The first thing you want to do when making your own comics or graphic novels is to draw your story.
First of all, this is important because when you create art later, you don't want to spend hours drawing or rendering sequences, and later delete the story all because it goes in a different direction.
You don't need to create everything in detail before you do it, because sometimes ideas pop up as you move forward, but you want a roadmap so you can set goals for yourself, create Art faster.
Since this is a visual medium for storytelling, a good way to write an outline/first draft is in the form of a script, as it includes things like stage direction, setting up points for each scene and conversation.
If you 've never written a script, now may be a good time to start.
There are a lot of books on how to write a script, or you can read my center here.
Alternatively, you can read other scripts that are familiar with the format and style.
Because it's just a roadmap for your comics, it's not necessarily perfect.
Also, when you're working on your script, try to split it into increments so you can know where page and/or chapter breaks may appear.
Some may be longer than others, but the story may not flow at the speed you want without any interruptions.
Also, please keep in mind the length of each character's conversation when you write.
Remember, this is a comic, not a novel.
These pictures should be part of the story.
You don't want a word bubble to squeeze the artwork out if you can help.
So try to keep it short or find a way to break down long speech in multiple frames.
Making storyboards the script you write will be a good indicator of where the story needs to go, but drafting storyboards is also crucial.
There is no need to fantasize about this;
Make it on the underlined paper with a pencil and draw it as you like.
You only want it as a reference so that you know the general type of picture needed on each page.
For example, if your character is making a long speech, you need a lot of photos of them talking to the dialogue space.
But on a page that is completely action, you don't need that much room for dialogue, and you will have pictures to tell stories.
This can also be used to draw dramatic close-ups, character positioning, and negative spaces.
Now, I refer to this article as making your own digital comics, but the process of making graphic novels is the same.
It's very time consuming to make these, especially if you might make them on your own.
So don't worry too much about length.
As long as you tell the story you want to tell, it will continue.
Worry about length once you realize if this is something you really like to do.
If you happen to be an artist with a natural talent, think you're lucky.
I struggle myself in drawing, too, so if I draw my own graphic novel, it looks pathetic.
If you are going to take the drawing route then you need a scanner to upload your image to your computer or if you have a digital drawing board you can draw your illustration directly to the art program
However, there is a way to solve this problem.
Art programs like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator are great tools to create cleaner art than you might draw.
These programs are also essential when you decide to compile your page.
However, for those who may not have a drawing talent, the best program is a 3D rendering app like Poser and DAZ Studio, which is available online for free.
These programs allow you to get 3D characters, animals, and settings and compile them into a scene that can be rendered and saved to your computer.
For those of you who want to know more, you can refer to my beginner's guide for 3D art and DAZ Studio.
You will do a lot of things whether you draw or render.
I found out very early in the first comic how many photos I need to take.
I rendered more than 100 images for a 23 page comic.
That's why it's important to draw your story and story board at hand, otherwise I can easily render more than 200 story boards.
Editing your work the work you do for editing graphic novels can be tedious at times, but this is also the most meaningful part of the process.
You have to adjust the picture to fit while you crop and adjust the color.
You have to add to the image in the dialogue, thought, and action bubbles to make it look like a comic.
However, once you 've done all of this, it's very satisfying to see the final product, which can make your simple script vivid.
There are no parameters set for the size of the page or the size of the picture cell, at least when you create one for fun, there are no parameters set.
I 've provided some generic sizes just to get you to start with the image on the right, but feel free to try image placement and overlap as you go.
This is an interesting medium because you do it for your own reasons, so don't be afraid to try or do something wrong.
If it doesn't work, you can always correct it later.
If you would like to learn more about how to edit your images in photoshop, you can refer to my basic photo editing guide, but I have listed some basic tools as follows: photoshop tools for understanding :-Crop (
Found in left hand menu)
Allows you to quickly cut off a part of an unwanted image. -Copy/Paste (
Found in edit menu)
Allows you to bring scanned drawings or renders into a single comic page. -Scale (
Find the Edit menu under convert
Allows you to shrink the image layer.
Keep moving when you do so to maintain aspect ratio. -Color Balance (
Found in the image menu under adjust
Allows you to add a specific color to the image. -
Brightness/contrast (
Found in the image menu under adjust
Allows you to adjust the brightness and contrast of the image. -Poster Edges (
Found in the filter menu under art)
Make your render look "funny" by contour and color adjustment ".