Creating A Comic Page, Part One: The Thumbnail

So, you've got your comic idea. You've designed your characters, decided on your first story arc, and even have some kick-butt action planned. Now what?

Now... You thumbnail.

A thumbnail is a rough sketch. It helps the artist visualize what their final work is going to look like without them putting a whole lot of effort into all the little details. This is the thumbnail of page 34 in Chapter Two of Strawberry Syrup:

As you can see, it ain't exactly a masterpiece. What it IS, however, is a guide to how I want the finished page to look. The panels are laid out, the action is depicted (if roughly), and some of the dialogue bubbles are added in. But why do this step at all?

There are several reasons. The two bigs ones are that it saves time AND your mentail health. With a thumbnail, I can see if the layout works and if everything flows right. If it doesn't, then I've only spent maybe five minutes, tops, on that thumbnail and can just go ahead and take another couple of minutes to hammer out another one, one that will hopefully work. It's way less devastating than spending several hours sketching, inking, and toning a full page, only to find out after stepping back to take a good look at it that something is horribly amiss.

Another benefit is that you can plot out entire chapters of your comic this way in perhaps a day, all before starting your first page. I highly recommend doing this. One of the biggest blocks I run into is getting stuck on layout. By plotting out the entire chapter beforehand, you can see how each page flows into the next, make sure you're not being repetitive in your layout, and know exactly what's coming next. It's all right there, and it can be done in a few days, tops.

So, before you dive head-first into your first page, spend some time thumbnailing your first chapter - you'll be much happier in the long run!

Hiatus Status Report

It's been about a month since Strawberry Syrup went on hiatus, so time for a status report!

Site Status: The new ad campaign seems to be going well. We started using Project Wonderful to try to generate a little revenue to go towards things like site maintenance... and, um, little things like keeping the site. ^^;; Other than that, I've been using the weekly hiatus updates to get used to my new Bamboo Fun from WACOM. Hopefully, the readers are enjoying those, too. (Yeah, yeah, I know, you'd all enjoy it more if I got back to the comic! :P)

Tablet Status: Still getting used to it. It's going good in Photoshop, but I'm still struggling a bit in my beloved MangaStudio. Maybe I'm missing a setting or something... There's something to be said for just how hard I have to resist plugging my good old Graphire back in for sketching. But... I'll get used to it. With any luck, that'll happen before I start back on the comic.

Kit's Grasp on Time Status: Ack! Where the heck did the month of May go?!

Kit's Status in General: I'll admit it - the hiatus was a good idea. I'm enjoying the break, exploring other creative projects, and generally recharging. When I get back to actually drawing the comic again, it will be with renewed passion for all things Strawberry Syrup.

Comic Status: I know what Chapter 4's going to be! I have worked through my issues and seen the light! Now, I'm going to try and do this chapter right, actually plan the whole thing out page by page, and get a buffer built up so we don't run into the problem of the last chapter where there were unintentional breaks. That's got to be a good thing.

And there you have it, the Mid-Hiatus Status Report! Stayed tuned for further information.

Site Downage

I'll admit it. I am... woefully inept when it comes to most technology-related things. Some things are alright. Photoshop, Manga Studio, and Word? Great, fine, I can do what I need, and as long as you don't want me to get into whatever's covered in the later chapters of the For Dummies books, it's all good. I'll go on my merry way, churning things out with only a glimmer of understanding of what I'm doing, and everybody's happy.

Programming? Not so much.

Now, long, long ago, when I first wanted a website and my brother had some insane idea that I could learn this kind of stuff on my own, he left me to my own devices. And I did, indeed, learn things. I learned how to make links, make images into links, do all the basic bold/italics/etc. stuff, and even macguyvered a little table system. Somehow, it all looked pretty darn decent.

My brother looked at the source code and cried.

Apparently, cannibalizing bits of coding and hodgepodging them together like some sort of digital stew shouldn't have worked. I then discovered deviantArt and, since all I wanted at the time was an art gallery ANYWAYS, moved over to there and let my little website fade into the void of cyberspace.

Then, along came Strawberry Syrup, and I needed a website again. This time, my brother decided to put his Computer Science degree to work. I just had to make a mock-up of what I wanted in Photoshop and ship it off to him, and he waved his magic programming wand and turned it into a fully-functioning, honest-to-goodness WELL-coded site to host my little comic, for which I am ever-thankful for.

