Unusual Storylines: Thinking Outside The Box

If you are interested in writing your own comics, you could be having a hard time coming up with storylines that you think that people will find interesting. Although coming up with the storylines and words can be one of the hardest parts of creating comic strips, you should know that there a few good ways to come up with good ideas.

First of all, you should aim to come up with something that is unique and perhaps a tad bit unusual. This can be easier said than done, but there are a (more…)

Overburdening The Story With Too Much Plot

Avoid the Syndrome of Too Much Plot
Writing a story needs a central point of view. The point of view isn’t the author’s personal opinion. It’s the opinion of the plot that gives impetus to the purpose for writing a specific story. Writers need to remind themselves they are always writing to their readership. When plot exceeds the necessary limits of detail, readers grow disinterested. They may skip a few important chapters to read on until they uncover the central point of view.

How to Avoid Overburdening Plots
Weighty plots can reveal an author’s writing weaknesses. (more…)

Characters That Mirror People You Know

Barbara Pym writes about Excellent Women. Excellent women are single, talented, extremely self sufficient, kind, giving and capable. They rise to any occasion and help generously when asked or when they see there is a need. They are steady, reliable, refined, polite and concerned with propriety.

Society shamelessly uses them. Men sometimes ask outrageous things of them and think nothing of it. “My wife has left me. We had a needless argument and she has gone off, I believe with another man. Will you write to her for me? Ask what we are to do. I am undone by it (more…)

Personalizing Characters To Appeal To The Reader

Characters, such as a protagonist and a villain are important elements to make a successful story. Protagonists are the main characters, and they will face conflicts and complications before they find the solution or be successful. The obstacles they face come from the antagonists, opposite characters who obstruct the main characters from reaching their goals. Both are necessary to move the plot and to create scenes for your story.

Protagonists or heroes, as well as villains, need to be personalized in order to engage the readers. Several techniques can be used to personalize your characters to make them appeal to your readers, such as:

Differentiating their clothing. This can be done using specific colors of the clothing they wear, as well as the clothing design and how they wear it. For instance, the loopy baseball cap and sagging baggy pants.

Showing their physical characterization. For instance, show their height, weight, and a specific hairstyle, such as long or short like an army style haircut.

Differentiating characters through their dialogue. Do they use fragments in their conversations, or do they use long sentences when conversing? Through dialogue, readers are able to recognize their voices and to differentiate them.

Creating Characters That Are Real And Engaging

Creating engaging characters and keeping a that story real is is important in any story. There should be something to which the reader can relate. How can your characters stay compelling and real? In a word: details.

Back story can be really important, even if you don’t share it with your readers right away. Where was your character born? What did your character like or not like in school? Did they go to school? What were your (more…)

Creativity And The Art Of Humor

The ability to find the humor in the mundane or even not so funny situations in life makes life comical. It takes a creative mind to view life in this way. It’s more than the silver lining. For example, comedian Jerry Seinfeld can find the humor in a conveyor belt, an airline flight and even varying ways of being laid to rest. This creativity is also essential in the retelling of the humor in such a way that others understand (more…)

What small press comic creators can learn from punk

Small press comics are directly related to zinesgenerally self-published works with small circulation and a goal of exposure over profit. Most small press comics creators are aware that their properties are unlikely to end up on the front page of www.directstartv.com, but that’s part of the charm of these DIY publications. Many groups have produced zines successfully through the years, from Benjamin Franklin’s self-published literary magazine (distributed at a Pennsylvania hospital) to science fiction authors. One of the best-documented zine communities, though, can be found among punk fans and musicians. These creators set an example of how works can be cheaply distributed in the modern day. (more…)

“Emitown” re-energizes an indie comics trope

The autobiographical comic is nothing new in the world of independent comics. Most recently, Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis captured critical acclaim and was turned into a film. Before that, Justin Green pioneered the form in the 1970s, and Harvey Pekar began his acclaimed series American Splendor (also turned into a film). Almost forty years later, how does one set their series apart? Emi Lenox’s Emitown is a good example of how to do just that.Emitown is an almost-daily webcomic found at emitown.blogspot.com. A typical post is one drawn page with an irregular layout. Lenox’s decision to publish online was obviously not based off of a desire to overuse digital art. Her penciled and inked pages pop with a real sense of style. (more…)

Two new titles from Ho Che Anderson

London-born comic artist Ho Che Anderson has made a name for himself with his stark black-and-white drawing style, which takes inspiration from film noir and classic horror. He has also defined a subject matter focusing on African-American culture and liberation, including illustrating the cover to Black Panther Huey P. Newton‘s autobiography, “Revolutionary Suicide”. Anderson’s art is on full display in the recent collection of his defining miniseries, “King”.”King” is subtitled “A Comics Biography”, but those expecting a children’s perspective of the great civil rights advocate will be greatly surprised. Anderson’s work has been acclaimed for returning an air of humanity to a man often considered a legend. (more…)

Small-press comics by the numbers

For someone new to the world of smaller comics, it can be difficult to know where to start. Diamond Comic Distributors has compiled a list of the top 25 by sales for May 2010. Here, I take a closer look at just a few, but hopefully you’ll be inspired to go and check them out for yourself! (more…)