Comments | qcjeph: An alternate script

qcjeph

An alternate script

Nov 18, 2009 19:19

Sometimes people ask me about my writing process. It's not very interesting, actually- it just consists of sitting in front of my computer with a blank text editor file open, writing, deleting, and rearranging dialogue until I hit upon something I think is funny. Some days I get lucky and think of a comic in 30 seconds in the shower that morning, ( Read more... )

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Re: Very Insightful qcjeph November 19 2009, 00:33:16 UTC

There really aren't any "secrets" other than work hard, update consistently, and try not to suck.

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Re: Very Insightful qcjeph November 19 2009, 00:51:31 UTC

aaaaaugh no no no no no it has nothing to do with "tricks" of the "trade" or "filling a niche" or any of that bullshit you are completely putting the cart before the horse here

STEP ONE of maybe possibly someday making money off of a webcomic is to MAKE A WEBCOMIC, not worry about synergizing your market potential or obsess over $2000 art displays. Do you know how to draw?* What is your preferred medium? What materials do you have access to? What kind of art are you doing? If you don't know the answers to these questions you're nowhere near ready to start a comic.

You don't even start THINKING of making a living off of your comic until you already have a substantial audience (I'm talking thousands, tens of thousands of people here). I didn't go full-time until I was getting over 30K people hitting my site every update day and even THEN it was touch-and-go for quite a while.

*you could argue that I STILL don't know how to draw and I wouldn't disagree with you, but my point still stands

Re: Very Insightful leanne_opaskar November 19 2009, 00:58:45 UTC

Hey Jeph, stop making all us puny wannabe cartoonists feel bad. You know how to draw, OK? (;

But yeah, I agree -- making the comic is more important. You have to have the goods in hand.

(Psst. Jeph? May I ask if you have any ideas for reaching a larger audience once you have a comic? Marketing is one of those things I admit that I don't particularly enjoy doing, and I'm trying to find a fun way to do it. (: )

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Re: Very Insightful nervousystem November 19 2009, 02:19:47 UTC

I live my entire life by the words of the rapper Nas:

WHY SHOOT THE BREEZE ABOUT IT? WHEN YOU CAN BE ABOUT IT.

I'm just saying. I don't really know anything.

Re: Very Insightful ckrazee November 19 2009, 03:20:06 UTC

I think one can make some good online comics in traditional materials, without an expensive tablet anyway, so don't let the idea of primarily traditional deter you! One of my friends has some webcomics that, while not huge money-makers yet, I definitely enjoy seeing. One comics is DIS: Life is Hell which is done in ink, and I believe just cleaned up digitally. Her other comic, The Makeshift Man makes use of watercolors, with digital text added. I may be slightly biased, but I certainly think it works out.

Re: Very Insightful aidosaur November 19 2009, 01:22:17 UTC

Yes yes, exactly what this dude said. Listen to him, he probably knows a thing.

Re: Very Insightful leanne_opaskar November 19 2009, 00:54:41 UTC

I'm no expert? I mean, I'm trying to make a little money on my comic, and I'm not quite there yet. But one of the things that I've certainly found to be true is that your art style will change as you go, and you'll want to do things differently ( ... )

Re: Very Insightful happymrlocust November 19 2009, 01:00:59 UTC

Interestingly, the biggest pitfall you need to avoid is thinking that there is some kind of trick that everyone else uses to "make it big" or be popular.

There are three things a webcomic is truly made of...

Graft, Suffering and Luck.

(though personally I suggest starting with a pencil and paper and doing it because, gosh darn it, comics are fun. and painful.)

Re: Very Insightful whobody November 19 2009, 01:33:23 UTC

"Most of the niche comic styles and genres have been filled" <-WRONG

If another quality comic comes along, people will read it, regardless of whether its style is similar to another. It takes less than a minute to read a webcomic. It's not about niches or art or merch. It's about making something that is interesting and funny and, as Jeph mentioned, updating it regularly.

So long as you aren't blatantly ripping off other artists' styles or jokes, there is no good reason for people to avoid one comic just because it is vaguely similar to another that they already read; if anything, I'd be more inclined to add that comic to the roster of comics I read daily.

As for fussing over the quality of your art, look at XKCD or SMBC. Enough said.

Let' holterya November 19 2009, 04:19:15 UTC

One thing I have learned from reading about evolutionary biology is that organisms don't fill out a set number of environmental niches one by one; rather, they create niches by adapting to various features of the environment.

The same can be said here: artists don't fill out niches, they create them. Which means the possibilties are pretty much limitless, and saying that "everything's already been done" is simply self-defeating and lacking in imagination.

Re: Very Insightful gwalla November 24 2009, 16:55:15 UTC

Yeah, assuming "it's all been done" pretty much means you're not creative enough to pull off a regular webcomic.

lafinjack November 19 2009, 06:33:30 UTC

Man I wish I could have seen the crazy before they deleted it.

Re: Very Insightful yiftach November 19 2009, 00:39:55 UTC

Um, jyhash, "no one wants to reveal their secrets on how they capitalize on it"? And you've "scoured the net"?

Have you heard of PVP? Sheldon? Starslip Crisis? Their authors wrote a frikkin' book called How to Make Webcomics, ferpeetssake! Come on.
http://www.pvponline.com/how-to-make-webcomics/

Oh, and Jeph - great work. Keep it up.

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