How to Make a Comic Strip

Step-by-Step Guide

1. 1

   Step 1: Decide on a story that you want to publish.

   Decide what you want your story to be about.
   
   With strips, you really don't have to know every little detail of the story you are trying to tell, but you should have a basic idea of where it's going.
   
   This can help you make sure that you've got material for more than just the first few strips.
   
   If you're wanting to do more of a gag-a-day strip, you'll want to outline the types of jokes you want to make.
   
   This will help you decide what kinds of and how many characters you need to pull off those jokes. , You'll first need to decide how many panels you want to average, if you want one row or two, etc.
   
   For a 1 row strip like Garfield, 3-4 panels is the norm.
   
   For a two row comic strip like Cul de Sac, 6-8.
   
   You can also find 1 panel comics and 3 row comics.
   
   Of course sticking to a particular size will matter most if you plan on publishing your comics in print (such as a newspaper).
   
   If you plan on having them online instead, don't worry about this as much.
   
   If you're printing and even if you're not, it's best to at least keep the same width and height for a single row.
   
   So, you can have one strip with one row, and another strip with two rows, but all three rows should be the same width and height as each other. , When you go to make an individual strip, write down and plan each panel.
   
   You need to know what is happening where, which characters will be included, etc.
   
   Keep it simple.
   
   A written script should be as bare-bones as possible.
   
   Descriptions of scenery should only be included if they are necessary to the action of the strip. , Make sure that you aren't putting too much text in your panels.
   
   This can make the comic hard to read and enjoy.
   
   Try to limit the number of speech balloons to 2 (3 if there's a one or two word balloon), and keep the number of words in a panel below 30 and preferably below
   20.
2. 2

   Step 2: Decide on your format.

3. 3

   Step 3: Plan each panel.

4. 4

   Step 4: Balance text and images.

Detailed Guide

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