Don't be a STORYTELLER, be a STORIES-TELLER!

Do you have a big idea? Your story? The project you’re always thinking about, the one you’ve been building your skills up for? I’m here to give you, at least a few words of caution.

Brookes Eggleston On Social:

Character Design Forge 2018

[ambern.]

Don't skip leg day. That is a fabulous piece of advice for writing (this is not sarcasm). You can't skip working on a story when creating visual art such as a comic. Good writers (sadly) seem few and far between, so if anyone out there wants to make a comic, don't rely solely on your artistic skills. I've been reading/following several comics where the art is just glorious, but the story needs help. It makes me sad, because I know how much potential the story line has. Be willing to accept mistakes, take the time to sit back and think about the story, think about the characters, then when you get started follow the story wherever it might take you. <3 Good luck to anyone going on this endeavor of creating a comic! Tell your stories! Create emotion via art!

[ishmellokat]

That lamp in the background look awesome! Keep it there!!!

[rickchris]

In spite of my visual creative work finding acceptance, I've been dragging my feet on publishing a book(s) I've written cuz people would say things like, "what makes you think you're a writer?", or "what makes you think people would be interested in your book?" etc. Then I remembered people said the same thing about my artwork. What people say about your work can drill holes in the bottom of your boat of motivation until you finally decide to plug those holes of self doubt. I've also read, and been told by a few people that, in essence, authors (like a J.R.R. Tolkien or J.K. Rowling) have a responsibility to the universe they've created and the characters residing in that universe, in that the characters and that universe depend on their authors for their very existence. Meaning, technically, that all those characters will die if those books aren't published. Interesting way I suppose to look at things.

[JaceyChase]

This is great advice and exactly what I needed to hear right now. Thank you. :) I have a few "big ideas" for comics but I'm working on smaller short stories to just kind of get my feet wet. I spent a long time afraid to get into comics because I thought I had to build up all of my art skills separately before I can put them together in a comic—eventually I realized that's silly because I can build up those skills WHILE working on comics. It makes sense that the same thing applies to writing.

[aries]

Making a comic right now, not gonna give up on this one like the rest of the ones ive made. I'm gonna tell this story to thousands when im done >:)

[artofjessirenee]

Oh wow, this is me 100%. I definitely sit on story ideas for a long time. One of my stories has been around for longer than a decade. But I don't practice my writing. I don't know why, but I always thought of it as a natural talent that I wasn't lucky enough to be born with. But I guess it's just like art in the way that I can get better with practice. This was a great video, and I'm for sure going to take this advice seriously!

[dreamenvoy]

In the past I have created many small stories each with a single narrative. My approach to my current project is having multiple short stories somewhat connected to a single overarching plot. That is, my big story is told through a series of different narratives from different points in time.

[sonichd]

Speaking of visual storytelling, You should watch “sonic mania adventures.” I’ve watched your video on Sonic recently and I’ve taken note of your appreciation of sonic when his over confidence is used to make the character feel like a real character, rather than a flawless hero, which is just about impossible to relate to.

His overconfidence also gives sonic an excuse to get himself into trouble, which actually makes sense for a hero who gets into as much danger as sonic.

Luckily, Tyson Hesse’ Studio Yotta produced a series of shorts, free to watch on the sonic the hedgehog YouTube channel. Their only about 2 minuets long, too.

I think you may find them impressive, because the artists behind these shorts are able to not only capture the character of Sonic, tails, and knuckles, but they are able to somehow capture each character’s personality, flaws, and purpose without using a SINGLE word.

It’s actually reminiscent of the silence of certain 1930’s cartoons, but with a modern twist, sorta like the Pixar movie; Wall.E.

If you actually took the time to read this, thanks. And God bless. :D

[OmegaStray]

This is great advice. Start as small as you can, you will pick up so many skills along the way.

[stainlesssteel]

I've got a webcomic in mind that i want to start working on, but i'm currently holding back because i don't feel quite ready yet,  not because im afraid to show my project to everyone,  i'm simply just trying to get better at digital art, coloring and shading. (I've been doing traditional line art for as long as i can remember, and i find it difficult to transfer my skills over to digital work. But once i feel ready, i'll definitely get started on this project right away).

[Burnzsall]

Wise words. I am a writer more than a visual artist, but I've been doing it for a few years now. I am no stranger to this kind of thing. I look back at some of my first work and can't help but cringe. But it still makes it where I appreciate where I am now. I know that I have a lot to improve on, but I'm learning new stuff when I can. I really appreciate all this advice you put out. I know that I can contribute some of the improvement to listening to your insightful commentary.

[malthehuman_]

Thank you for your advice! I really needed that :)

[bookle]

All this starting from small reminds me of a comic on tapas called Erma. It's not the best comic but it's not bad either. It's pretty good and a good example, in my opinion, how the artist started from small one page long stories first then after he has some experiences with storytelling, he'll make a few big episodes.

This video is really helpful. ^^

[Barada]

This is great advice on something that I struggle with constantly. I start working on a story that is supposed to be small and manageable, but it always grows and grows until it is completely outside of the scope of my drawing ability and just the idea of starting on it becomes so daunting that I stall out creatively and the story ends up sitting unused in my head for years or even decades.

[aziebites]

ALSO remember that how your story is read matters. I've seen a lot of projects that have great art and an interesting story but are torn down by a lack of proofreading/understanding of writing fiction. Don't be afraid to ask for someone to proofread if you know you're not great at spelling/grammar/etc!! Take a creative writing class!! Join a writing group!! It's important and it can be really fun too.

[chelle]

Like most of the people here, this advice hits me hard. My most precious OC has been around for years. I have tried so many times to start up her story, or my other favorite OC’s story since their inception. I have practiced writing and drawing in the form of a few comic pages, but I’ve never made anything resembling a complete story arc. Honestly, I’m not really sure I know how to go about it. The plot diagram of Inception, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action and Resolution just doesn’t seem to work with me. It’s almost like they don’t have a goal so I’m never sure how to keep it going longer.
My favorite tip was to write a chapter 0. I disliked someone else’s tip of doing a “practice webcomic” that you don’t care about, but this could actually work.
Thanks BagelDenizen. Have a nice day. May the new year bring you easier progress than the struggle of this one in 2018.

[phantomias]

I will work on my big story but I will take my time till I make a comic about it. Till then I will do little storys and comics to exercise it.

[Surkk]

I think I am a person who tends to keep too many Ideas on my mind.
I currently have at least 3 major ideas for videogames in my head, a Shoot em Up, a Bullet Hell, and a mini-RPG...
I don't know why I have not written them out yet and I know I should, maybe its because I want to make sure they are somewhat unique in the genres they come from?
As someone who has been studying to enter the game industry, I'm pretty sure this is a bad thing.

[StarlightAkari]

Hi Mr. Eggleston, I just wanted to say thank you, this is exactly what I needed to hear right now. Currently I am about to start my senior project in art school. I had dreamt for years on doing it with this story I was designing but after watching your video, I realize that I don't have the story yet, and it will be better to save it for when I get better and can tell the story right. Your video made me realize I should practice my skills in a way that won't feel like a stressful "be all, end all" so thank you kindly for bringing this to light. It came at the perfect time.

[ToonPlays]

Iv'e been working on a fantasy adventure in a nature took the world back after the apocalypse over the last 4 year's, The story has gone through 4 iterations and rewrites with characters being re-written and re-worked, listening to this really show's i value my story too much and i should just make it and not keep notebooks full of ideas and scraps of info.