Webcomics 101 for Teens

[Jen_Babcock]

hi everyone,

I'm doing a workshop about how to make webcomics at the NYC Comic Con this year. The workshop is geared toward teens.

I'm probably going to cover things like materials, ideas, how to register for a domain name, free hosts (such as comicgenesis), advertising, how to get the word out...

Are there any other big issues that anyone thinks I should cover? The workshop runs for about an hour.

thanks!

[Dr Neo Lao]

There's about ten billion ideas that new people should learn about, but most of it they can work out fairly easily *if* they know how to look for answers.

The biggest point I'd try and sell is how to find information - such as navigating Wiki's, how to find (and use) FAQ's, how to locate (and how important it is to read) the Terms of Use and other bits and pieces that individuals need to pick up before they commit to something. It's something that I've noticed to be lacking in many young people today.

[Shishio]

Be willing to take criticism, and don't let the people who seem to feel as if bad webcomics raped and murdered their entire family get to you.

Related to that, avoid drama. Just avoid it.

Don't expect to be an overnight success.

Don't blather about your personal life in your blog - noone cares.

If you care about having readers, set a schedule and stick to it.

Listen to Webcomics Weekly.

[KWill]

Let them know they should be prepared to fail. In fact, let them count on it and use the failure as a learning experience, working on a project they don't get too attached to at first and let them learn by doing.

And point them in the direction of How Not To Run A Comic.

[McDuffies]

Boy, there's hundreds of things one could think of being useful. How long is workshop gonna last? I guess you should guide them through the process of making comics, from brainstorming for ideas, to penciling, inking, scanning, etc, showing them how it's usually done. Lao is right, they should be taught about importance of reading ToS, something that many grown-up people don't know yet.

[Jen_Babcock]

Thanks for all the great tips, guys- I'm going to include as much as I can.

McDuffies- the workshop is only one day for an hour (it's a crash course I guess)

[Warofwinds]

Since most people at cons don't really know about webcomics other than the horrible misconceptions (see: World's Worst Webcomic), I'd spend the first couple minutes correcting that by displaying example pages of the best webcomic stuff available. Show them what they COULD be, if they keep at. Then I think it would be important to spend time describing why one should even make a webcomic, and why they in many ways rival print comics: accessibility, communication and above all, freedom/control of content. After that, the usual stuff: where to go, host names, setting up a site, places to advertising, etc. I think the former stuff is important because most of your audience will be there with a background in print comics, but, eh, it's a little too academic for your average teen.

[Valkyrk]

The number one thing. Are you a teen? Were you a teen when you made webcomics? Then I don't think you know very much about this wonderful thing I learned when making comics. High School

Look, they're not going to be around kids who understand what they're doing. I learned this the hard way. I'll give you an example.

I wanted kids to know what I was doing. So, I put a link to my comic in my e-mail signature. Now, apparently, the kids who I was e-mailing didn't get the message that that comic was MINE. So, what did they do? They all said, "That comic sucks. You know what's a good comic? Ctrl-Alt-Del." Ctrl-alt-del, ctrl-alt-del, ctr....if I had a DOLLAR for every time someone referenced Ctrl-Alt-Del when I mentioned my comic, I would be a MILLIONAIRE. If they didn't say that, they said, "Oh. A webcomic. Like Ctrl-Alt-Del?" I TRIED to explain to them that there are other comics BESDIDES gaming comics, but they all said, "Heh, you should make a comic about two guys playing videogames." I create an Anthro webcomic, but, as I said before, I met this wonderful thing called High School. If I also had a dollar for everytime I was called a FF, I would have about 6 grand. Not only that, but apparently someone in the school newspaper caught wind of my webcomic, and refused to publish any comics I sent in to them because of it. It took me FOREVER to get this entire mess unraveled. Once I finally did, I just kept on creating my comic, and if anyone asks, I tell them about it.

So, I recommend telling your teens that, even though their peers may not be supporting of their comic that does not have two guys playing video games, don't be discouraged by it. That's the beauty of a webcomic. You don't have to be insanely popular, you just have to do what suits YOU.

[Phact0rri]

bullet points on things.

simple techniques likes a sample html page?

tips on making colouring line art and setting up panels?

a few notes on what to avoid when scripting?

methods for collaborating with writer/artist and possibly how to find a partner?

[TheSuburbanLetdown]

Damn, there so much to cover. Make sure to give them a handout for things you can't cover in-depth. Focus mostly on technical stuff for the workshop.

[LibertyCabbage]

If it works for drugs, it can work for sprite comics.

[Ohemgee]

I'd go to the workshop if I wasn't a few thousand miles away... it sounds like a great idea.
However, I'd definitely go over the composition/design of the web page, what not to do, and materials for low budgets
Being a teen myself, these are important to know, and I wish I had known these things last year.

[BrownEyedCat]

Personally I'd stress that web comics can be anything from polished, professional work, to hobbyists sharing their art with people. No pressure, no 'you're not good enough to even try', no 'you'll never be good enough', no bar to entry.

There are lots of people who wonder why people who don't 'take it seriously' even try, but . . . if I felt that kind of pressure over everything, I'd never really get started on anything. It's very freeing.

[Deathbringer]

-DO NOT make it about videogames. We've seen enough gaming comics, we really don't need to see any more.

-DO NOT try to get around the above by making it "ironic" about videogames, or by concentrating on the people surrounding videogames rather than the games themselves.

-Pretty much everything about superheroes has been done already, 20 years before, by professionals.

-A little young innocent girl who constantly gets into "dark" and "fucked up" situations is neither original, intelligent nor funny.

-Neither is a little young girl with adult knowledge who makes "dark" comments about the world. It's been done, years ago, by professionals. And it wasn't funny then either.

-It does not HAVE to be a Manga and/or a newspaper style "gag" strip. You arent restricted to a certian size and length on a web page, nor do you have to please marketing men. Go wild!

-Write about something you are interested in and have knowledge of. If all you are interested in/have knowledge of is videogames, blockbusters and smoking weed... don't bother.

-While considering the above, try and find something that hasn't been done before. As far as i know there isn't a webcomic about classic cars, for example. But there is a goldmine of possible humour you could extract from that subject... I'd do it myself but i never stick to updates.

-Swearing, nudity and gore may be fun, but it's also easy in an uncensored medium. Try making something for younger audiences, self-censorship can sometimes bring out better skills

-"Not restricted to a certian size" does not mean "make it huge". Learn how to use graphics programs to resize your scans!

-"Original" or "Quirky" navigation that "hasn't been done before" "hasn't been done before" for a good reason- it's annoying.

-The cleaner the web page, the better. Especially within archive pages. You really only want a title heading (image or text), the date/title of the comic, the comic, the navigation links, and any notes/annotations you may want to add at the bottom. The front page can have comment boxes, site navigation etc etc but it doesnt have to be on EVERY page

-If you arent going with an automated updating system. " ../" in a link means "up to the next directory". Which allows you to add a link to your main page from your archive pages (within the archive directory)

And last and most definitley not least:

-You WILL NOT make any money off doing a webcomic. You just won't. If you only ever do something to get something back, don't bother.

[Rkolter]

Super-key bullet points?

* Do not expect to make money off your webcomic - do not run a webcomic for that reason, because you just won't succeed in that regard. This is not a profit-making industry.

* Do not steal another person's work. Copyright laws exist and apply to the internet and to webcomics.

* Your readers care more about you meeting your schedule than you think - instead of saying you will post three times a week, and missing two of those postings, just admit you'll only do one a week, and indicate that in your schedule.

* Pick a topic you are familiar with, and one that you will enjoy doing a year from now.