Unfortunately, he forgot to tell me that whatever he uses to code it doesn't like certain symbols. Like "&". Which means that when I tried to post "Q&A With Sammy," the front page crashed, my file uploader started bombarding me with "CRITICAL ERROR" messages, and I found myself repeatedly thudding my head against a wall. Fun times.

So, for anyone who stopped by on Wednesday before John fixed things, sorry about the awful mess. Totally my bad. But! It's all cleaned up now, and I know better, so hopefully we won't have to worry about that again.

All About Hiatuses

If you've been lurking around the webcomic world for awhile, you've probably learned to dread the words, "On Hiatus." All too often, it means one of your favorite webcomics fading off into the sunset, never to be seen again... or, at least, not to be seen until the artist decides to come back, which could be weeks, months, or even as long as a year. Readers hate hiatuses. So why on Earth would a webcomicker ever take one?

Well, let's start with the basics: what IS a hiatus? In a word... a break. In a few more words, a period of time in which the webcomic will be put on hold and not updated. There are a variety of reasons why this might happen, and some of them make a hiatus unavoidable. For example, a digital webcomicker's tablet might break, or their preferred laptop with all their specific webcomic software might crash. An injured wrist makes it pretty darn hard to draw. Or, in the best case scenario, the webcomicker might just be going on vacation and will be back in a month. Not everywhere has internet access, after all. All you need to do in these cases is explain what's going on to your readers and when you expect to be back, and they're usually pretty forgiving.

In each of those cases, the webcomicker has a good idea when they'll be back, and it will be within a matter of days or weeks. However, there are other reasons for going on hiatus. As much as we hate to admit it, the webcomic does have to take a backseat to real life. A move, a change in job, a new addition to the family, or other obligations can suck up your time and force you on hiatus for your own sanity. Webcomics also tend to run over a period of years, and the creator might just get bored with it. In these cases, it could be months before the comic gets picked up again, assuming it ever does.

Annnnd then there's my reason for hiatus: story issues. Strawberry Syrup is an episodic webcomic. That means that each chapter is pretty much its own self-contained little story (so far). As such, while Koni and I have tossed around a lot of ideas of what COULD happen, it doesn't have a hard and fast outline (which, if you're doing an epic saga, you SHOULD have before you even begin, and even then, you can run into problems when something doesn't work out quite the way you thought it was going to). We just build on whatever came before. Unfortunately, as Chapter 3 drew to a close, I realized I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do next.

That... is a problem.

This gave me three options: 1) End the comic and turn my attention to another project. Not my first choice. 2) Desperately grab at a story idea and muddle through a very sloppy Chapter 4. Not really all that appealing, either. Or 3) Go on hiatus, take a month or so to hammer out a GOOD Chapter 4, and maybe build up a bit of a buffer again so I won't run into the problem of when my muse went AWOL or Life decided to tapdance on my comic time. Obviously, I'm going with option #3.

There are a few drawbacks to taking a hiatus. The main one is that it can really irritate your readers, and you can lose readers over it. After all, the less you update, the less often they remember to check your site, which means that eventually, they'll stop checking at all. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to minimize the damage done by a hiatus.

• Be honest with your readers. Tell them why you're taking a break, whether it's because you're going on a wireless retreat, had a technical malfunction, or just need to replenish the creative juices. If you just take off without a word, they'll think you don't care.


• Set a time frame. If you know when you're going to be back, tell the readers when that is. If you're going on vacation without your comicking tools, add a week. The readers will expect an update as soon as you get back. If you don't know exactly when you'll be back, try to give an approximate idea. In the case of story issues or recharging the braincells, this is just as important for you as the reader. Think of it as a deadline, and it will help you stick to it. For example, I intend to start updating again by mid-June.


• Time your hiatus well. This is for those who are taking a hiatus by choice. Nothing is as frustrating as reading a webcomic, only to have it stop for weeks or months in the middle of a chapter. Aim for the end of a chapter. That way, if things don't go as well as you'd planned and you end up having to end it, at least there's some closure for the readers. I still remember when one of my favorite webcomics from nearly ten years ago wrapped up the entire story arc, gave us a good, satisfying ending, then started on a new story arc... only to lose interest about ten pages in. Bad idea. Seriously.


