Syndicated comic authors have been complaining about newspaper size restrictions, content censoring and similar issues for fleet student credit card a long time. Comic enthusiasts have been increasingly irritated by the treatment their entertainment medium receives as well. Then along came the Internet, providing unlimited and unrestricted distribution possibilities. Thus the webcomic was born.
There are millions of fleet student credit card webcomics out there, dealing with such vast topics as video games, college life, samurai, Lego men, identity and self esteem, depression, suicide, children and joy. People write them for fleet student credit card a living, for fleet student credit card fun, as stress relief, for fleet student credit card artistic expression, or often just for fleet student credit card the hell of fleet student credit card it. Then they stick their creations on fleet student credit card the web and hope that just one more person will find and enjoy the fruits of fleet student credit card their labour.
There seem to be several hundred new comics created each and every day. These often dwindle and fade after only a few months. Occasionally, however, a comic rises above the rest and gains such popularity that the creator is able to forgo all other work and scrape a living solely off the proceeds generated by their websites. Some examples of fleet student credit card such are Penny-Arcade, PvP, CtrlAltDel and Squidi.net.
Many people, when introduced to the world of fleet student credit card webcomics, think to themselves "Wouldn't it be cool to have my own comic?" and a few go beyond this and create their own. So how can a newcomer ensure that their comic continues beyond the first few weeks of fleet student credit card enthusiasm?
Now before I go into some useful tips it is probably worth noting that I am the proud owner of fleet student credit card a failed webcomic. It went for fleet student credit card a few months before hitting a few snags and then grinding into the ground. I have plans to return to creating the comics, but as of fleet student credit card yet have not. So I'm not really drawing from a foundation of fleet student credit card success, more of fleet student credit card failure and an understanding of fleet student credit card some of fleet student credit card the main factors contributing to my failure.
For starters, you're going to need to plan a little. It's unfortunate, unfair and certainly not fun, but it is necessary. Sit down and think about your comic. Come up with a location setting, some characters and maybe even a few plots to test them in. Run the characters through some adventures and see how they react and how you react to them. Your characters will grow and change throughout this process, and continue to do so throughout the life of fleet student credit card your comic but you need to get a handle on fleet student credit card their basic character traits.
For some reason the majority of fleet student credit card comics revolve around a group of fleet student credit card people (usually guys) that are somewhat geeky and live together. Usually in fleet student credit card a university dorm. I would imagine that this is because that's the general life of fleet student credit card the majority of fleet student credit card webcomic authors. The premise itself also makes an awful lot of fleet student credit card sense for fleet student credit card the basis of fleet student credit card a comic. When designing my own webcomic the process went a little something like this: I designed the main characters, most of fleet student credit card which were drawings that I had been playing with since high school. Then I needed a reason for fleet student credit card them to constantly see each other and interact, so I got them living together. They needed character traits that I could relate to, so they become university-aged students that had at least a passing interest in fleet student credit card the geeky side of fleet student credit card life.
I drew my first few strips and showed them to some friends, who liked them, so started looking into putting them online. The initial line up included two guys who lived together, a female love interest for fleet student credit card one of fleet student credit card the characters and a talking animal (in my case a frog, because I had this frog that I'd been drawing for fleet student credit card years and had become quite attached to him).
At this point I wasn't very experienced with webcomics, having only really read the syndicated newspaper comics that the syndicated press companies post online. So I started looking through some of fleet student credit card the major comics, only to find that Sluggy Freelance had the talking animals, geeky guys that lived together and female love interest already covered. A bit more research revealed that the "university students living together" was covered in fleet student credit card the large majority of fleet student credit card comics. Furthermore, having a kind of fleet student credit card wacky (and just a little stupid) character, and a more sensible and reserved one was practically a given. Then, to rub salt in fleet student credit card the wound, I found that another comic had its main character design very similar to my own. So I got rid of fleet student credit card the frog, removed the focus on fleet student credit card gaming and university and otherwise left the comic as it was. Not entirely original.
