Common SJ Comic Cliches

[Feathers]

Figured I'd start this for people wanting to make their comic/art/story more original. :3

Just to start off, I always notice:

-Male writer who cannot write for female characters, so chooses to make all girls "go extinct" in the story OR

-Male writer who for some reason has a cast of characters who are all female, and written for the purpose of fanservice

-BL comics written by females that have completely eliminated the females in society

-Male/female writers that have written a story with mostly girls/guys, but have the opposite gender as useless minor characters

Those are just the ones I notice on SmackJeeves, though if were including all comics then I'd have a lot more to say. LOL

[Rogo]

These are usually just a result of people writing something they don't understand or have had no personal experience of. I'm just as bad in places, just not in ones that are so common.

I just try and do my research.

Basically no one's perfect, but some mistakes are more common than others.

[Devil]

Agree with most of the stuff you said, sis. There's a lot of things I see in comics that I don't exactly like/are plain out annoying, but making mistakes in your comic is the only way you're going to learn. No one can make a perfect comic the first time around. There's always room for improvement~ :3

[Feathers]

This is true you both. :3 Mistakes will be made, but its nice to know what you exactly do wrong.

[Pumpkinhead]

I think your idea has good intentions, though I would be hesitant to tell someone what the "correct way" to write a story is, because someone's idea of what is "good" can be very subjective. When you create general guide lines for what is "right" or "original" for someone to follow, then those "guidelines" can become cliches themselves. Some times going a 180 in the complete opposite direction can also create poorly written stories and characters. When I was younger I was so intent on not making the women in my stories damsels in distress that I made them improbably invincible instead. They were always right, always won their fights, always got away with being d-bags to people because they were "strong women", etc. I eventually realized that while I they were no longer weak, they were now very boring characters.

NOT TO SAY that I approve of the whole damsel in distress trope/making women useless in stories. I still get annoyed when I see that happen and wish I wouldn't see it as much (even in professional work). But...idk I guess my point is that you can have an idea for making your story better, but I think you have to have the knowledge and experience to effectively implement that idea. So...long-winded version of what Rogo and darkdeathdevil already said I guess, ha ha.

Though I guess if I were to give advice based on my experiences/what has seemed to help me with my stories: if I want to make a character strong—but maintain interest and keep my story plausible—I still need to make sure she or he still human. Any person, male or female, has flaws and insecurities and will occasionally make mistakes because no one is perfect. People prefer flawed characters over invincible ones because they can relate to those characters. That's probably why, for example, Spider-Man is WAY more popular than Superman.

[Rogo]

You've pretty much hit the nail on the head PumpkinheadKid

If I wanted to be brutally honest I'd also say that a problem is that a lot of webcomic writers start writing too young... I didn't start Gravston until I was 22 XD

If I'd started writing at 16... it would have been freaking awful - trust me.

[Devil]

Agreed!! Writing too young can be pretty bad- yet it can be good at the same time. If you write young you'll make more mistakes, but you'll also correct those mistakes before you start writing it for real when you're older. As I said before, mistakes = learning.

I have to say though, that's some awesome information Pumpkinheadkid! ;D

[Feathers]

Did I accidently come off as a bish again? XD Eh, well I was sort of aiming for what Pumpkin did a much better job for than I did. Mostly made this thread for people(like myself) that are basically trying to go for a more original comic. Since I figured there are a lot of older people on here who would know more, I figured I'd ask for help. XD Which you guys did, yay~

[Pumpkinhead]

Aww thank you darkdaethdevil

I think writing young is actually a good thing for the reasons you said, so that you overcome the dumb mistakes as soon as you can and get a head start on perfecting your craft.

You certainly shouldn't be publishing this early writing yet or displaying it on the Internet for all to see, however........ (especially considering that people on the Internet don't always give very good feedback to these artists/writers about how they can improve)

Edit: No, you're cool sweetsnowangel, no one thinks you're a bitch

[Feathers]

How...? Do you get feedback so you can improve then? o.o

[Pumpkinhead]

You mean other than the Internet, right?

I think your family and friends, frankly. They can be honest with you while giving you good constructive criticism, because they personally know you and care about you and want you to succeed.

[Rogo]

I think getting feedback is good - but sometimes the internet ISN'T the best place for decent feedback. Especially when you're just starting out.

Not to mention what seems brilliant at age 14/15 becomes hideously embarrassing when you look back.

So I agree with PumpkinheadKid - get your feedback from family and friends when your younger. They're less likely to destroy your confidence.

[Devil]

Well then I guess sweetsnowangel and I are on the right track then. ^-^ We have thought about posting things on via smackjeeves and such, but overall decided not to for other reasons.

I'm her sister, so she kind of creates all the wild stories while I edit them. We also have our mom who reads most of what we write/draw which is good from an audience's point of view.

Thanks for all the tips you two~ ;D

P.S. - Nee-chan you're not a bish, we agree with what you said, but are just adding more to it~ It's the point of forms.

[Feathers]

Yup! We work as a team. Thankfully my own ability to draw prevents me from uploading overload of comics onto SmackJeeves. XD Unfortunately everyone I know says I draw well. ;_;

Other thing that prevents me from diving into projects ATM - shiroiyuki-feza.deviantart.com/journal/Thailand-280727450#comments

Bet I'll come back from that much more knowledgable than I am now. o.o

Anyway, I love what you guys say about waiting till you understand your idea better before publishing it. Though I did think posting it on the Internet wasn't exactly considered publishing, so I was a tad lost in that department. LOL But now I see what you mean. Thanks~

And it's also nice to know I was inncorrect in assuming I was being a bitch. LOL

[Rogo]

If I'd started posting Gravston as I first conceived it, it would have been a rambling incoherent mess about a kid whose death with a talking cat that fought an evil masked man and his legion of peacocks.

I am not making that up.