• Upload filler and extras. Yeah, yeah, I know, filler seasons have killed great anime. Bleach and Naruto come to mind... but if you're going to be gone for more than two weeks, uploading quick, non-sequential art relating to your comic not only keeps you in practice, but shows your readers that you still care and you really are working. It's a good faith thing: if you're still uploading SOMETHING, then chances are good that you really WILL be back and won't just disappear into the ether. Think of it as the extra stuff found at the back of most manga volumes - not directly part of the comic, but still cool to look at.


• Have guest comics. This is great if you have an active fanbase. Announce that you're looking for fan art and guest comics and see what comes in. You can even do it as a contest: free merchandise to the winner (if you feel like spending a little money), runners up get posted, too. If you want to do this option, set it in motion a few weeks BEFORE you actually go on hiatus to give people a chance to work on their submissions. If you're pals with other webcomickers, see if they'd be willing to do guest work. It'll give your readers something to look at AND give you a break.


• Come BACK. That's right. The whole point of a hiatus is to eventually come BACK. Stick to your time frame, hit your deadline, and start up with your comic again. If you decide to extend your hiatus or, heaven forbid, end your comic, tell your readers. They appreciate honesty far more than being left hanging.

Hiatuses are nearly impossible to avoid in long-term webcomics, but they don't have to be complete disasters. Give it some thought, remember your readers, and you might just have a successful hiatus.

Grab Traffic with Squidoo!

There are a lot of promotional tools available out there for webcomickers: webcomic listings, groups, communities... But what else can you do to grab more viewers?

You can Squidoo.

Usually when I mention Squidoo, I'm met with a blank look. The kind of look people give you when you start speaking gibberish. So, here's the rundown.

Squidoo is a community that allows you to make one-page websites (called "lenses") on any topic you want. And you're not just limited to one - you can make as many lenses, on as many topics, as you want. The basic idea behind Squidoo is that everyone is an expert on something, and everyone should have a chance to share that expertise. Even better, it's free.

I've been Squidooing for about three years now, starting with a lens dedicated to fantasy art. Since then, I've added thirteen more lenses, with topics ranging from my favorite books to my favorite vacation spot. Thanks to the module set-up, it's easy to add content to your lens. There are modules for text and images, link lists, regular lists, various widgets, Amazon.com, CafePress, and a whole lot more.

But what does this have to do with webcomics, you ask?

If there is one thing you should be an expert on, it's your own webcomic. I started my Strawberry Syrup lens about a month after the comic went up. I figured it would be a good way to grab traffic and provide people with a nice introduction to my comic. The text modules work great for character bios, and to keep things updated, I put up the latest blog post from the website. That guarantees me a weekly update, which keeps my lensranking up and makes my lens more likely to show up quickly in Squidoo searches.

Two other great features webcomickers will find useful: the shopping modules, and the guestbook. If you have merchandise for your comic through CafePress or Zazzle, you can highlight a selection of your best products right there on your lens, driving traffic to your shop and even generating an extra royalty if someone buys through your lens.

And the guestbook... Oh, I love my Squidoo guestbook. I've gotten more feedback through the guestbook on my lens than I have through anything else. You may recall the Strawberry Syrup forum fiasco. Well, no such problem with the Squidoo guestbooks! I've only gotten legitimate comments through them, and nothing is as encouraging as getting a little feedback on something that takes as much work as a weekly webcomic. You even have the option of approving all comments before they go up, just to be sure it's something you want the world to see (plus, you'll get notified every time someone has something to say).

There is one more reason to make a Squidoo lens for your webcomic: search engines pick them up like crazy. With a blog, you might show up in the first couple pages of Google... if you're lucky. Websites depend on if you really understand you SEO stuff. But a Squidoo lens... If you search "strawberry syrup comic," my Strawberry Syrup lens actually comes up before the comic!

Bottom line: the more exposure you get for your comic, the more traffic you're going to get, and the more traffic you get, the more readers you'll end up with. And all webcomickers want readers. Squidoo gets you more exposure, and even better, exposure outside the typical webcomic crowd. So if it sounds like something you want to do, get started now!