. I have felt burnt out so many times and there's things I would like to change but then I'd have to redo hundreds of pages. For example, I kind of grew out of being a huge anime geek (I still watch some occasionally) so all the characters having Japanese names without being Japanese kind of bothers me now.
- Be sure it's something you want to do and are willing to sacrifice a lot of time doing. It's very unfortunate that people start comics all the time and loose interest. I tend to get ideas for new comics on a weekly basis and just want to run off and start them, but I don't because it's spur of the moment and the story doesn't mean something to me so I'm sure I'd lose interest. I do however keep track of all of these ideas so that maybe one day I can expand on them and complete them.
- Thumbnails, thumbnails, thumbnails! And scripting! (thumbnails are small sketched versions of a page and layout before actually making a page) After rereading Taiki, I feel like the transitions are awkward sometimes and some scenes go on way too long. It's important to thumbnail out at least a chapter ahead. My problem was that I only ever planned 3-6 pages ahead in Taiki when I should have done a lot more. Also having thumbnails makes me more productive because I know what I want to happen next instead of having to try to plan it out as I go.
- When starting a comic, I would suggest posting a few pages up all at once to get the readers interested and hooked. How many really depends on the comic, how long it is in entirety, and how it starts, but I'd suggest around 5 to begin with and then immediately start updating on a set schedule. I know I'm not the best at staying on schedule but I do understand how important it is. It's also important to have extra pages made, or in other words, a buffer.
If anyone has any other questions, feel free to ask!
It is my goal to finish Taiki by the end of 2012 (this date may change depending on how I finalize the ending). Not because I don't enjoy drawing it anymore or something like that, because I really do and I still love all of the characters. It's just that all things must end and all my readers have been waiting for me to work on this for so long. There's other projects I'd like to eventually work on so I hope you guys will enjoy them too when the time comes. C:
