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kanswers · 2 years ago

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Do you have any wisdoms on character writing or comic composition? I adore how atmospheric your comics are 0:

i tried so hard stranger, i'm sry. this is not a great response. it's long but it says nothing. but i'm tryin ALKSDNLKAD TYSM FOR ASKING SNFF. OK GET READY

STARTING WITH character writing… ohggggggg

you know, to be completely honest, i’ve never really thought about character writing while doing it! i’ve never put thought into trying to make mine appear well written or solid. i care how i feel about the characters, and how they feel in their stories, and not how they might appear to others, even if it’s nice when people appreciate them. So i have no real evidence if they’re.. Good… or if i’m good at this at all so it might be hard to give advice on this. unless you like particularly how i do things, i’d be a bad teacher. i’m bad at all the basics, but i think the.. ‘rules’ of story and character writing can be important. maybe? STUDY STUDY

STILL, hopefully it’s somewhat helpful to explain my process even if it’s just what not to do! so!

now i’m not 100% sure what characters of mine people like the most. but to me it seems like the ones i connect to well (though not always relate to) usually seem to be the best received, and i think that’s because i feel something towards them and people can tell when the writer is connected to the character..? Or maybe just because they’re displayed feeling things people can relate to. relating to characters can happen in a lot of different ways, but it can be really important! if story telling isn’t your strong suit, many people will appreciate that you express or portray some genuine emotion in the characters. I THINK.. as for what makes it genuine oh man idk.. you don't have to be feeling it, but i think if you can connect- omg i sound insane. i'm sorry this wasn't remotely helpful WHOOPSDNFLK for wisdoms, this is just my personal thoughts and feelings through what i’ve read myself! I’M NOT GONNA BE NAMING ANY NAMES OF ANY COMICS. i’m no critic. this is just a general. thing

the only thing i can think of being important atm (bc my general M.O is if you like the character, just. do it. enjoy them. that’s all that matters), is a little thought about villains and grey characters!

if you love your character and they’re a bad person (AND IS nOT based on a real one), that’s okay. i love villains, myself but if you don’t acknowledge that they’re terrible, people will pick up on that in a lot of cases. for most, it becomes really obvious when the writer is trying to redeem or justify a character who is a terrible person just because they, the writer, like that character. many villains are enjoyable but only until the writer seems to look past their actions.

in that same vein, some characters don’t need redemption. bad guys can die without redeeming themselves. think hard about the actions your villain is going to take, if you plan on redeeming them even in death. if you’re going for redemption, i’d implore you to avoid certain subjects. and keep in mind that no matter what they do to make up for it, if they’ve done something really horrible, many will still think they shouldn’t be forgiven and you should be okay with that!

speaking of which plsplsplsplspls keep in mind that you can create evil characters who don’t assault or abuse anyone. if you make a character who does perpetrate abuse, i’d say it’s really hard to redeem them in the eyes of a lot of your audience even if they show a huge regret for their actions. something really important is to never ask the audience to, or suggest they should, forgive a villain. but especially not one that they can connect to their abusers.

AND LASTLY, ATMOSPHERE AND COMPOSITION.. get ready to be LET DOWN!!

i mostly concentrate on feelings, and not so much an overarching composition or story or.. anything. atmosphere all centres around those feelings as well. i’m a terrible story writer, in that i have no idea about structure and don’t care enough about the rules of it all to learn really, i’d say you should study good, solid, well reviewed stories you like if you’re looking to create something objectively good! if you just wanna have fun and get some ideas out with purely subjective quality, i’ll write a how-to book ahuehauehheheheh. but it would be very short

AS FOR COMPOSITION OH MAN I HAVE NO IDEA. i think so many of my comic pages are very boring in composition. yawn fest. square squares squares. i try to look at pages of comics i like, to learn. i don’t think i’ve made many improvements yet..

mostly it’s like.. where’s the feeling? in those fidgeting paw hands? ok, panel of that. in the eyes? ok, focus on that. character thinks and then decides not to say something? panel of them hesitating and then shutting their mouth

sometimes i get a decent idea for a cool panel or two but for the most part i don’t really put effort into the composition because i don’t care too much for it unless feeling calls for it.. but you should be better than me! i don’t want for more than enjoyable mediocrity, and i’ve learned to take shortcuts and step back the moment my joy for whatever i’m drawing wanes. and i think i’m much happier for it! but it’s probably also why i’ll never make a big popular franchise or anything substantial. success takes hard work. study hard and strive for more if you want it!

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