As a 5-time published comic artist, I wanted to share some of my favorite ways I start a webtoon. Specifically, I’m going to talk about writing a comic script.
When I first started out with writing comics, I would always stress and worry if it was better to map out the characters first or write the script first. I thought that there was just one end all be all way to write a comic but over the years I learned that there is more than one way to write a story and you can either start with a character driven story first or a scenario driven story first.
It’s totally interchangeable. Some people like to plan out their script before creating the characters because they have specific scenarios in mind that they want to draw. Others have a certain character design they want to see and then do the script plotting second.
Personally, I switch it up depending on what inspires me at the moment. Sometimes I’ll see a character type that I like and build a story around them. Other times, I’ll see a situation that inspires me and create characters to react to it.
If you’re just starting out with writing a comic script, I recommend checking out some of my favorite writing resources:
- Brain McDonald’s “Invisible Ink”
- Chris Oatley’s “PaperWings Podcast”
- “How to Draw Shojo Manga”
- “Shojo Beat Manga Artist Academy”
These are also really helpful and some of my favorites because I have autism so my comprehension of things tends to need a little more extra explanation and detail and these books and podcast do a great job at breaking down different nuances of story structure in a very simple cut and dry way.
They all give different story structure frameworks that you can follow to help construct your story outline and more specifically the last two books provide examples of comic script structure as well.
For me personally when I write my comic script for my webtoon I don’t add a lot of descriptions since I’m the only one who is writing and drawing the comic but that doesn’t mean that you have to do that as well.
There are other comic artist that like to create their script in a descriptive novel style to help them visualize the comic scene and what should go where when they are drawing. So again this circles back to doing what works best for you.
Once you have your story all finished and drawn up, head over to my other blog post where I share how I published my comic in 3 easy steps. I also include some beginner-friendly comic supplies in that post too.
If you have any more questions about writing a comic script, feel free to leave a comment below and I’d be happy to answer them. I also have a Webtoon for Beginners ebook where I cover how to make, publish, and monetize a webtoon comic for beginners.
And if you’re looking for a wholesome, fake marriage trope AMBW manga webtoon to pass the time, check out “Catch Me! Fight Me! Love Me!“