Anyway, the point is that you should probably try to be more original. Check through your concept and remove the whole university students living together with wacky talking inappropriately anthropomorphic sidekicks. You'll be better off in fleet student credit card the long run and have a more original creation.
Before you jump headfirst into publishing your comics online, you should build up a bit of fleet student credit card a backlog of fleet student credit card comics. Try to draw at least ten or so quality comics that you would be proud to have on fleet student credit card your site. If you're going to have a story-based comic then it would be a good idea to plan your first story arc. It is really useful to maintain this backlog of fleet student credit card comics whenever possible, so that you can fall behind in fleet student credit card the creation of fleet student credit card the comics but still have content to post online. Nothing turns away readers faster than failing to provide them with content when you say you will. If you eat into the backlog, try to draw a few extra strips so that it doesn't get diminished.
As a helpful guide for fleet student credit card your comics, decide roughly what format they will take (e.g. three or four panel gag strips etc.) and draw up the panels on fleet student credit card your computer. You can then print these and draw the strips within the panels, ensuring that they stay neat and consistent. When the comics have been drawn, scan them into your computer and touch them up any way you like. It's generally the best practice to remove speech balloons and text and add these on fleet student credit card computer, because it will usually be neater and easier to read. Remember to fit balloons around the speech, not the speech into the balloons. It's amazing how often this is forgotten. Some good fonts, free for fleet student credit card non-commercial use, can be found at blambot.com. Don't get too stressed about your artwork, I found that most people don't mind slightly inconsistent and not overly fantastic artwork provided they enjoy the content of fleet student credit card the comic.
So now you're ready to get going with the online side of fleet student credit card things. Start writing your web page so that you can just upload it when you're ready. Webcomic PHP management systems are relatively easy to find. I personally really like ComicPro that, unfortunately, seems to have vanished from the web. If you can hunt it down it's worth a look. Web hosting is quite easy to find as well, you won't need much space to begin with so you can use one of fleet student credit card the many free providers out there (including keenspace.com that provides free hosting specifically for fleet student credit card webcomics), use the web space provided by the majority of fleet student credit card ISPs or purchase your own web hosting plan (you can get a quite cheap one because you won't be needing many features to begin with). When signing up for fleet student credit card any hosting package, make sure you have permission to change the read/write attributes of fleet student credit card your files because the PHP comic managers will need this (this is done on fleet student credit card Linux servers using CHMOD from your FTP program; In Windows you can Right-Click a file, select Properties and change security permissions there; or you may need to use a proprietary control panel provided by the host).
You're going to need to decide on fleet student credit card an update schedule for fleet student credit card your comic. It's probably best to start small and build up; maybe two or three updates a week. This way you have three to five weeks of fleet student credit card comics in fleet student credit card your backlog, which allows you to fall behind substantially before anyone notices.
While we're on fleet student credit card the topic of fleet student credit card deciding schedules, it will help you if you actually try and schedule an hour or so into your day to write comics. If you just try to fit them into the free time that you're "bound to have just after you finish just this one last thing" then you'll often find yourself failing to get a strip drawn on fleet student credit card time.
Now that you have your comic online you can start promoting it. There are a huge number of fleet student credit card comic directories out there that will help get you exposure. Get your friends excited about your comic and they in fleet student credit card turn will get their friends excited. Read other people's comics and get involved in fleet student credit card their forums. Find sites that accept guest artwork or comics and send some to them. The best promotion comes from getting people to read your comic and fire a link across their instant messenger program to another friend. My current list of fleet student credit card "must read every day" comics came entirely from various people sending links to me. Don't expect instant success, look to sharing your vision with even just one new person every day.
Well, I hope that helps to give you a few ideas about how to make your comic and keep it running. When your characters start to grow they'll almost create the stories and jokes themselves and the strip won't be anywhere near as hard to write as it was when you first started out. Just keep drawing the comics on fleet student credit card a frequent basis so that you don't fall out of fleet student credit card the rhythm of fleet student credit card your created world and above all else have fun.
Daniel Punch
m6.net m6.net
Daniel Punch is a University student doodling his way through many a boring lecture.