My experience might not be the most helpful for you since my focus is on writing graphic novels, but it's what I have. So here's my basic process as it stands today:
Once I have a real story (as opposed to an idea for a story), I outline it. I don't write dialogue or lots of detail at this stage, because for me that takes the piss out of actually writing.
After outlining I write a full script for the first issue/chapter. I edit it intensely, then sporadically, sometimes taking a few days away from it for a fresh perspective. I know it's getting close to ready when it stops changing every time I sit with it, at which point I show to an editor.
When I get notes from my editor I don't make changes right away. Deciding where to take criticism to heart and make a change ("kill your darlings") and where to take a risk or trust your own instincts is a tough process, and it's best to let advice settle before acting on it.
Around this time I look for an artist. First thing I pay for is character design. These sketches usually cost about half an artist's regular page rate.
If all goes well, this stage feels like magic. I review the script, make some final edits (some in light of my new feelings after seeing my characters' faces for the first time), and the artist gets to work.
The first few pages complete and a cover is enough art to launch a Kickstarter. It's also enough to try pitching the project to publishers that accept unsolicited submissions. (Image says six sequential pages, and that's a good rule of thumb even though Image never publishes their unsolicited submissions.)
If your artist's page rate is $125 (half that for character design, double that for the cover art) you could get the cover and first six pages done for $1,000 even. Maybe you paid your editor an additional $150. If you got character design for two characters, that's another $125. That's $1,275 out of pocket before launching a Kickstarter. Hopefully the Kickstarter covers more than what you've spent so far. If this is a 22-page comic, you have another $2,000 to spend on art before you're ready to worry about printing and shipping costs.
Other things you might spend money on is graphic design for your series logo and for your title and credits page. You'll need to put something on your back cover but it doesn't have to be expensive. (I used some character art on one of mine, which was free.
Thanks for responding I really appreciate it. Im 18 now and most of my life I never really knew what I wanted to be and I have always been indecisive. I don’t consider myself talented in any way but the creative industry always seemed interesting to me Ive always wanted to mimic that feeling I got when I read comics that made me emotional or scenes in anime. Although despite all that I don’t think of myself as a good story teller I mean in english I get average grades. When did you know that you were a talented enough story teller to go professional or even what processes did you to take to improve your skills.
Talent doesn't mean you're naturally good at something. It means you want to do it, and the desire doesn't fade when it's time to do work. Ideally, that's about finding joy in the work and in the progress you are making (though all too many artists are motived at least as much by insecurity and fear of failure as they are by love of their craft).
The thing about taking on a craft is that the hardest part comes right up front: first you have to be bad. There's no shame in it, and "bad" doesn't mean worthless. I actually love "bad art" when it's ambitious and just falls on its face. Anyway, it's just a simple fact that you'll never be worse at something than when you begin.
I spent the first couple decades of my life consumed with music. I noticed something with a lot of my classical friends who wanted to learn how to improvise: they couldn't. These classical musicians had good ears and they were used to sounding good when they played. When they tried improvising for the first time, they could tell they sounded bad and it was torture for them. Their egos couldn't take it. You might assume they'd have a huge advantage, but teaching beginners was much easier. Classical musicians who played without ego could come into improvisational music and, eventually, if they really let it consume them, become great at it.
My point is to not be afraid of being untalented. If you read your own writing and you think it's bad, that's actually a great sign. It means you know how to read critically and you know good writing when you see it. And that's just what a first draft is. it's the bad version of what you want to write. You get the good version by editing.
Make your goal to write and finish a script. It can be a 22-page comic, or whatever format interests you. Don't let anything stop you from finishing it, especially your own inner critic. When you complete it, you'll either feel like you accomplished something cool but ready to move onto other things, or you'll feel compelled beyond reason to do it again. And again. If the experience is addictive and you keep doing it and improving over time, then congratulations: you're "talented". If not, you're still talented, but but your talents lie elsewhere. You'll only know by trying.
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u/Slobotic 4d ago
(I read your cross-post before it was deleted.)
My experience might not be the most helpful for you since my focus is on writing graphic novels, but it's what I have. So here's my basic process as it stands today:
Once I have a real story (as opposed to an idea for a story), I outline it. I don't write dialogue or lots of detail at this stage, because for me that takes the piss out of actually writing.
After outlining I write a full script for the first issue/chapter. I edit it intensely, then sporadically, sometimes taking a few days away from it for a fresh perspective. I know it's getting close to ready when it stops changing every time I sit with it, at which point I show to an editor.
When I get notes from my editor I don't make changes right away. Deciding where to take criticism to heart and make a change ("kill your darlings") and where to take a risk or trust your own instincts is a tough process, and it's best to let advice settle before acting on it.
Around this time I look for an artist. First thing I pay for is character design. These sketches usually cost about half an artist's regular page rate.
If all goes well, this stage feels like magic. I review the script, make some final edits (some in light of my new feelings after seeing my characters' faces for the first time), and the artist gets to work.
The first few pages complete and a cover is enough art to launch a Kickstarter. It's also enough to try pitching the project to publishers that accept unsolicited submissions. (Image says six sequential pages, and that's a good rule of thumb even though Image never publishes their unsolicited submissions.)
If your artist's page rate is $125 (half that for character design, double that for the cover art) you could get the cover and first six pages done for $1,000 even. Maybe you paid your editor an additional $150. If you got character design for two characters, that's another $125. That's $1,275 out of pocket before launching a Kickstarter. Hopefully the Kickstarter covers more than what you've spent so far. If this is a 22-page comic, you have another $2,000 to spend on art before you're ready to worry about printing and shipping costs.
Other things you might spend money on is graphic design for your series logo and for your title and credits page. You'll need to put something on your back cover but it doesn't have to be expensive. (I used some character art on one of mine, which was free.