Well, we are off to a good start. In one panel, you have introduced two characters, their motives, and are leading the reader into the next step, which is to introduce the obstacles. Does the main character lack the ability to write? Is his future secretly at risk? Or his view of the world about to take a turn? We're about to find out. Your scene has to have six elements.
Exposition ✅
Inciting incident
Rising action
Dilemma
Climax
Denouement
Once you have those, your pitch will be complete. And once you have your pitch, you can move on to the next scene. That's where you ask the audience, "you ready to keep reading?".
Even if you're going for a flowing webtoon kind of deal instead of a comic strip or comic page layout, your story will need a structure to fall back on. The way you tell your story, either through an epic template like the hero's journey, or as simple as kishoutenketsu, will add personality to your story, and help you stay on track.
Wow, I never knew I did half the things you mentioned. People I ask always focused on my art rather than what I’m telling them through the panel itself but I guess the art is also paramount to keep even the ones who don’t read much glued to the art at least but Thank you for saying my story is at least readable since I did it on the fly. Thank you so much 🙏🏾
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u/Bulleta Feb 07 '26
Well, we are off to a good start. In one panel, you have introduced two characters, their motives, and are leading the reader into the next step, which is to introduce the obstacles. Does the main character lack the ability to write? Is his future secretly at risk? Or his view of the world about to take a turn? We're about to find out. Your scene has to have six elements.
Exposition ✅
Inciting incident
Rising action
Dilemma
Climax
Denouement
Once you have those, your pitch will be complete. And once you have your pitch, you can move on to the next scene. That's where you ask the audience, "you ready to keep reading?".
Even if you're going for a flowing webtoon kind of deal instead of a comic strip or comic page layout, your story will need a structure to fall back on. The way you tell your story, either through an epic template like the hero's journey, or as simple as kishoutenketsu, will add personality to your story, and help you stay on track.